The restaurant was on the crest of the French-Japanese dining wave alongside industry big guns such as Amber at Hong Kong’s Landmark Mandarin Oriental hotel and Ta Vie at The Pottinger, both in Central on Hong Kong Island.

He was scheduled to lead a culinary project at the Tai Kwun heritage arts centre in Hollywood Road, Central, but unfortunately the wall of the complex’s former police married inspectors’ quarters collapsed during work to transform the complex in 2016, forcing the postponement of the project; it ultimately fizzled out completely.

Alexander subsequently worked in Shanghai, before returning to Hong Kong for a short stint at the Island Shangri-La hotel in Admiralty. Then, three years ago during a holiday in Thailand, disaster struck.

“I was walking from 7-Eleven back to my condo and a car came out of nowhere and hit me,” Alexander recalls. “It was a very bad accident, one of my muscles was broken and I still have a lot of tissue problems.”

The accident was so serious that the chef was incapacitated and had to stay in Thailand for two months before he could catch a plane back to Hong Kong. He could not work for four months.

“My leg was double in size and I could not fly, but when I returned to Hong Kong I had conflicting prognoses from different doctors. Some said I needed an operation and some said I didn’t.

“I did get some blood drained out and that was it. Honestly, I still haven’t recovered,” Alexander says.

Walking a bit more slowly than before and with a slight limp, the German chef has not been able to exercise like he used to.

“I used to love running, now I can’t do that any more,” he says.

Not one to let an injury hold him back, Alexander has been busy in the past year.

He opened Matera in Singapore, and has partnered with Hong Kong dining group Lubuds to launch Charcoal Bar, a casual open-fire concept at Ocean Terminal in Tsim Sha Tsui.

“Fireside concepts are expensive and long sit-down affairs. With Charcoal Bar I want to give customers the experience but without the price tag,” he says.

For an indulgent way to start their meal, diners at Charcoal Bar can enjoy sea urchin toast with wagyu carpaccio and truffle aioli, and grilled oyster with yuzu and koshu grape butter with ponzu – dishes reminiscent of the chef’s contemporary cooking with premium ingredients at his previous restaurants.

There are charcoal-grilled items such as eel, which involves the thick, fleshy fish being charred until the fat under the skin has almost turned liquid, whereupon it is slathered in a baste of garlic, parsley and lemon. The dish is best enjoyed right away.

Lychee wood-smoked OP rib is everything one could want from a decadent piece of steak; it is succulent and fragrant. Diners can accompany it with an assortment of sauces including chimichurri, five peppercorn au poivre, and brown butter beurre noisette.

The highlight from the sides menu is the potato churro, which is fashioned like the dessert of the same name but served with a garlic aioli rather than chocolate. The ribbed texture of the churro creates a perfectly crisp outer shell, while the potato flavour remains prominent.

It seems Alexander has reached a point of simple optimism in his life and career. When asked about what has happened to him in the past few years, he shrugs and says: “It’s OK. Life goes on.”