‘Nobody gave me a chance’: how chef Uwe Opocensky eventually succeeded in Hong Kong
- The globetrotting German recalls stints at El Bulli, in Spain, Mosimann’s, in London, and Krug Room in Hong Kong
- Opocensky almost didn’t make it to Asia, but was given a break by the Aberdeen Marina Club and has never looked back
Where did your interest in food come from? “My grandmother and mother. I grew up in Worpswede, an art colony in northern Germany. From the age of five I remember helping my granny make cookies for Christmas. She had an old hand crank to roll out sheets of dough. We made cookies to fill 12 boxes and sent them to relatives. It was 10 days of work but what’s not to like about sweet things?
“When I was nine years old the microwave came out and I didn’t like it. I asked my mother how to reheat food after school, how to make mashed potatoes. From there I started cooking breakfast for my parents and helping with lunch.”
What was your first job? “In Germany, around the age of 14, you either go to vocational training or university. For the former you choose three jobs you are interested in, and people in those jobs speak to you, and then you do a three-month internship.
“I wanted to become a chef and interned in a restaurant in my village, and I was fascinated by the heat, stress and running around. I pitted cherries and washed pots, but I knew this would be for me. By 16, I was cooking full time.”
As chefs we have one chance to make a first impression; if you don’t do well, people will remember you for what you have not done well
How did you get to London to work for Anton Mosimann? “While I was in the national service, in 1993, I spent 1½ years in a restaurant where one of the chefs was into competitions. I competed with him in the world championships in Switzerland and we came fourth out of 1,500 teams. That’s where I met chef Anton Mosimann, who was one of the judges.
“I went back to the army, did another competition and came in third, with the prize being a weekend in London and dinner at Mosimann’s, where I met him again. I asked him for a job and he told me to apply. I got it when I was 21 and I worked there for nine years.
“I spoke very little English when I came to London. It was my first time away from a small village, so the first six months were super hard. I started as a commis chef, then in three weeks became chef de partie, and in six months I was a sous chef. A year or two later, I became the head chef of outside catering.
“I was in charge of a sizeable operation, and there was a lot of pressure. I did a lot of crying at night. The kitchen in the early 1990s was tough, but also rewarding. Mosimann is the nicest man. He told us as chefs we have one chance to make a first impression; if you don’t do well, people will remember you for what you have not done well.
“With outside catering, we did meals on the Orient Express, we were regulars at 10 Downing Street, Buckingham Palace – we got the royal warrant – and the White House, in Washington.”
What was your first job in Hong Kong? “In 2004, I got married and wanted to come to Asia because the hotel industry here is the benchmark. I was 29 years old and in interviews, everyone said the same thing: I was too young to be an executive chef, and didn’t have Asian experience. Nobody gave me a chance.
“So I ended up getting a job at the Kempinski Moscow and then, three weeks before my starting date, I got a call from the Aberdeen Marina Club in Hong Kong asking me to come for an interview. The next day I flew out, cooked for one day and got the job offer that night. I signed a piece of paper and told my wife we were moving to Hong Kong.”
How did you end up interning at El Bulli? “I still had a desire to work in a Michelin-starred restaurant and at that time El Bulli was fascinating. After a year at the Aberdeen Marina Club, I applied to El Bulli and thought that with 5,000 applicants and only 30 chosen, my chances were slim. I got a letter in December 2005 asking me to intern there for eight months.”
What was it like there? “Every day we listened to Ferran [Adrià] talk. I did a 2½-month crash course in Spanish, but Ferran speaks in a strong Catalan accent. Luckily a Canadian guy sitting next to me translated. What had I got myself into? Whatever they did, you had never done it before. After three months, I got to know Ferran better and he realised I was a professional chef. He got me and the Canadian guy to edit their cookbooks in English and German.”
Why did you move to the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong? “In 2007, I was at the Shangri-La in Kuala Lumpur when I got a call from the Mandarin Oriental. It’s such an iconic hotel and the rumour was the Michelin guide was coming to Hong Kong, so I decided to move back. I was there for nine years. The Krug Room was based on what I have experienced and what I have learned. It was the first place I could really express myself, and forge my own name.”
Tell us about your time at The Greater China Restaurant Company, which operates Beef & Liberty? “I loved having my own restaurant [Restaurant Uwe, from 2016], but the kitchen was small. Their main focus was not my restaurant but expanding their other restaurants. When I was there, we started with three restaurants and grew that to seven, but it was not the growth we were hoping for.”
What are you doing with Petrus, at Island Shangri-La? “We want to be purists, ingredient-driven, use small producers, go foraging, use fermentation and interact with our guests. I have been here for seven months and after three months we got a Michelin star. I want to make this a three-star restaurant. We have everything we need to get there”
What do you do when you’re not working? “Tennis is my biggest hobby, and we have a puppy and go hiking. My daughter is really into baking, so we make cookies, waffles and pancakes. My wife is gluten- and dairy-free so it’s interesting to create things for her. I get up at 5am and do 25 minutes of meditation and 20 minutes of tapping and then exercise. Tapping is where you tap meridian points on your face to release stress. When I do this I feel my heart rate goes down. I feel more productive and have a clear mind.”
