Hong Kong’s culinary scene has long been famous for its ritzy international offerings and traditional dim sum, but over the last several years, it has undergone a renaissance.
This sentence, toward the beginning of Virtuoso Life’s profile of the evolving Hong Kong food scene, marks the starting point for Lauryn Ishak in her quest to get imagery of the new food-centric discoveries to be made in the region.
I shoot quite regularly for Virtuoso Life, usually a few times a year. The story was on a new take of Cantonese cuisine and how some restaurants in Hong Kong are modernizing the fare by giving it a twist. I received a first draft before I left for the shoot and was able to interpret that quite freely.
Lauryn, now based in Singapore, is quite familiar with Hong Kong, having spent much of her childhood there. She frequently revisits her ever-changing hometown and always finds something new upon returning.
I have been back there many times over the years for work and pleasure and have friends who still live there. It’s always nice to go back to a place so familiar that at the same time has evolved. Getting around is like falling back into step, but there are new corners, buildings, and restaurants, so it was akin to exploring a new neighborhood in your own hometown.
Food is one of the easiest ways for a community to identify with its culture — and share it with the world. Chefs across Hong Kong are modernizing classic dishes as well as experimenting with meals outside of traditional fare. As the article puts it, “Hong Kong’s new Cantonese cuisine belongs exclusively to itself.” Lauryn went to five different spots to check out their new offerings, getting a chance to visit several restaurants for the first time. Lauryn previously had been to only one of the five featured places.
I didn’t get to try [the food at] all of them, but what I did try was amazing.
Bo Innovation is the pioneer on the list. It’s been around a while, and I’d never been before.
Bo Innovation’s chef, Alvin Leung, “paved the way for modern Cantonese cuisine” when he opened his spot in 2003. The food, including the Everything Lotus dessert above, is delicious, but part of Lauryn’s journey included learning about the unique rhythms of each restaurant. Bo Innovation, for example, has a festively presented 18-course tasting menu that hits the nostalgia nerve as it’s infused with tributes to Bruce Lee and Hong Kong’s background as a fishing village.
I am familiar with traditional Hong Kong cuisine but am somewhat unfamiliar to this new take I was photographing, in terms of taste.
At Mott 32, patrons hole up in the basement of an old bank building — the write-up imagines it as the kind of place that “Bond villains might favor for a power lunch” — and can eat a seafood dumpling dish made up of South Australian scallop, grouper, caviar, and egg white.
The final three places — Happy Paradise, Social Place, and Ho Lee Fook — feature hip vibes geared toward younger, more curious clientele while making sure the past never gets left behind. The neon-lit Happy Paradise pays homage to Hong Kong’s teahouses, massage parlors, and mah-jongg rooms while simultaneously taking a classic dish, sweet and crispy egg waffles, and reimagining it with new ingredients, like sourdough.
Hong Kong’s iconic meal is Dim Sum, and Social Place makes it with new twists based on contemporary food trends. The restaurant utilizes pickled ginger and black truffles, serving this remix to multigenerational eating parties. Finally, Ho Lee Fook melds an old-school hip-hop playlist with local art all over the walls.
This writer can’t think of a better way for Lauryn to rediscover her hometown. Now when she returns for pleasure (or for work), she’ll have a bunch of new spots to try. No matter the vibe she’s looking for, she’ll find something that fits.
It’s interesting to see how the chefs innovate and breathe new life into a traditional cuisine. I liked all of them as they’re very different from each other. Each has a certain vibe, and, depending on your mood, your picks will also change.
See more of Lauryn’s work on her laurynishak.com.
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Read more about Lauryn Ishak on our Published Blog.
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