Hong Kong chef-owners on seizing the ‘last chance’ to open restaurants of their own despite the raging coronavirus pandemic

Paolo Monti, two decades at Gaia Ristorante, and Peter Find, over a decade at the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong, are both opening restaurants in their fifties

Monti will serve Roman cuisine at Ama Ristorante in Wan Chai, while Find will showcase food from around Germany at Heimat in Central

Reading Time:5 minutes

Chef Paolo Monti, of Ama Ristorante in Wan Chai, Hong Kong, took the plunge and opened his own restaurant during the coronavirus pandemic’s fifth wave in the city. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Published: 5:15pm, 24 Mar 2022

On the 25th floor of a new building in Hong Kong, Ama Ristorante commands an almost 360-degree view. For chef and owner Paolo Monti, this space on Johnston Road in Wan Chai is a dream come true.

The 52-year-old recently left his role as executive chef at Gaia Ristorante, an Italian restaurant in Sheung Wan. It was a job he had held for two decades, working with well-known maitre d’ Pino Piano and serving mostly regular customers who have known them both for years.

Monti felt now was the time – pandemic or not – to open his own restaurant. “It’s my last chance. If I wait any longer I’ll be too old,” he says. “You have to renew yourself and have the energy to do something new.”

He is not the only top chef in Hong Kong to have chosen such a challenging time to open their own restaurant. Peter Find, who left his position as executive chef of the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong in January, also took the plunge with a fine-dining German restaurant in LKF Tower in Central.

Peter Find worked at The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong from 2010 until January this year. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

“I’m not getting younger. This is my last chance, otherwise I will regret it,” says the 56-year-old, who had been with the hotel in the ICC Tower in Kowloon since it opened in 2010.

Find is hoping to change people’s perception of German food as being only Oktoberfest dishes like roasted pork knuckle and sausages. These items won’t be found at his restaurant, called Heimat, which means “homeland” in German.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x