the best of 2014: the restaurant edition…

~ The sheer splendor with which my year in dining unfolded made the task of identifying my ten favorite restaurant meals from 2014 an especially difficult one. However, forcing myself to narrow that “wide and rich field” (as I described it in an earlier post) – a process that at moments seemed merciless, requiring me to eliminate extraordinarily good meals that in any other […]

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the best of 2014: the restaurant edition…

~ The sheer splendor with which my year in dining unfolded made the task of identifying my ten favorite restaurant meals from 2014 an especially difficult one. However, forcing myself to narrow that “wide and rich field” (as I described it in an earlier post) – a process that at moments seemed merciless, requiring me to eliminate extraordinarily good meals that in any other […]

Continue

travel: leapfrogging…

~ Another year is gone, and I’ve barely written about it.  This is especially sad to me, since so many wonderful things happened. Every year, I pause at calendar’s end to record and remember the anxieties and adventures that made the preceding months memorable, including an accounting of all the restaurants I visited, and my favorite meals and dishes among […]

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travel: leapfrogging…

~ Another year is gone, and I’ve barely written about it.  This is especially sad to me, since so many wonderful things happened. Every year, I pause at calendar’s end to record and remember the anxieties and adventures that made the preceding months memorable, including an accounting of all the restaurants I visited, and my favorite meals and dishes among […]

Continue

review: wild goose chase…

Preserved Eggs Yung Kee, Hong Kong Roasted geese, bronze and juicy, hang in the big picture windows at Yung Kee. They’re the restaurant’s calling card. And by some accounts, they’re the only reason to visit this aging institution on Wellington Street in Central, Hong Kong. It’s certainly not for their hospitality, from what I could […]

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review: wild goose chase…

Preserved Eggs Yung Kee, Hong Kong Roasted geese, bronze and juicy, hang in the big picture windows at Yung Kee. They’re the restaurant’s calling card. And by some accounts, they’re the only reason to visit this aging institution on Wellington Street in Central, Hong Kong. It’s certainly not for their hospitality, from what I could […]

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review: expatriate…

Fresh Fig and Goat Cheese Salad Union J, Hong Kong In 2006, I met Eric Johnson, then executive chef at Jean Georges Shanghai, inadvertently. Though we had exchanged a few emails, I hadn’t anticipated that he’d call me out when I visited the restaurant unannounced. We kept in touch loosely over the subsequent years. Serendipitously, […]

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review: expatriate…

Fresh Fig and Goat Cheese Salad Union J, Hong Kong In 2006, I met Eric Johnson, then executive chef at Jean Georges Shanghai, inadvertently. Though we had exchanged a few emails, I hadn’t anticipated that he’d call me out when I visited the restaurant unannounced. We kept in touch loosely over the subsequent years. Serendipitously, […]

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review: from the dragon’s perch…

Steamed Garoupa Fillet with Morels Lung King Heen, Hong Kong Pleased to let me arrange our entire eating itinerary, my friend Mr. RBI flew all the way from the U.S. just to eat with me during my first three days of my trip to Hong Kong. It was his first time in Asia. Being a […]

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review: from the dragon’s perch…

Steamed Garoupa Fillet with Morels Lung King Heen, Hong Kong Pleased to let me arrange our entire eating itinerary, my friend Mr. RBI flew all the way from the U.S. just to eat with me during my first three days of my trip to Hong Kong. It was his first time in Asia. Being a […]

Continue

review: gnawing on brains…

Tea-Smoked Bresse Pigeon Man Wah, Hong Kong If the little dish of fried walnuts was the fantastic opener to our meal at Man Wah, the Kung Po Bean Curd (HK$110) was the headliner. The tumble of fluffy cubes of tofu – thinly glazed with a crisp, fried sheen of spicy sauce and commingled with blistered […]

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review: gnawing on brains…

Tea-Smoked Bresse Pigeon Man Wah, Hong Kong If the little dish of fried walnuts was the fantastic opener to our meal at Man Wah, the Kung Po Bean Curd (HK$110) was the headliner. The tumble of fluffy cubes of tofu – thinly glazed with a crisp, fried sheen of spicy sauce and commingled with blistered […]

Continue

review: farrago…

European Ham Assortment Pierre, Hong Kong Conventional wisdom dictates that if Pierre Gagnaire’s not in the kitchen, don’t go. I violated this rule, and I paid the price. But I did so in the company of a veteran and devotee of Gagnaire’s restaurants – he’s been to every one of them: Paris, Bangkok, Hong Kong, […]

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review: farrago…

European Ham Assortment Pierre, Hong Kong Conventional wisdom dictates that if Pierre Gagnaire’s not in the kitchen, don’t go. I violated this rule, and I paid the price. But I did so in the company of a veteran and devotee of Gagnaire’s restaurants – he’s been to every one of them: Paris, Bangkok, Hong Kong, […]

Continue

review: italia overnighted…

Classified Wanchai, Hong Kong Because I’m a glutton, after wrapping up our dim sum lunch at Summer Palace, I solicited my friend’s advice for last nibbles and bites on my last day in Hong Kong. I had about five hours to kill before dinner. He recommended, among a few places, a nearby restaurant opened by […]

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review: italia overnighted…

Classified Wanchai, Hong Kong Because I’m a glutton, after wrapping up our dim sum lunch at Summer Palace, I solicited my friend’s advice for last nibbles and bites on my last day in Hong Kong. I had about five hours to kill before dinner. He recommended, among a few places, a nearby restaurant opened by […]

Continue

review: palace of tongues and durian…

Duck Tongues in Abalone Sauce Summer Palace, Hong Kong An impromptu pay-back lunch found a friend and me deliberating on a convenient, yet pleasing place for a quick lunch on my last day in Hong Kong. Lung King Heen, where I had a pretty successful meal the week before, was fully booked. And Yan Toh […]

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review: palace of tongues and durian…

Duck Tongues in Abalone Sauce Summer Palace, Hong Kong An impromptu pay-back lunch found a friend and me deliberating on a convenient, yet pleasing place for a quick lunch on my last day in Hong Kong. Lung King Heen, where I had a pretty successful meal the week before, was fully booked. And Yan Toh […]

Continue

travel: ennead…

Night view from Victoria Peak Hong Kong I just returned from having nine meals in city of nine dragons. Since the Handover in 1997, when I last lived and worked in Hong Kong, a lot has changed.  The city’s skyline has spread; it’s now wider and taller. The I(nternational)F(inancial)C(enter), which was still a glimmer in […]

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travel: ennead…

Night view from Victoria Peak Hong Kong I just returned from having nine meals in city of nine dragons. Since the Handover in 1997, when I last lived and worked in Hong Kong, a lot has changed.  The city’s skyline has spread; it’s now wider and taller. The I(nternational)F(inancial)C(enter), which was still a glimmer in […]

Continue