The announcement earlier this week that the Hong Kong government was implementing stricter measures to slow down the third wave of coronavirus cases should not have come as a surprise. Nobody was happy about it, of course, because it was potentially devastating to businesses that were suddenly being required to temporarily shut their doors. However, we are pleased that the government is finally – very, very slowly – closing a few of the loopholes that have allowed the virus into the city through the 33 categories of exempt visitors (get on with it already!). The new measures meant that all food and beverage establishments were prohibited from serving meals at any time on the premises – they could only sell food for takeaway. The government did a U-turn on part of the regulations only one day after they took effect on July 29, and as of July 31, restaurants can once again continue to open between 5am and 6pm, although a maximum of two diners can sit at each table. The government explained its reversal by saying it understood “the inconvenience and difficulties that the measure will bring to employees”. It might have a lot to do with the pictures of workers eating their takeaway meals on the roadside, which doesn't look good for Hong Kong’s status as a “world city”. But isn’t that something they should have considered before? In any case, at the beginning of the week, many of us rushed out to have one last restaurant meal before the new ban on eating in was due to start. My “last meal” (as I thought of it then) was lunch at Hansik Goo, the new Korean restaurant by Kang Min-goo in Central, whose Mingles in Seoul has two Michelin stars, and is #14 on the 2020 list of the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants. Opening during a pandemic isn’t the best timing but who could have anticipated it? It takes months of planning to open a new business – the space is rented and fitted out, staff are hired, the concept and menu are planned, dishes are tested. You can’t just stop and keep everyone/everything in a state of suspended animation – rent and salaries still have to be paid, so you might as well continue. Why chef Kang Min-goo wants to introduce vegan cuisine to Koreans Kang came to Hong Kong on July 7, spending the required two weeks in quarantine, and at Tuesday’s lunch, gave a brief account of opening Hansik Goo, his first overseas establishment. “Our project started last year in December and it was planned that I would come one or two times a month. Suddenly, in January, the coronavirus started to spread throughout the world and I had to stop travelling. “We postponed the grand opening for two months, but we hired people and couldn’t wait [indefinitely] so they did the semi-opening without me [here],” he explains. “Once I got the visa I came straight to Hong Kong. It was a big challenge. I’ve never spent more than two weeks away from [Mingles] but this is six weeks – four weeks of quarantine [two when arriving in Hong Kong, and two when he returns to Seoul] and two weeks of working here. “I had to set up my restaurants in Seoul – hire more people, train my staff – so they’d be fine without me, and I Zoom call every day. I’m normally the kind of chef who spends all his time in the kitchen so this is a huge challenge for me. I heard that Hong Kong was under control but during my quarantine, the situation was getting worse. Every day we had to change [our plans]. “We were open for dinner for only one day and after that [due to the first regulations] we could only open for lunch. We had to call all our guests to tell them [we had to cancel their dinner reservations] but luckily, most of them were able to come for lunch instead. We put the dinner menu on at lunchtime, and also planned takeaway food, so now we can serve that. “I’ve only been out of quarantine for one week and so many things have changed. [July 21] was the first time I saw the restaurant and kitchen, and I’ve had to change so many things in one week. “Even though we didn’t have dinner service, we would finish work at 11pm or sometimes midnight and I would have a meeting with the four Korean chefs, until around 2am, about what we wanted to try out the next day. I would call my team in Seoul and they would pack ingredients and send them by Fed Ex to Hong Kong.” He is philosophical about the situation, however. “It’s not bad luck. You could say this is bad timing, but otherwise, it’s a good chance, it’s good experience for me. We have been fully booked for the last week, and I realise how many Hong Kong guests I have who have been to Mingles. “Now all I need is for Hong Kong guests to come back to Seoul.”