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Going to Vietnam, chasing the origin of chocolate, was all nice and beautiful, but then I had to find what to do with it! I received a kilo of single origin Vietnam chocolate, vintage 2010, with 72% cocoa content and after having tasted it, I found that the flavors were very gentle and subtle, yet … Read more →
Happy Mother’s Day! This cupcake bouquet is set on all the tables for the guests of our Lounge to enjoy or take away once they are done with our delicious afternoon tea!
Done! Four days of HOFEX are finally over… HOFEX is one of these hospitality industry fair where you can virtually find everything and anything you need, ranging from wine to black truffle, passing by incredible machines to break eggs or make odd looking waffles. During the four days, the Culinary Classics features a range of … Read more →
Flowers blossoming and sweetness was all around at a super sweet baby shower – a few highlights to satisfy your eyes and make you hungry!
We’re still baking rhubarb tarts and starting to tackle Gariguette strawberries, but it’s never too late to get ready with our Summer Sundae; a few photos to keep your taste buds chilled this summer! If you look at the back of the affogato you will spot a basket of vanilla chouquette, made with the best … Read more →
April won’t be a bad month at all, besides April’s fool maybe… but this year, The Harvest Feast will fool no one. Aligning nothing less than 11 top Hong Kong Chef’s behind the stoves, the 2013 edition of the Harvest Feast looks way more than promising. The Harvest Feast is fundamentally organized towards supporting local … Read more →
The popular adage “Size does not matter” was proved wrong… at least for today! That Easter Egg weighs more than 80 kg (about 180 lbs) and measures 1.2 meters tall (nearly 4 ft) – making it was more of a construction engineering project rather than pastry. Indeed, each halves scales at 30 kg and with … Read more →
A week ago, it was my son Clement who was on TVB, eating cupcakes glutinously. On Saturday night, 23rd of March, it’s my turn, but nothing for me to indulge with as I was busy making Easter cupcakes on the show! The tricky part wasn’t really to make the cupcake, but to come up with … Read more →
A few weeks ago, we’ve planted a few seeds of a very special crop, a crop that makes people happy! If flowers could grow in deliciousness, this is what they would look like; we’ve grown carrot cake flowers! This Easter, we are taking a different look at the classic cupcakes. And different is the least … Read more →
Chef Jonay Armas from The Principal, Chef Matthew Bishop from 22 Ships, representing Chef Jason Atherton, Chef Herve Fucho and myself from Four Seasons came together to cook dinner for the Room to Read Charity. As Room to Read states it so well on their website “World change starts with educating children”. When you read the facts … Read more →
On the 19:05 flight to Ho Chi Min City, also known as Saigon, I had very little idea of what I would discover. It was my first visit of Vietnam and my first encounter with the roots of chocolate: Cocoa trees. Visiting the cocoa tree plantation demystified my vision of chocolate, yet, there was still … Read more →
Finally! Got Cheese? is the first of my books to be released in e-format!! Woohooo! I know, it’s a bit odd, because Got cheese? is actually still available in hard copy, and so many of you asked me for Artisan bread and Never Skip Dessert, but anyway it’s a start! So if you head over … Read more →
Elisa, the mastermind behind the feel-good effect at Arwana Estate says it herself: “When you step into your villa, you feel like home!” And that’s really and understatement to the point where when you come back from busy Seminyak, you feel like you are in an oasis of calm and luxury. Water is omnipresent, from … Read more →
This is easily one of the best baking day I’ve had in a very long time… Several months ago, my friend Ping from Zen Organic Farm showed me plans to build a brand new brick oven, I thought I was dreaming… Have a look here to see the photos of the building process. We are … Read more →
If there is one recipe you must try this year, look no further. The chocolate sabayon tart, freshly baked and warm is out of this world. Bake this for people and you will be the next president! After so many years baking, the sabayon tart still one of my favorite especially served with a fruit … Read more →
There is something about chocolate that keeps making me come back for more, but it isn’t the percentage of cocoa content. After decades of using chocolate in every other possible form, ranging from dropping chocolate in sub zero 70° proof alcohol to slow cook and caramelize white chocolate, I have seen it all. And when … Read more →
With Valentine’s Day poised right after Chinese New Year, we’ve came up with a romantic 6 shades of pink macaron for this year. The macaron from left to right: Rose petal white chocolate ganache Rosé champagne jelly & cream Red currant semi-pris & cream Mint Cream & strawberry jam Raspberry/hibiscus semi-pris Griotte confit & dark … Read more →
