The first place they’d fly to for a memorable meal: Hong Kong chefs pick Bangkok for pad Thai, Tokyo for French food, abalone in Seoul, a Kyoto kaiseki feast

These professional foodies know where they’re going first when international travel resumes

For Nicolas Boutin it’s Bangkok for ‘one superb dish, done the way it should be’; for Vicky Lau, it’s Seoul for ‘simple Korean flavours’ elevated to a new level

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Florilège in Tokyo, Japan serves kaiseki dishes, and is the first place Hong Kong-based Argentinian chef Agustin Balbi would fly to for a meal when international travel resumes.

Published: 2:15pm, 14 May 2020Updated: 9:03pm, 14 May 2020

It’s fair to assume that most people look for decent weather, stunning landscapes and cultural richness when choosing a holiday destination. But others are more interested in another thing: the food.

That’s certainly the case with four Hong Kong chefs we spoke to. It would be difficult to find a profession that is more influenced or inspired by other cultures.

Chefs love nothing more than to eat food that someone else has prepared, especially when it’s made by friends or former colleagues. So with the enforced travel lockdown, their minds naturally turn to the first dish they want to eat again, once flying and travelling is viable and safe.

Nicolas Boutin, executive chef of Gourmet Dining Group, Hong Kong and the chef behind the one-Michelin-star French fine- dining spot Epure, in Harbour City, Tsim Sha Tsui, has worked around the world, from the three-Michelin-star La Maison Troisgros in his native France to Boston, The Maldives, Bora Bora in French Polynesia, and Canouan Island in the Caribbean.

Boutin is looking forward to eating pad Thai from Hoi Tod Chaw Lae in Bangkok.

Boutin is looking forward to travelling to Bangkok and eating one of Thailand’s most famous dishes.

“Ever since I first travelled to Bangkok when I started working in Hong Kong, I’ve always loved going back. Although I am not a fan of big cities, as a tourist for a few days I enjoyed the vibrant, bright, loud, smoky, energetic and exciting Bangkok, which still somehow remains tranquil in a number of the cultural districts. I like local Thai food which is a bit spicy – but not too much – and one superb classic dish, done the way it should be, is pad Thai.”