Jacky Yu
A graphic designer turned celebrity chef, Jacky Yu is a pioneer of the private kitchen and proprietor of the successful Xi Yan chain of Chinese restaurants across Hong Kong and Singapore. He tells Adele Wong about his unorthodox ways, and how his experience in advertising has helped translate to success in the kitchen.
I was born in Foshan, China. I moved to Hong Kong when I was 11.
I started off doing advertising. I had my own advertising company [as a graphic designer] for more than 10 years. In 1997, there was the Asian financial crisis and the economy was really bad. A lot of restaurants went out of business. I also felt tired of advertising so I wanted to try something new. I’ve always had an interest in cooking and eating. I was also surrounded by friends who enjoyed food.
While I was in advertising, I had the opportunity to travel all over China and Southeast Asia. I fell in love with cooking.
I didn’t have the confidence to open a restaurant, and it was such a hassle, so
I opened a private kitchen called Xi Yan instead on Queen’s Road East, where my old office used to be. There were three tables. This was the year 2000.
Coming from advertising, I wanted to come up with a more gimmicky name for my operation. “Xi Yan” means wedding banquet in Chinese. I hope everyone who comes here will feel like they’re going to a wedding banquet, and be very happy.
Xi Yan got booked up very quickly, and the private kitchen concept at that time was really fresh. Lots of journalists wanted to interview us. And you know Hongkongers—the more mysterious something is, the more people want to know about it and check it out. Some F&B magazines went undercover as diners and took photos. At our peak, we had about a half-year waiting list.
Food is more than about the taste. You need to look at the whole combination, like which plate goes with which dish, and how to build the dish so it looks prettier. These are all important.