Gray Kunz: passionate chef, fan of flavours, and a leader in the kitchen who loved Hong Kong
- Swiss chef born in Singapore worked extensively in Hong Kong, at Plume and Cafe Gray Deluxe, in Shanghai, and at Lespinasse in New York
- ‘He was the perfect mix of intimidating and inspiring,’ says a former colleague, one of several to speak warmly of a man who was ‘a true gentleman’
When Gray Kunz began working in Plume, a fine-dining French restaurant at the then Regent Hong Kong hotel, in the 1980s the Swiss chef had a difficult time adjusting to the place, but eventually decided he would make the effort to stay.
“So one morning I sat there and watched the guys [in the kitchen],” Kunz – whose death at the age of 65 was announced late on Friday – said in a 2017 interview with the Post’s Post Magazine. “They had this crummy pot that looked like it was from the Sham Shui Po market. They put it on the stove, when it was boiling they put in two handfuls of tea. That was their drink all day long. So the next day I went in early and made tea for them.
“When they walked in, the guys were almost crying – for me to come early to make tea for them was a big step. I took that step, then another step. The team I had there was unreal. Either you make the effort or you don’t. It’s up to you.”
It was in Hong Kong that the Singapore-born Kunz began learning more about Asian cuisines and cooking techniques, ideas he would take to New York in the 1990s. Innovative dishes like marinated crabmeat with a melon-citrus sauce, and squab ragout with turmeric served with a rice-flour crepe became famous at Lespinasse restaurant, where he was in the kitchen for eight years.
Chef Joey Sergentakis, who owes his career in Asia to Kunz and who opened Cafe Gray Deluxe in Hong Kong with him in 2009, attributes the Swiss chef’s interest in Asian flavours to his early years in Singapore.