Last week we had the chance to hold a wine dinner in collaboration with L’Ambroise (Paris), a fairly well known restaurant holding several Michelin stars… For the occasion, legendary chef Bernard Pacaud had his son Mathieu working with us and had designed a superb menu for the evening. While the menu was designed by Chef … Read more →
If you look at it from a different angle, happiness doesn’t require any material things… or maybe, it does… if you call chocolate cream material, then yes… a substantial material with an ephemeral life, like butterflies – no, no relation here, except that both are beautiful! :) A week ago, I was asked to post … Read more →
On January 27th, we will be launching my latest book LAYERS at Towngas Cooking Center! During the 1.5 hours demonstration organized by my publisher Wan Li Book, I will show and explain 2 recipes from the book; the mango pecan mille-feuille and Vianna’s Egg Benedict! There is space for 70 people (they can accommodate so … Read more →
Or a Queen if you’d ask me! I know King’s day has passed, but I wasn’t actually doing King’s tart a few days ago, I was experimenting with puff pastry and butter. To me, this is like when you love playing guitar, for example, not following the notes, just jamming and just for the sake … Read more →
No one can predict the future, neither can I. But according to what I see happening in our kitchens and in other places in town, and after having read a few reports on food trends in other countries, I thought I’d give my 10 cents worth on what I think major food trends will be … Read more →
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!!! 2012 has been the year of all superlatives. It seems the stars had their eyes on me at all time… I even won a prize at a Christmas lucky draw! Can you imagine? This never happened to me, ever… To wrap up the year, here is a little recap of what … Read more →
Like with most things in life, there are moments where you feel the passion within and the genuine interest in matters. At times, when writers come to visit us to learn about a certain topic, I feel like it almost turns to boredom for them, no matter how exciting we try to make it, maybe … Read more →
Usually, I am not the greatest fan of macerated fruits/jam/brandy sort of recipes, but we gave some thoughts to that one; made with fresh poached pears has a nice fruity side to it that fits every festive occasion. Happy days! :) I shared the recipe in a video for Tatler’s Epicurean Express here, take a … Read more →
Christmas is the time where we also thank our friends from the media world for their support all year long. Similarly to last year, we held our party by the pool where we served miniature main courses, canapes and a foie gras station pairing with a tasting of our Sauternes. From the sweet side, this … Read more →
There are traditions that tend to become boring, but others, like the Christmas tree or the Gingerbread House that tend to make our inner child come out with jellyfish eyes every year! It took our team about 2 weeks to build the actual house but many more days to think it through.
To some people, gloomy skies and lower temperature induces some sort of comfort food craving… If you are one of these people, then you may just want to try the new pastries we’ve created on our afternoon tea. For the chilly season, we’ve put together heartwarming flavors and textures in our creations. On the left … Read more →
Last month, my trip to New York was for the launch of the new TASTE by Four Seasons, and although hurricane Sandy tried to stop it, it is now up and running. You can visit it and request ingredients and vote for your favorite dishes! At the original planned date of the event, apples were … Read more →
And we retained our 3 stars in both, Caprice and Lung King Heen!!! This is such an achievement for the Chefs and for our teams and trust me, the pressure we keep at work to remain to the top is far bigger than trying to reach the stars. I always like to think that getting … Read more →
Bread brings together the four elements of nature… The Earth where our wheat grows and our salt nurtures, the Water who hydrates every dough and every plants; the Air where our natural yeast evolves, lifting our loaves; and the Fire from the sun who ripens our cultures and provides heat to our earth ovens. Baking … Read more →
There was never and there still isn’t a day where my team let me down. To receive such an award and recognition from the well-regarded Hong Kong Tatler is a true honor, a kind of achievement accomplished over so many late nights and early mornings during the past 20 years of my career, including 8 … Read more →
When we bake, we use our senses coupled with our manual ability and our creativity, thus, as pastry chef, we are some sort of artist… Let there be chocolate, bread, dessert or cake, everything we do requires a very precise set of skills and the learning process is long and tedious… Even after 20 years … Read more →
