Aji’s Chef Pan Sihui on Culinary Innovation, “Asian Bistronomy,” and Weaving a Rich Tapestry of Eastern and Western Flavours

Chef Pan is redefining gastronomy with his fusion of Southeast Asian flavours and Western techniques, creating an exceptional culinary experience dubbed “Asian Bistronomy.”

At MGM COTAI, Pan Sihui, the chef de cuisine of Aji, is at the forefront of a culinary revolution that marries Southeast Asian flavours with Western techniques. It’s made him an enticing magnet, attracting connoisseurs and critics in equal measure, fascinated by what he plates with such confident ease. Aji at MGM COTAI serves an inspired dining experience, showcasing a refreshed menu that embodies the evolution of Pan’s innovative concept, “Asian Bistronomy.” His contemporary interpretation of authentic Asian flavours, enhanced by distinctly Western culinary techniques, invites guests on a remarkable epicurean journey amidst the dramatic backdrop of The Spectacle at MGM COTAI.

Read the entire feature here at Robb Report Hong Kong.

 

Chao Shang Chao’s Chef Cheung Yat-fung on Chinese Culinary Philosophy, Future Aspirations, and Stepping Up to Meet Every Challenge

Michelin-star-studded chef Cheung Yat-fung is bringing his culinary arts from Beijing for this year’s highly anticipated MGM x RR1HK Culinary Masters Macau 2025.

A distinguished culinary maestro hailing from our own shores, Cheung Yat-fung currently spearheads the famed Chao Shang Chao (Chaoyang) restaurant in Beijing. (You know, the one with not one, but three coveted Michelin stars.) As the executive chef with an unwavering passion for Chinese culinary arts, Cheung adeptly showcases innovative techniques and flavours through meticulously crafted menus that pay homage to the richness and sophistication of his heritage. Adding him to the gilded roster of MGM x RR1HK Culinary Masters Macau 2025 proved to be the easiest decision by the powers that be.

Cheung’s professional journey began in his native city, but it was under the tutelage of master chef Tsang Chiu-king—the current culinary director of Ming Court Wanchai—that his career truly flourished. Tsang imparted not only his exceptional Cantonese culinary skills but also underscored the significance of respecting ingredients and nurturing a spirit of innovation. Inspired by this mentorship, Cheung retains a commitment to cultivating young talent, ensuring the preservation and evolution of Chinese gastronomic traditions.

Read the entire feature here at Robb Report Hong Kong.

 

TBT: Robb Report Hong Kong's Second Edition of Culinary Masters

Not that I had a fav chef at Culinary Masters, but Chef Garima Arora and I chatted like long lost friends - or perhaps I was babbling on about Bollywood celebs and she was a patient listener who laughed a lot. I didn't post much that week as we were on our toes working, writing, reporting non-stop... but looking back, it was tremendous. 

Over the course of three days and two nights, MGM x RR1HK Culinary Masters Macau 2024 was the place to be for a thrilling programme of gastronomic, artistic, and cultural activities designed to entice, entertain, and enlighten local and international VIP guests, but the work for the dining extravaganza began months ago to ensure that this RR1 Signature Event was one for the ages. 

At the final curtain call for this year’s Culinary Masters in Macau, nearly 150 people took to the stage to take their bow—a defining moment in the history of gastronomic events held in the region. A historic event to mark another, the theme “Savor 700 Years of Silk Road Flavors: A Gastronomic Odyssey” was on the mind of all participants in front and behind the scenes. 

Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Macau Special Administrative Region and the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the occasion coincided with the 700 years since the passing of the renowned Silk Road explorer Marco Polo, and marking the rich legacy of the intrepid explorer in a timely and apt way was always on the cards. Macau provided the perfect backdrop with its East-meets-West history, and to show that on a plate courtesy of six incredible chefs was ingenious. 

Read the entire feature here at Robb Report Hong Kong.

Five Foot Road’s Yang Dengquan on How Authenticity and Accuracy Make Up the Spice of Life, and the Importance of the Historical Silk Road to Sichuan Cuisine

 

Historically, cuisine from Chengdu comes with baggage tags of spice and numbing spice, but the good chef assures that there’s much more to this regional style of food.

 

Not to use the terms lightly, but seated across the circular mahogany table of Five Foot Road, one can listen to an oral thesis on Sichuan cuisine by omniscient chef Yang Dengquan, who has devoted his life and career to the details of a culinary sect that not many are privy to. 

The broad brushstroke of claiming all the region’s cuisine as merely “spicy food” loses intricacies that the finer palate can detect. A sophisticated one can even find the elements of 24 intricate flavour profiles that stem from five basic tastes: sweet, sour, savoury, bitter, and spicy. The finest chef can summon root powers using indigenous ingredients, legacy recipes, and cooking styles passed on from one generation to the next, but only the chosen few are fully committed to authenticity and accuracy.

