Hong Kong’s best chefs prepare city’s biggest buffet in aid of children’s charity

The 24th Great Chefs of Hong Kong event offers every imaginable cuisine from more than 40 restaurants, with proceeds going to Heep Hong Society to fund education and training for children in need

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Great Chefs event organiser Kim Murphy with Markus Zuck, executive sous chef of host the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong. Photos: Edmond So

Published: 6:15am, 8 Apr 2016Updated: 1:10pm, 15 Apr 2016

Food indulgence is usually not very pretty. Case in point: that video of tourists fighting over shrimp at a buffet in Thailand. One of the rare exceptions is the Great Chefs of Hong Kong charity event. For this annual feast in support of the Heep Hong Society, indulgence is a beautiful thing.

Now in its 24th year, the fundraiser and culinary extravaganza brings together chefs from restaurants and hotels across the city for a night of gourmet delights. Guests enjoy an all-they-can-eat evening while benefiting the leading local organisation in education and training for children of different abilities.

Signature pulled pork tacos from Coyote Bar & Grill, one of the 40 restaurants taking part in the Great Chefs of Hong Kong at the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong in Wan Chai in May.

More than 40 chefs will be featured this year, serving up every cuisine imaginable at the Grand Hyatt on May 12. For the event’s long-serving chairwoman, Kim Murphy, putting together the city’s biggest buffet is never easy no matter how many years she’s done it.

“The main challenge is [maintaining] consistency and also keeping it fresh and exciting,” says Murphy, a nutritionist who also runs the hospitality consultancy Food & Beverage Solutions (FABS).

Chef Jean Marc of The Mira Hong Kong, another participant, makes 1-metre citrus tart.

“Many chefs come every year. Probably about 70 per cent have been coming for 10 years. Then there some that drop out and we have to replace them. There are always new restaurants in Hong Kong, so there’s 30 per cent new participants each year.

“It makes it exciting that we don’t have the same things every year. Part of our job on the committee is to make sure we have a good mix of food. For example, my restaurant [the Beach Club] was going to do a dessert but I had to tell them, ‘No, you’re doing a savoury because we already have too many desserts’. We try to make sure there’s enough sweets, savoury, spicy, Chinese, Japanese, and so on.”

The food and beverage outlets pitching in include Porterhouse by Laris (serving delicious pork buns with XO sauce), Namo Avant Thai (with their Chiang Mai ribs), Coyote Bar & Grill (pulled pork tacos), Jinjuu and VEA Restaurant & Lounge, as well as hotels such as The Peninsula, Harbour Grand and Hotel Icon.