|
Chef
Chan Yan Tak, who began his apprenticeship when he was 15, has become
the first Chinese cook in the world to be awarded three Michelin stars.
He won the only three-star rating
for a Hong Kong restaurant in the inaugural Michelin Guide to
restaurants and hotels in the former British colony and Macau.
The inspectors chose the Lung
King Heen (View of the Dragon) Cantonese restaurant in the Four
Seasons Hotel for its highest award.
Chef Tak, who admits only to
being in his 50s, was lured out of retirement three years ago by the
Four Seasons to start the restaurant. "Excited, shocked and
happy for my team", was his immediate reaction to the
recognition by the French bible of gastronomy.
Of the 12 Michelin inspectors who
compiled the guide, one was from Hong Kong and another was from
mainland China, to help to gain a better understanding of the local
cuisine. Chef Tak first started cooking in the teeming Wan Chai
district. He brought fame to the Regent Hotel in the city, which is
renowned for its Chinese cooking, and he is best known among locals
for his dim sum - an array of delicately flavoured steamed and fried
snack-sized dishes served at lunchtime with endless pots of tea.
The chef's signature dishes,
however, are his lobster and scallop dumplings and steamed
Shanghainese pork dumplings with crab meat. .
The new guide includes 30 styles
of cuisine and brings to 24 the total stars for Joël Robuchon,
with three for the Robuchon a Galera restaurant in the Grand Lisboa
casino resort in Macau and two for L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon
restaurant in Hong Kong. |
