Personal Taste: Caroline Shaw from The Wedding Company talks dining in HK

Caroline Shaw can often be spotted in Hong Kong's top hotels and restaurants as she searches for the best tastes in town while juggling the demands of her home, children and business, the Wedding Company.

What's your favourite restaurant in Hong Kong?
The Kee Club for both Chinese and Western cuisine. I don't like a noisy ambiance at lunch so I enjoy the privacy afforded by the club. I'm constantly surprised by the chef - he's always making something innovative. Currently, my favourite dish is the red-pepper flan.

What other restaurants do you like?
For Indian, it was always Veda (in Central - shame it closed). Another perennial favourite is Da Domenico in Causeway Bay. We go there for birthdays and private dinners and when we have visiting friends and family.

What 'foodie' places do you like to visit around the world?
In the Napa valley (California), every restaurant I went to had the most incredible food. You can expect fine cuisine in Italy, France and other European places but in Napa I was amazed by the choices and the fresh selections. From basic bistros to posh diners, every meal was brilliant.

Do you cook at home?
I wanted to be a pastry chef and even now, I bake for fun. It relaxes me. I love to try new recipes. Apart form desserts, my husband likes it when I make bouillabaisse. It's a fish stew that takes a long time to prepare.

Do you eat junk food?
I'm totally against soft drinks and even my children are not too keen. I didn't forbid them - I think forbidding anything means they'll want to do it on the sly - but my sister's into organic food so the children have somehow adopted this lifestyle. There are the odd requests for McD's but not a lot.

Besides the size of the venue, what do you look for when booking a hotel or restaurant for your company?
There's an art to choosing the right restaurant for the right occasion and if you're catering to more than 400 people, you have to be careful. I've found that the Grand Hyatt [in Wan Chai] and the InterContinental [in Tsim Sha Tsui] have the experience and capacity to handle large numbers of people. The chefs are involved in personalising the experience and they will adapt according to clients needs, which is a rarity.

Any gastronomic horrors in Hong Kong?
There was a large dinner for my company at a major hotel - that has since closed - and there were hundreds of people attending. Sixty per cent of the diners came down with food poisoning. I, of course, tried everything on the menu and was very, very sick. Incredibly, as compensation, the hotel gave coupons to dine in their restaurants.

What do you think of Hong Kong's reputation as a food-lover's paradise?
I mostly agree. But there aren't many great places for desserts here. In France, in Holland, you'll find good patisseries, which are lacking here. The food hall in Seibu used to have an excellent place for cakes, freshly made Napoleon cakes with really great cream. Such venues are inspiring. And, now, disappearing.

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What restaurants have you tried in Hong Kong?
I've been to Hong Kong many times but always for work, so I haven' really had the chance to explore, but the restaurants in all the hotels I've stayed in have been impressive. Last night I tried Yan Toh Heen (in the InterContinental) and it was wonderful. I wanted to see how the chefs approach their craft and in this massive kitchen I saw how creatively they work together. The food was excellent.

It must be very different from a French kitchen.
For a French chef in a Chinese kitchen, it's lie being on another planet, but it was fascinating. Cuisine is a reflection of a culture and, with China's rich history, I see it as a country of many stories. Though our worlds are opposite, I can see the enrichment of the culture and tradition when I see the food being prepared.

Did you get any ideas that you can use?
Yes of course. As a chef, you need to be constantly learning and exploring and I liked the way the food was prepared here. In France, we don't see live fish in the kitchen. Here it is really fresh. The way the food is made is also different: short and fast, quickly and efficiently.

Have any Asian techniques made it to France?
Yes, you can find woks in kitchens there now. They are very popular in France. The concept is wonderful: you cook quickly, don't use a lot of fat. This has spread across London and the rest of Europe.

Have you eaten anything unusual in Hong Kong?
I've tried everything - snake, shark and all that you read about. The snake was not bad, it was like eel. I have trouble with foods if the aroma is disagreeable, but that is a matter of conditioning. Once I get used to it, then I try it. You eat with all your senses, not just taste, so it has to look good, smell good and even feel good. The texture should not be offensive.

What is always in your refrigerator at home?
Fish, lots of fruits and vegetables, yoghurt, eggs and butter. I have two daughters and they eat only salads and light things because they are so conscious of their figures. I also have spices from around the world.

What countries have you enjoyed eating in the most?

All have been good - Singapore, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Australia, all across Europe. But when I went to Argentina 20 years ago, no one spoke English or French where I was staying and I couldn't communicate with the head chef. He brought his friend over to help - this beautiful Argentinian woman. Now we're married and have two daughters! So that's my most memorable trip - but for different reasons of course.