Restaurateur looking for the right recipe to counter recession
A little recession isn't going to stop Dining Concepts' Sandeep Sekhri from expanding his empire.
The restaurateur is currently working with renowned chef Laurent Tourdondel (pictured above right with Sekhri) to bring his BLT Steak concept to Harbour City in January.
The famed French-born but New York-based chef is in town overseeing the prime al fresco site under construction next to Habitu the Pier in Tsim Sha Tsui.
For the record, BLT stands for Bistro Laurent Tourdondel and he's been surprised by the high calibre of celebrity chef eateries around. 'There's some serious food going on,' Tourdondel said. 'I had no idea it was at that high of a level. I'm happy here. I'll try to provide one of the best steaks in town.'
BLT isn't just about thick slabs of beef though. He also has in various major cities his other concepts like BLT Fish, BLT Prime, BLT Market and BLT Burger, and if Sekhri has his way all those spin-offs will be here, too.
'The idea is to expand, so BLT Steak is just the first one,' the restaurateur said. 'We want to bring them to Hong Kong and other parts of Asia, to grow the brand. When I talked with Harbour City, they wanted a brand name.'
However, it hasn't been all work and no play. As Tourdondel confessed, 'Since I came last week, we've been having dim sum almost everyday.
'I like Asian food a lot. You know what, I was at Yung Kee and I'm going to take the ginger and scallion sauce and make something with it.
'I have already told my assistant to have it for me in my kitchen. Maybe I'll make something with crispy chicken skin and [for taking me there] call it the Sandeep Chicken.'
