Hong Kong chef Vicky Lau has been named the best female chef in Asia for creating a menu of ‘edible stories’ at her French-Asian restaurant.
Lau has taken the title of Veuve Clicquot Asia’s Best Female Chef 2015 for her cuisine at the Michelin-starred Tate Dining Room and Bar, an intimate 26-seat restaurant that plays with flavors, textures and colors to create a multi-course dining narrative.
Lau’s background as a graphic designer and artist manifests itself in her cuisine and culinary concept.
Menus are created thematically, written to tell an ‘edible story’ with dishes verging on the playful, philosophical and cerebral.
The latest ‘Sensualist’ winter menu, for instance, starts with a plate of ‘Winter Sea,’ with black truffle scallop espuma, crab meat, yuzu gelee, jelly fish and caviar.
To convey the wintry peaks of Mont Blanc, Lau assembles a plate of roasted chestnut veloute, pork belly, wild boar ragout and black pepper tart shell.
“This award rewards her skill, imagination and artistry, and recognises the originality and verve that Vicky brings to Asia’s dining scene,” said editor William Drew, of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
Watch Lau explain one of her culinary odes to Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte, a green candy apple made with blown sugar and orange