Yum cha is the Cantonese tradition of breakfast or brunch involving Chinese tea and dim sum. The practice is popular in Cantonese-speaking regions, including Guangdong province, Guangxi province, Hong Kong, and Macau. It is also carried out in other regions worldwide where there are overseas Cantonese communities. Yum cha generally involves small portions of steamed, pan-fried, or deep-fried dim sum dishes served in bamboo steamers, which are designed to be eaten communally and washed down with hot tea. People often go to yum cha in large groups for family gatherings and celebrations.
Joël Robuchon was a French chef and restaurateur. He was named "Chef of the Century" by the guide Gault Millau in 1989, and awarded the Meilleur Ouvrier de France in cuisine in 1976. He published several cookbooks, two of which have been translated into English, chaired the committee for the Larousse Gastronomique, and hosted culinary television shows in France. He operated more than a dozen restaurants across Bangkok, Bordeaux, Hong Kong, Las Vegas, London, Macau, Madrid, Monaco, Montreal, Paris, Shanghai, Singapore, Taipei, Tokyo, and New York City. His restaurants have been acclaimed, and in 2016 he held 31 Michelin Guide stars among them, the most any restaurateur has ever held. He is considered to be one of the greatest chefs of all time.
Hong Kong cuisine is mainly influenced by Cantonese cuisine, European cuisines and non-Cantonese Chinese cuisines, as well as Japanese, Korean and Southeast Asian cuisines, due to Hong Kong's past as a British colony and a long history of being an international port of commerce. Complex combinations and international gourmet expertise have given Hong Kong the labels of "Gourmet Paradise" and "World's Fair of Food".
The Fat Duck is a fine dining restaurant in Bray, Berkshire, England, owned by the chef Heston Blumenthal. Housed in a 16th-century building, the Fat Duck opened on 16 August 1995. Although it originally served food similar to a French bistro, it soon acquired a reputation for precision and innovation, and has been at the forefront of many modern culinary developments, such as food pairing, flavour encapsulation and multi-sensory cooking.
Alain Ducasse is a French-born Monégasque chef. He operates a number of restaurants including Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester which holds three stars in the Michelin Guide.
The Michelin Guides are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few restaurants in certain geographic areas. Michelin also publishes the Green Guides, a series of general guides to cities, regions, and countries.
A Cantonese restaurant is a type of Chinese restaurant that originated in Southern China. This style of restaurant has rapidly become common in Hong Kong.
Caprice is a contemporary French haute cuisine restaurant in the Four Seasons Hotel, Hong Kong. It was initially run by chef de cuisine Vincent Thierry, a former sous chef at Le Cinq in the Hotel George V, Paris. Guillaume Galliot is the current chef de cuisine.
Alain Senderens was a leading French chef and practitioner of Nouvelle Cuisine. Le Figaro credited him as the inventor of food and wine pairings.
Lung King Heen is a fine dining Cantonese restaurant in the Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong. Its kitchen is run by chef de cuisine Chan Yan-tak, who came out of early retirement in 2002 for the Hotel.
Chan Yan-tak is a Hong Kong/Chinese chef, who is best known for being the first Chinese chef to earn three Michelin stars. He began to work in restaurants in his early teens, and went on to earn his stars at the Lung King Heen restaurant in the Four Seasons hotel in Hong Kong, after they coaxed him out of retirement and back into the kitchen.
École Supérieure de Cuisine Française is a professional training school located in central Paris. Established by The Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIP), the school is part of École Grégoire-Ferrandi and specializes in training students for work in hospitality management and French cuisine.
François Simon is a French author and a food critic, rumored in French press to have been the model for Anton Ego, the food critic in the 2007 animated film Ratatouille . He spent most of his career writing for French daily Le Figaro, which he left at the beginning of 2014.
Thierry Marx is a French chef, specialised in molecular gastronomy.
Vicky Lau, a culinary entrepreneur born in Hong Kong, is the founder and head chef of Tate Dining Room, a restaurant awarded two-Michelin star, and green Michelin star Mora. In 2015, she was named the Best Female Chef in Asia by Asia's 50 Best Restaurants.
Olivier Bellin is a French chef, two stars at the Guide Michelin. He is the owner of the restaurant L'Auberge des Glazicks in Plomodiern, a village located between Quimper and Brest in the department of Finistère.
Olivier Elzer is a French chef. He was named one of the top 22 best young chefs in France by the guide Gault Millau in 2007. He was awarded a total of 25 Michelin stars for 16 consecutive years working in France and Hong Kong. Elzer is recognised for his work as head chef of Pierre at Mandarin Oriental Hotel Hong Kong, L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon and his own branding restaurant, Seasons, by Olivier E. In 2018, Elzer established L'Envol, a modern French fine dining restaurant at the St. Regis Hong Kong. L'Envol is a 2 Michelin Stars restaurant. In 2022, Elzer created his own casual dining concept in Hong Kong named Clarence. Chef Elzer was awarded the Knight in the Order of Agricultural Merit of the French Republic in 2022.
Julien Royer is a French chef and restaurant owner. He is the Chef-owner of Odette in Singapore and Louise in Hong Kong. in 2019, Odette was awarded the highest distinction of 3 Michelin stars by the Michelin guide. Royer was born in Cantal, Central France to fourth-generation farmers.
Pascal Barbot is a French chef. His restaurant L'Astrance in Paris earned one Michelin star 2023, a year after the reopening of the restaurant at a new location, and has kept the star ever since. Previously L'Astrance had three stars from 2007 to 2018 before being demoted to two stars in 2019. In a 2013 review, food writer Elizabeth Auerbach declared that Barbot "belongs to the small but illustrious group of French chefs who have a truly international profile and are thus the ambassadors of modern French cuisine."
