Q&A
Q: Favourite bar/club? JJ's (at the Grand Hyatt hotel). It has a live band and is always packed with a civilised crowd compared to other other places in Wan Chai. The people are there to enjoy the music and social scene, and you can choose to dance or simply listen.
Q: What music do you listen to? It varies, my favourite is Italian operas, but now that I've taken up dancing, I listen to ballroom dance music - oldies or new wave that has the same sort of dancing rhythm.
Q: What's your poison? I stick to one drink, gin and tonic. I don't mix drinks, and I don't usually drink to get drunk.
Q: How much do you spend for a night out? It depends. About $200 if champagne is not included or if it's a wine dinner, maybe up to $2,500.
Q: What's your favourite dish? Mui choi kow yuk (stewed pork belly with preserved vegetables), with three bowls of plain rice and soup.
Q: What's your favourite restaurant? I like a very good Shanghai restaurant in Causeway Bay, called Shanghai Fan Deem. It's three shops away from the Forum Restaurant on Lockhart Road - close to where I work. It's very cheap - for $30 you get two big bowls of plain rice, a soup du jour, and one dish, like fried eel with beansprouts, or double fried pork served with a bit of chilli, bell pepper and cabbage. They also have jellyfish served with shredded cucumber, it's quite delicate, and Shanghai won ton and xiao long bao, and all kinds of baked breads.
Q: What would you cook for a romantic dinner? I never cook to seduce, I cook to be hospitable.
Q: What can't you say no to? Good, natural food and wine.
Q: Where do you go to relax? I go home. I watch television or listen to music. I like to shuttle between my room and the kitchen searching for food. Cooking is a very good meditation for me but I don't usually have the time, it's not one of my privileges.
Q: Describe your fantasy night.
A night with decent people who appreciate fine food and wine.