Read the entire feature here at Robb Report Hong Kong.

Baan Tepa’s Chudaree “Tam” Debhakam on Passion and Perseverance, Gaining Two Michelin Stars, and Bringing Thai Culinary Excellence to Macau

Elevating easy-to-love, popular dishes from Thailand, the chef is winning over critics, patrons, and reality TV judges in one fell swoop.

As the new-age face of contemporary Thai cuisine, chef Chudaree “Tam” Debhakam (who found fame as the winner of the immensely popular reality TV cooking show Top Chef Thailand) is in the thick of a media frenzy. She is having her moment in the sun as every major publication in her native country and around Asia has featured her with glowing references and portraiture—and deservedly so. Bringing zest, novelty, and enthusiasm to one of the most beloved cuisines in the world, she is reminding the world yet again of Thai excellence, bringing it piping hot and steaming to the table. 

While many a young adult flounders before finding the chosen path, Debhakam set her goal posts early on, with her first steps as a graduate from the University of Nottingham in Food Science and Nutrition. A degree from the International Culinary Centre in New York followed suit, which led to working at the famed Jean-Georges, 11 Madison Park, and Blue Hill at Stone Barns. But it was back in her motherland where she found sure footing.

Read the entire feature here at Robb Report Hong Kong.

Chef Florita Morais Alves on Tradition, History, and Skilful Hands, and How to Bring Macanese Cuisine to the Table at MGM x RR1HK Culinary Masters Macau 2024

Representing a traditional approach to modern Macanese cuisine, this icon in the dining industry serves meals, history, and anecdotes with equal ease.

As you read these words, some of the finest chefs in the world are in their respective kitchens, mulling over recipes, ingredients, and ideas for plating and presentation as they prep for the grand return of the most-anticipated culinary event of the year: MGM x RR1HK Culinary Masters Macau 2024. Back in Macau from 28 to 30 June, flights are booked and prized equipment, fine produce, and a boatload of talent is eastward-bound, heading to MGM COTAI to pen the second chapter of RR1 Hong Kong’s Culinary Masters in Asia.

With an ambitious theme of “Savor 700 Years of Silk Road Flavors: A Gastronomic Odyssey,” this year’s event will bring together stellar chefs from Asia, Europe, and the Middle East for a series of captivating activities and meticulously prepared dinners, culminating with a 12-hand pièce-de-résistance dinner that promises to be a showstopper. 

Read the entire feature here at Robb Report Hong Kong.

The Wellness Industry: Chef Arnaud Hauchon

In Ayurveda, its written in stone that the appropriate food, eaten correctly, nourishes the body, mind, and spirit. It sees food as medicine – the original integrative medicine for holistic healing process from one's core being, for essentially wellness. While reading this synopsis out to the nodding-in-agreement man, it was preaching to the choir as Chef Arnaud Hauchon, native of the Champagne region of France, based his entire food philosophy on 'food as medicine'.

The culinary director at Fivelements Habitat in Hong Kong, his menu is as nourishing as it is textured, colourful, vivid and delicious. He also eschewed the tired notions that healthy food is bland food. We took him out of his element for an exclusive photoshoot with The New Moon on a busy street in On Lan Lane, but spoke with him later, while he was walking barefoot in nature, somewhere in the trails of Sai Kung.

Read up on the good chef at The New Moon here.

All original pictures by Edwin Datoc. 

12 Questions with Chef Richard Ekkebus of Amber

You may have already read the cover story featuring chef Richard Ekkebus of Amber, in which he explains his new approach to fine dining — no dairy, less sugar, etc. — but that’s not all we spoke to him about. 

Here, in this exclusive online interview, Ekkebus reveals his guilty pleasure, what makes him angry in the kitchen, and much more.

Read the entire feature at Prestige Online here. 

Photography Nic Gaunt | Art Direction Bex Gaunt | Styling Tasha Ling 

TBT: Hong Kong chef May Chow

I absolutely love talking to chef May Chow and this is one of my all-time fav shoots as it features someone I genuinely like and admire and there were dogs on set.

These ended up being outtakes as we went to a close up shot for print.

The dogs were not originally part of the shoot but oh, as soon as we saw them (rescues btw), they just had to be in. Shot by Dino Busch, someone who love loves dogs, this was a glorious day.

Cute chef: May Chow

Behind the scenes of shooting chef May Chow for a feature. Ain't she cute?! Great chef too!

Personal Taste: Bernard Dance: Interview with Culinary Legend Bernard Dance: Chef of Moet & Chandon

Bernard Dance is chef of champagne house Moet & Chandon's Chateau de Saran in Epernay, France. He was at the InterContinental in Tsim Sha Tsui recently to lead a pairing of champagne and Chinese cuisine.

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.