bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

I started to cook at a very young age and I was pretty good at it. Growing up in Canada it was easy: we had a bigger kitchen than in Hong Kong.
	When I was in college, I cooked for friends and whatnot.
	I came back to Hong Kong, worked in the family engineering business. I have a degree in environmental science.
	Fifteen years ago, I really got seriously into cooking. I was just bored. There was nothing else to do.
	I was watching TV shows on cooking. At that time, chef [Jacques] Pépin was at his peak. He was doing something that was beyond home dishes. I got really interested in not just cooking, but fine dining.
	There’s a difference between just cooking a casserole or stir-fry, and serving
	foie gras.  
	In 2003, I had an opportunity to take over a restaurant. My friend had a Japanese kaiseki restaurant with a Japanese chef, called Bo. It didn’t work out.
	Two things killed them. First, the Japanese were leaving Hong Kong so there wasn’t big demand for kaiseki. Secondly, SARS. He had an empty restaurant. I gave him 30 grand and that’s how Bo Innovation started.
	I’m a creature of habit. Everywhere I go must be within one meter flip of a taxi.
	I would say Wan Chai is the place where I hang out the most. There are a lot of interesting restaurants in Wan Chai that I frequent. Chefs are very simple.
Sir Run Run Shaw made a lot of movies that I loved to watch when I was a kid. He was actually the oldest person ever to eat at Bo Innovation. I don’t think we can beat that record. He came here about three years ago. Unfortunately, I wasn’t there. I was out of town.
	He donated a lot of money to a lot of causes, but he didn’t do it blindly. He did it for one cause: education.
	I’m sitting near the top of the pyramid, I can’t say, “Oh, I feel how the people at the bottom are suffering.” No, I have not lived in a shoebox. I’ve been lucky all my life. I’m not going to say: “What’s wrong with inflation? What’s wrong with the lack of democracy?”
	For us, we’re so fucking busy I don’t have time to go out and think about what rights we have. And we’re very happy obviously because what we want, we get. But if you are not as fortunate, then you have a lot of time to complain. Did you know the more affluent you are, the less likely you are to complain?
	A lot of times you complain because you are insecure of what position you hold in society, and therefore you have to complain just to justify where you think you should be. Complaining is a form of insecurity.
	With politicians, you’re nice to everyone except each other.
	I think we will achieve democracy [in Hong Kong] when China achieves it. Everybody is into something for their own interests.
	There are not that many Mother Teresas and Elsie Tus in this world.
	I think stress drives you. Stress is something we all have, unless you’re a cat sitting around all day smelling your ass. It’s the satisfaction of trying to overcome it.
	Hong Kong is all about stress. Everybody on the streets is pushing each other. Hong Kong has a lot of energy, and the by-product of that is stress. And the by-product of stress is energy.
	The higher you reach, sometimes the less secure you become. When you get higher, everybody’s at the bottom trying to get at you. Getting three Michelin stars, I probably lost a lot of friends.
	Practical people are pessimists. We are always trying to improve. I am a very practical person. I’m a pessimist because I’m a perfectionist.
	It is true that when you achieve the maximum that there is a possibility of going down. It’s happened to me before. I had two stars, I went down to one.
	However, it doesn’t stop you from improving. Sustainability, sometimes, means not changing. It means being conservative. It can hurt your creativity.
	Getting three stars is half the journey. The other half is convincing everyone who comes to your restaurant that you’re worthy of the three stars.

	Check out Bo Innovation at Shop 13, 2/F, J Residence, 60 Johnston Rd., Wan Chai, 2850-8371.
	 


Best of the Best: Quotes from the Most Prominent People in Hong Kong

Designer Comma Leung is Crowdfunding to Make Wallets for the Blind

What Do I Need to Know to Survive in Hong Kong?

HK Mag Staff Pick Their Favorite Eats for the Last Time

HK Magazine Archive

Alvin Leung

Magazines

The chef and owner of three-Michelin-star restaurant Bo Innovation, Alvin Leung is at the top of his game. He tells Adele Wong about the forces that drive him, his contempt for those who complain, and his admiration for the late Sir Run Run Shaw.
