His restaurant, Bo Innovation, opened in 2005 and created a new narrative about modern Cantonese cuisine, and at its height was awarded three Michelin stars.
Chan Yan-tak, Lung King Heen
Fondly known as Tak gor (brother Tak) in industry circles, this highly respected veteran was the first Chinese chef in the world to helm a three-Michelin-star restaurant, when Lung King Heen received the honour in 2008. Before joining the opening team of the Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong, he was responsible for launching The Regent’s Lai Ching Heen, where he would dream up dozens of new dishes every month.When he came out of retirement to open Lung King Heen, he immediately set to work redefining dim sum – his baked whole abalone puff with diced chicken is now often imitated, but never bettered.
Danny Yip, The Chairman
There is no doubt that Yip and his team at The Chairman have put Hong Kong on the map – voted the No 1 restaurant in Asia in 2021 by Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants, this modest Sheung Wan venue on Hong Kong Island is the city’s biggest advocate for local ingredients and culinary traditions. Few champion Hong Kong seafood and vegetables as passionately as Yip, and his influence in this sphere has played out in a greater appreciation for Cantonese ingredients.
David Lai, Neighborhood
His knowledge of local seafood – not to mention his creative application of cooking techniques to highlight them – is a key contribution to the dining scene.
Gray Kunz, Café Gray Deluxe
He was a mentor to many of Hong Kong’s brightest chefs, including Eric Räty, of two-Michelin-star Arbor, and was also known for inventing the “Kunz spoon”, a wide, short-handled, shallow spoon that was ideal for saucing – a tool treasured by many cooks today.
Grégoire Michaud, Bakehouse
The affable Swiss man behind Hong Kong’s best-known artisanal bakery, which opened in 2018 on Wan Chai’s Swatow Street, has changed the city’s breadscape for the better. Formerly the pastry chef at the Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong for eight years, Michaud left in 2013 to set up Bread Elements, to supply restaurants with quality bread – upping the quality of bread baskets everywhere.Today, Bakehouse and Bread Elements supply countless restaurants and cafes, from Michelin-star fine-dining establishments to casual eateries.
Joseph Tse Kam-chung, Above & Beyond
Chef Tse is a proponent of classic Cantonese techniques and traditions executed with modern flair, and sought to preserve the city’s culinary heritage during his tenure at Hotel Icon’s Above & Beyond. But he has also been a champion for fusing Western ingredients and techniques into classic dishes, which he did while chef de cuisine at Man Wah restaurant, at the Mandarin Oriental, from 2007 to 2010.Eager to pass on his knowledge to budding young chefs, he lent his time to educating students at Polytechnic University’s School of Hotel and Tourism Management. While Tse left Hong Kong in 2015 to lead the kitchens at The Eight, in the Grand Lisboa Macau, his legacy remains.
Kenny Chan Kai-tak, Sichuan Lab
The other famous “Tak gor” in Hong Kong is chef Chan, who hails from a prominent Sichuan family that specialised in manufacturing bean paste. During his tenure as executive chef at Yun Yan (now closed), in Tsim Sha Tsui, he introduced Hong Kong to the delicacy of Sichuan cuisine, presented in an upscale manner. He came out of retirement to open Sichuan Lab in 2019, continuing the conversation about the cuisine in Hong Kong.Lau Kin-wai, Kin’s Kitchen
The prominent restaurateur and food columnist was a pioneer of Hong Kong’s private kitchen movement – he opened Yellow Door Kitchen years before the concept became mainstream and, through his musings in Eat and Travel Weekly, where he penned stories weaving food with other aspects of life, from politics to art, influenced the public perception of dining.
He opened Kin’s Kitchen in 2004 as a paean to Cantonese cuisine, and was an early advocate of locally farmed produce and the subtle innovation of the genre.
Leung Fai-hung, Hoi King Heen
Chef Leung is one of the few Hong Kong chefs who trained in Japan, and was one of the first to shift towards the almost kaiseki style of serving diners individual courses, rather than rely on the more traditional sharing format found in Chinese restaurants.
Mak Kwai-pui, Tim Ho Wan
There’s no forgetting the headlines when chef Mak left Lung King Heen in 2009 and opened Tim Ho Wan, which within a year became the “world’s cheapest Michelin-starred restaurant”. Today, the eatery may no longer have a star, but the impact it has had in promoting high-quality, affordable dim sum is the legacy of this franchise – Tim Ho Wan restaurants now exist in more than 50 locations outside Hong Kong.
Margaret Xu Yuan, Yin Yang Coastal
Before “farm to table” was a popular concept, Xu brought it to the fore at her original Wan Chai restaurant, Yin Yang, in 2008. Her past life as a creative director for an advertising agency is visible in the way she communicates her restaurant’s message, but her work is not all style over substance.
