Library that gives visitors a taste for more

The smoky scent of duck and soy sauce wafts through the smart, cosy kitchen - a kitchen that also happens to be surrounded by book-filled rooms.

It is part of Hong Kong's first "taste library", where visitors can cook and read books about food culture - and, its creator hopes, communicate openly.

Opening in August, the library is nestled on the fifth floor of PMQ, the new creative complex fashioned from the former police married quarters in Central.

"I hope this [will be] a place of sharing, because food is all about sharing," said food writer Craig Au-Yeung Ying-chai, who came up with the library idea and is now its curator. "Food can engage people."

With hardwood floors and light-coloured walls, the library includes a kitchen, three reading rooms, five balconies and a reception area with magazines.

Measuring about 2,000 square feet, the space is a non-profit collaboration between the operators and PMQ.

Au-Yeung has a lifelong passion for food. After years of cooking and writing books and reviews, he decided last year to create a space that would combine these passions and enable people to communicate through a shared love of food.