Will Gordon Ramsay and Jamie Oliver's new Hong Kong restaurants signal Asia expansion?
Two of Britain's most successful celebrity chefs are establishing outposts in the city in what could be the start of rapid regional growth for their businesses
British celebrity chefs Gordon Ramsay and Jamie Oliver are opening new restaurants in Hong Kong in what could be the start of moves to expand their restaurant empires further throughout Asia.
The plans to set up in the city can be seen as a vote of confidence by both chefs in Hong Kong's mid-range dining scene, in the sophistication of diners here and in their own self-belief.
Jamie's Italian, which is set to open in Causeway Bay at the end of next month, and Ramsay's Bread Street Kitchen, expected to open in Lan Kwai Fong in September, will see the pair attempt to establish a strong position in the region.
When the city's taste for fine-dining ran up against the global financial crisis, one result was the growth of mid-market chains bringing niche concepts to Hong Kong. Restaurant groups such as Black Sheep, King Parrot and the Press Room Group, and individual investors such as Yenn Wong, have imported concepts as disparate as German beer halls, regional Thai and British gastropubs.
They're chefs of a different stature, they're not hands-on chefs any more, are they?
Michael van Warmelo, executive chef at Concept Creations, which operates mid-market Spanish, Peruvian and Greek restaurants, says price is always an issue in Hong Kong and running a successful fine-dining restaurant means achieving a level of consistency often absent here.
"Fine dining - you have to do it extremely well, like Richard [Ekkebus] at Amber, near to perfection."