Hysan Place, Patisseries, Bakeries and Brick Ovens at Home

Watch Out For...

As if Causeway Bay wasn’t congested enough already, it’s going to get much busier now. The much-anticipated mega shopping-dining complex Hysan Place will have opened its doors by the time you read this, and foodies will be happy to know there are now several floors dedicated to restaurants, food shops and cafés, all waiting to be explored. Lots of restaurant groups will have some sort of representation, and there’ll also be a huge supermarket “concept store” by Jasons that will probably give the Sogo basement a run for its money. Aqua group will be diversifying its Chinese food portfolio with a Sichuan restaurant called Red Almond, while the Shanghai Min group will go contemporary with a modern outlet called The Dining Room. There’ll be a large food court called Kitchen 11, another Paul Lafayet and an internet café called Wired—basically, something for everyone.

I can’t believe I still haven’t made it to Passion by Gerard Dubois (Shop 1, G/F, Fraser Suites, 74-80 Johnston Road, Wan Chai, 2529, 2529-1311). This patisserie-slash-cafe by the founder of La Rose Noire has been open since June, and just reading the press release is making me drool all over my desk. Passion stocks fresh breads such as sourdough (made in two flavors: sour and less sour—but given fancier names in French, of course) and baguettes. What really makes me want to check this place out is the fact that they make slabs of nougat—one of my favoritest sweets—in three different varieties: chocolate, fruit and nut. Passion also has macarons, cakes and other dainty French pastries, as well as savory dishes such as sandwiches and salads. The place has a large sit-in area for you to enjoy your food with a cup of coffee, too.

There’s a new bakery in the Tai Ping Shan area (read: HK Mag’s ‘hood) and it’s making fragrant fresh loaves each morning straight out of their open kitchens—can you say heaven? Po’s Atelier (G/F, 62 Po Hing Fong, Sheung Wan, 6056-8005) is mere days old at the time of writing, and it’s one more establishment to add to the list of hangouts in Sheung Wan. With rows of puffy bread bricks sitting pretty on the counter—the result of bakers hard at work—and a creative selection to choose from (cheese and olive sticks, Yunnan ham pretzels, baguettes and bagels, just to name a few), we’re welcoming Po’s Atelier with open arms.

Talk of the Town

I just found THE reason to up and move to the New Territories. People get to build full-scale, solid-brick pizza ovens in their backyards there. Ivor, my colleague from the sales department, decided with his family one day to spend $10,000 and two-and-a-half months of hard labor—you know, just because they can—to build a giant industrial grade inferno outside their home. They purchased some specially made bricks, and piled and shaped and piled some more, until one day the bricks turned into a spankin’ new oven. Since then, Ivor and co. have been roasting pigs, baking pizzas and tossing anything they feel like into this handy bake-all—and getting fantabulous results. Somebody did the math and figured that the family would have to bake a ton of pizzas to recover the costs, but really—they have a freakin’ pizza oven in their backyard. Ivor casually mentioned his family’s toy when the topic of pizza came up during a chat—and that’s when I realized people are suckers for paying astronomical rents to be staying in a closet-sized flat on Hong Kong Island when we could be living it up in the New Territories. The point of this spiel—besides to share how cool Ivor’s family is—is to let you know that you too can have a pizza oven, if you set your mind to it (and own a village house close to China). Anyone interested in building their own? Drop me a line and I’ll hook you up with Ivor’s contractor.

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