Hong Kong Michelin-star Cantonese restaurant The Chairman’s founder on moving locations and making the new place feel like home
- The Chairman, a Michelin-star Cantonese restaurant in Hong Kong, recently moved to a new space in Central, made homely with plants, cookbooks and art
- Founder Danny Yip explains the decor and its new menu, shortened for a more focused experience – guests choose their dishes a few days in advance
Kau U Fong, a quiet cul-de-sac in Hong Kong’s Central neighbourhood, is where one-Michelin-star The Chairman – ranked the fifth best restaurant in Asia earlier this year – used to stand.
Founder Danny Yip opened the Cantonese restaurant there back in 2012, and was attracted to the spot because of its tranquillity – the rustling leaves on the trees and the sunlight-dappled concrete ledges beneath them where staff from nearby restaurants and street sweepers would perch and listen to the chirping of birds amid the muffled rumble of traffic.
The restaurateur misses the changing of the seasons there, such as in autumn, when the leaves would turn from vibrant green to golden brown and then fall to the floor, all in a matter of days. In the spring, Yip fondly remembers the sprouting of the buds, as the street came alive with the verve of nature’s renewal.
“Central is so busy, but once you walk into that street, everything is quiet. It’s really quite amazing,” he says.