Today the South China Morning Post published an article featuring this dessert. It’s not often that people ask me for healthy dessert as they are mainly associated with sugar, fat and every other health problem that exists on the planet. This time I tried to balance the G.I. index of the dessert to keep it … Read more →
I wouldn’t know where to start with the unbelievable lifelong passion Chef Michel Roux has under his belt. The list is so long that you may want to read his wikipedia profile, and please be seated and ready to be blown away – Michel Roux is nothing short of a living legend. As a pastry … Read more →
Being stranded in New York because of the mayhem Sandy left behind was not the best thing that ever happened to me. Transportation were disrupted, areas without electricity, no heating system with a temperatures as low as 4 Celsius, no gas for cars, car pool rules in force, Red Cross food distribution in the street and so … Read more →
The Big Apple never fails to impress! I am posting this from New York City where I am stranded…. One of the most exciting event in my career was set to take place in New York on October 30th where I was invited to cook some desserts for a very special event. It was planned … Read more →
October 23, a public holiday in Hong Kong where most people gather with family and friends for a day filled with happiness! Reality has it different for the residents of Fu Hong Society and Hong Chi Association whom both take great care of people and especially children with mental and physical disabilities. They don’t necessarily have a … Read more →
On October 26, our traditional chocolate sour cherry kiss is turning pink to show our support for the breast cancer pink day! And yes… turns out it really fits the breast cancer support! ;-) Every day should be a pink day!
With Autumn pouring its orchard fruits on us, inspiration is knocking on the door every day! Joshua and Caleb from Twins Kitchen visited us for an informal chat and a little work around rye sourdough and the above dessert. I loved the way the Twins approached the filming and the way we chatted along the … Read more →
There are days where you wake up and things go way beyond anything you’ve ever expected. It’s 6am in the Swiss Alps and as the sun barely touches the 4000 meters summit across the valley and we find ourselves well on our way to the Alpage du Tronc. An alpage is a high altitude mountain cow … Read more →
This morning I chocked on my croissant when I came across that article from the South China Morning Post. Without even starting to debate on local and organic food, which is what the article is all about, I found way too easy to stigmatize Hong Kong new-born organic scene with the stereotype “urbanites in search … Read more →
The spiciness and sour cherry-like flavor of the Ghana 68% chocolate Nyangbo blends beautifully with our new malted caramel ice cream… With these mellow flavors, I thought Meyer Lemon would be a pretty nice fit – as a curd and freshly grated! And because I can ( LOL ) I dropped a nice spoon of … Read more →
In the world of French language the word “cake” doesn’t refer to your typical kind of layered cream cake, but rather to a pound cake. The quatre quarts cake, absolute epicenter of the French cake culture is what you learn to bake when you grow up along ironing and sewing (yes! I did sew some … Read more →
MAROU! A brand new and fresh look to quality chocolate is the least to say! With all the big brands monopolizing the market of upscale chocolate, Marou brings us a fresh and nice look to the food of Gods. Everything about Marou is from Vietnam and as surprising as it sounds, the team at Marou … Read more →
Could this become a tradition? Could this become a festival where local food would be praised? I can picture the Hong Kong Harvest Festival happening every year during the fall! Nothing less than ALL the chefs from our kitchens walked the stunning gardens of Zen Organic Farm a few weeks ago. Our mission? To harvest … Read more →
At first, I was like you. I freaked out seeing the massive cast iron tool thinking how painful and gruesome it would have been to be punished with it… That was until my brother Sebastien opened wide the gigantic press to reveal a beautiful and very impressive iron carving dating no younger than 1759. Wow! … Read more →
Hang on! The future chefs of Hong Kong are on their way! Together with star chefs such as Ricky Cheung (???), Tony Cheng (???) from the newly opened Le Salon and Michelin starred The Drawing Room, or Martin Yan’s very own protege Christian Yang (???) the man behind BangBangPanPan, we are definitely on a serious … Read more →
There was no option: While I was back home I had to bake bread in those century old wood ovens. Before flying to Switzerland, I asked my family to scan all the news around that topic to see if there was any baking going on while we were there and lucky us, the small village … Read more →
On the long flight back to Hong Kong from my native Valais, my son Clement watched countless movies and cartoon on his screen. As I was seating next to him, I couldn’t help to notice that friendly big orange furry peanut on his screen… he was watching Dr. Seuss’s Lorax. In itself, it was 86 … Read more →
