Interview: Jamie Oliver reveals why new mid-market Hong Kong restaurant is perfectly placed
As his first Hong Kong outpost is unveiled, celebrity chef Jamie Oliver talks food, family and franchising
Jamie Oliver is full of praise for the reporter who's interviewing him for this article at the Jamie Oliver Limited offices in London. "I'm a massive fan of yours. You wrote an amazing, incredible book."
Unfortunately, that reporter is not me. Due to a major muddle, I'm still on the Eurostar en route from Paris to London. My pinch-hitter is more than worthy, though: it's Fuchsia Dunlop, BBC journalist and bestselling author of several cookbooks on Chinese cuisine, including her first, Sichuan Cookery, and her latest, Every Grain of Rice, for which Oliver wrote the cover blurb. Dunlop is a friend, and when I call in desperation a couple of hours before the interview is scheduled to take place to ask if she can interview Oliver until I arrive (which turns out to be eight minutes before the 45-minute interview ends), she agrees immediately.
Oliver opened Jamie's Italian in Soundwill Plaza II - Midtown in Causeway Bay this week. It is the latest addition to a sprawling chain that boasts 35 branches in Britain and, now, 10 overseas locations.
There had been many rumours over the years that Oliver would open a place in Hong Kong. "It took a while to find the right partners and people," Oliver says. "Before you put your name above a door, you really have to trust where you're going to do it, how you're going to do it and who the partners are. It's taken some time - and actually the Big Cat Group that's going to be running the restaurant in Hong Kong is newly formed.
Watch: Promotion video for Jamie's Italian Hong Kong