Eat like the Tsangs once did at ex-Government House chef's restaurant

A nervous Chung Kin-leung enters the private dining room of the high-end Lai Bun Fu Chinese restaurant in Central.

He looks restive, uncomfortable, lost even, as he pulls up a chair, briefly touching the silver spoon that's poking out of his top pocket. "We've asked him if he wants to remove the spoon, but he loves it. It's sort of become his signature," says one of the public relations representatives who is acting as translator.

Chung, who looks much younger than his 54 years, is, I'm informed, "very shy" and more at home in the kitchen that schmoozing with guests. His passion for his craft was ignited 40 years ago when he cooked for his family in Guangzhou.

He has carved an interesting career path, one which included a decade as a chef at Government House. Lai Bun Fu is his first foray into the restaurant business.

"I'm happy and excited about the challenge of working in a restaurant," he says. "I was very comfortable working at Government House, but I think this new role will allow me more freedom. I can visit the markets every day, and source fresh produce," Chung says.

Lai Bun Fu is located in a nondescript building in On Lan Street, an area being hyped as the city's new culinary hub. The first thing guests see as they emerge from the lift is a gong, similar to the one that would announce dinner at Government House. It's one of many design nods to the city's colonial past.

The menu is born of a corporate social responsibility mindset, and includes vegetarian shark's fin soup. Vivien Shek, the restaurant's director, worked with Chung to develop the dishes, and says Lai Bun Fu is following the government's lead by refusing to serve shark fin.