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‘A world of fusion’: Swiss-Hong Kong chef Jacques Kagi plates up his history in new role
Anthony Wong’s self-professed Swiss doppelganger talks about serving haute fusion food to reflect his diverse past as he leads CulinArt 1862
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Many have come to know chef Jacques Kagi as the doppelganger of Hong Kong actor Anthony Wong Chau-sang. But there is so much more to this Swiss-Hong Kong chef than this uncanny resemblance.
After working at various high-profile restaurants in Hong Kong hotels, including The Peninsula and Conrad Hong Kong, Kagi was recently appointed as the new culinary director of CulinArt 1862, a restaurant opened by the Hong Kong and China Gas Company (Towngas), in Causeway Bay on Hong Kong Island.
Fluently cracking jokes in Cantonese, English and German in the kitchen, Kagi, who was born and raised in Hong Kong to a Swiss father and a Chinese mother, is a reflection of his multicultural upbringing.
“Growing up in Hong Kong in a mixed family with a Western father and a Chinese mother, I grew up in a world of fusion,” he says. “Based on these life experiences, and also from my work experiences in China, I wanted to create a menu that celebrates this kind of history on a personal level.”
How Jacques Kagi built a culinary foundation
This world of fusion was practically hard-wired into him. Kagi’s father was heavily involved in Hong Kong’s hotel and tourism industry during the 1960s and 70s, a golden era when Swiss hospitality professionals flooded the city.
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