Matt Abergel, Yardbird
How does a boy from Calgary, Canada, end up influencing the culinary zeitgeist in Hong Kong, and remain relevant after more than a decade? The chef and co-creator of Yardbird, which he launched in 2011 with then-partner Lindsay Jang, changed the conversation about casual dining in Hong Kong, with a no reservations, no service charge model that has become ubiquitous today.
Max Levy, Okra
When New Orleans-born Levy announced the closure of Okra in 2021, the aftershocks were palpable. His was a restaurant that defied the rules of dining, with a seriously globetrotting mishmash of influences and techniques that, back then in 2016, seemed at odds with the trend for smarter, higher-end dining experiences. “The food and culture of a restaurant should speak of its location, not what it can import,” he once told me.
May Chow, Little Bao
In 2012, at a simple market stall, a sprightly woman with big dreams launched the bao burger, the now-famous “little bao”, and it remains relevant today. Chow, who had previously worked in high-end restaurants, was one of the first of a young cohort of chefs to lean into their Hong Kong heritage and reimagine it for a new generation. She loudly told the world that there is so much more to Cantonese cuisine than what we have experienced.
Peggy Chan, Grassroots Pantry
The plant-based movement has taken hold over the past few years, but long before vegan cuisine and organic ingredients became part of the vernacular came the work of a young Peggy Chan. She launched (the now-closed) Grassroots in 2012, when plant-based diets were still a fringe movement, and quickly set in motion a greater understanding of green and eco-conscious dining.
Richard Ekkebus, Amber
The Dutchman arrived in Hong Kong more than 15 years ago, when he took up the role of executive chef at Amber, in the Landmark Mandarin Oriental. As one of the iconic fine-dining restaurants in the city, Amber represents how modern gastronomy has evolved in Hong Kong over the best part of two decades – and Ekkebus has been a driving force behind it all.The restaurant has also been a breeding ground for local talents that have since spun off to open their own successful ventures.
Ringo Chan, Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong
Pastries in Hong Kong sometimes don’t get the recognition they deserve, but Chan’s distinctive sweet contributions to the city have raised their profile. He first joined the Four Seasons as an assistant pastry chef during the opening of the hotel in 2005, and has since been instrumental in pushing pastry forward. “Our hotel was one of the first to create a vegan and gluten-free afternoon tea, in 2014,” he says.
Shane Osborn, Arcane
He may now be recognised for his stint on Netflix’s The Final Table, but Osborn has been an influential chef in Hong Kong and London for decades. Having moved to the city in 2012 from London to open St Betty, in IFC Mall, before leaving to launch Arcane in 2014, his philosophy has always been to open restaurants led by talent, rather than concepts, which has resulted in a number of successful venues including Cornerstone and Moxie.In a city that cannot always be relied upon for consistency, this has been Osborn’s most important contribution.
Steve Lee Ka-ding, Ding’s Kitchen
Lee, who opened his first restaurant, Ding’s Kitchen, in 2017, can be credited with reigniting interest in heritage recipes and long-forgotten dishes.
Theresa Yiu, Dashijie
A champion of the extremely laborious but worthwhile processes of traditional Chinese cookery, Yiu also preserves the importance of heritage through her artisanal food brand, Dashijie, which makes everything from turnip cakes to mooncakes.
Umberto Bombana, 8½ Otto e Mezzo Bombana
One of Hong Kong’s iconic figures on the dining scene, Bombana – the “king of truffles” – has not only run a successful restaurant for more than 20 years, he has also acted as mentor and supporter for many young chefs in the city. His protégés can be found all over Hong Kong, from Estro’s Antimo Maria Merone to Locanda dell’Angelo’s Steve Chiu. Bombana’s annual white truffle auction raises millions of dollars for Hong Kong charities.
Vicky Cheng, VEA/Wing
With VEA and Wing, chef Cheng has started a new dialogue about what it means to look at Chinese cuisine through a different culinary lens. At VEA, he champions a distinctive style of French and Cantonese cooking, while at Wing he respects and reimagines traditional Chinese techniques and dishes. His creativity in the kitchen has opened up the conversation about what it means to run a fine-dining Chinese restaurant today.
Vicky Lau Wan-ki, Tate Dining Room/Mora
A designer by trade, Lau has rewritten the style book for the contemporary Hong Kong restaurant. Celebrating 10 years of Tate Dining Room this year, the chef has raised the bar for quality dining that doesn’t fail on aesthetics. Her menus are centred on “odes” to ingredients, which allows her to turn the spotlight on local artisans and age-old practices.
Yeung Koon-yat, Forum Restaurant
Yeung started his restaurant cooking homestyle dishes, until he had the idea of centring the abalone on the menu. In 1977, he created the famous recipe we know today, an icon of luxurious Hong Kong dining.
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