The word “chain” doesn’t typically invoke images of quality dining—for instance, most of us wouldn’t celebrate a proper occasion at McDonalds or Café de Coral. But in recent months, more and more one-of-a-kind establishments have been going against the grain by leveraging their name and solid reputation to build multi-franchised empires.
All of a sudden, restaurants are trying to appeal to the masses the Robuchon or Nobu way, by replicating successful—and most importantly, respected—venues inch for inch. Take Tim Ho Wan—the humble hole-in-the-wall made its name by serving top-notch dim sum at mass-friendly prices and earned itself a Michelin star. Then, unlike other Michelin peers who worry about keeping the star—they decided to go ahead and open a second shop. A couple months ago, their third outlet popped up at the IFC (Shop 12A, Hong Kong Station, 1/F, IFC Mall, 8 Finance St., Central, 2332-3078), and we wouldn’t be surprised if a fourth were on the way.
Local heavyweight Hung’s Delicacies (read our interview with Ah Hung here), also of Michelin fame, decided to broaden its horizons by expanding beyond its North Point location all the way to the airport (Shop 3P116-3P117, 3/F, SkyPlaza, Terminal 2, Hong Kong International Airport, Chek Lap Kok, 3197-9331).
The mighty Les Amis group, which up until now had stuck to memorable and differently named venues across Singapore and Hong Kong, is testing the waters with Piccolo Pizzeria (Shop 1E, Davis Street, Kennedy Town, 2824-3000), an upscale neighborhood pizza house that has a presence in Kennedy Town as well as in Tai Hang.
Meanwhile, ramen phenomenon Butao King is set to open a second branch in Causeway Bay (G/F, 40 Tang Lung St., Causeway Bay), hot on the heels of Ippudo(2/F, 8 Russell St., Causeway Bay, 2892-2387), the Fukuokan chain that also boasts a shop in Tsim Sha Tsui.
Chez Patrick Deli (casual Star Street-based brother of French restaurant Chez Patrick) has also just marked a new shop in Stanley (Shop 05-06, G/F, Stanley Plaza, Stanley, 2683-5115).