The Mirror (Hong Kong)

A former apprentice to Alain Ducasse, Jeremy Biasiol is now the man behind The Mirror and I dare say it is quite an exciting restaurant which I would love to return soon if I can get a table that is. It is rather unfair to relate Jeremy with Alain Ducasse because he now has his own styles and approaches to traditional French cuisine. I think I can only say he was strongly inspired by Alain to become who he is right now. Looking at him behind the open kitchen in this rather homey and cozy setting, one can see his passion and dedication in cooking. He checks on his guests every now and then to control the pacing. I was observing him after my starter and he thought I was waiting impatiently so he looked at me and called onto the wait-staff by saying  快脆 (Faai3 ceoi3) in Cantonese which translates to "hurry up!" to serve us the mains. He even came out at the end of the night to chat with all guests and ask for comments and feedback. A very nice touch indeed!

Stay Hungry Stay Curious

I have been asked many times how I started this food blog and whenever I think back, it was quite a funny yet simple story. It all started because I (1) got plenty of time to kill, (2) love eating and am often very curious how things are prepared and (3) want to promote the appreciation the food from different cultures. Of course it was C's encouragement which pushed me to make my very first step.

Now almost 2 years have passed and food blogging has become part of me. It is my belief that good food is meant to be shared and the same applies to love and memorable experiences including dining experiences. This gastronomic journey has been great so far and I am enjoying every single moment of it. I have gained much (including a lot of weight) but I still have much to learn about food, writing and photography.

My sense of conviction with food and photography is growing and is motivating me to achieve more with my own goals and expectations. It is driving me to do something I enjoy, become more adventurous and embrace life one meal at a time. 

On 1 Jan 2010, I wrote on my personal blog I would welcome 2010 with open arms and aim to eat more, cook more, hug more, sleep more, read more, smile more, listen more, write more, tweet more, blog more and exercise more. I think I have accomplished all of the above (hello Michelin Bib's waistline!) except for the exercise part. I seriously should leave out exercises in the 2011 New Year's resolution because likely it will carry over to 2012 anyhow. 

Life in 2011 will be full of adventures, full of loves and full of feasts! I tend to travel more often if possible and experience as many food cultures as possible in the Asia region. Perhaps I should add in a bit more visual elements such as videos to my travels and gastronomic ventures?

Conviction is worthless unless it is converted into conduct. -  Thomas Carlyle

Christmas Eve Dinner - Turkey

I know it is a bit too late but Merry Christmas everyone! It is better late than never right? :) ... I missed the chance to roast up turkey during Thanksgiving so I got to make it up somehow right? Christmas would be the perfect time to do so. It was Christmas Eve 2010 and a simple home dinner was all I wanted. My aunt invited me over for dinner on this special night because she was having TURKEY!! I was lucky enough that I only needed to show up and eat, but I felt bad so I helped her with the turkey by ... readjusting the it and put in more stuffing ... HAHA ... would like to take this opportunity to extend my thanks to my aunt for inviting me over and I would like to share the wonderful feast with all of you!

Lobster Bar and Grill (Hong Kong)

Slurp! Slurp! and Slurp! ...  Such a simple word to describe my meal at Lobster Bar. Thanks to H who organized this dinner, I had the great pleasure to meet the person behind the food blog Slurp! which I got addicted to reading lately. The meal started with a long chat on food and related topics along with live Jazz from the band nearby which started around 8pm. I have been to the Lobster Bar quite a few times but only for drinks, it was my very first time to give their food a try. I have heard mixed reviews on this place but that did not deter me from trying myself. I really enjoyed the setting which was not overly pretentious (perhaps due to the slightly uncomfortable chairs) and the live band playing nearby. I should have ordered myself some whisky as well!

Christmas Bazaar at GSIS (Hong Kong)

A Bazaar by definition is a marketplace or shopping quarter where different vendors gather around to offer customers all sorts of items ranging from food to various clothing. The term originated from the Middle East and now it is a commonly used terms for all sorts of sales around the world. So what would interest me to this Christmas Bazaar held at the German Swiss International School (Hong Kong)? Cheeeeese! Racettle to be exact and of course I was very honored to be invited by V to join this event on this wonderful Saturday morning.  I thought 10am was very early but when we arrived at 10:15am, the party seems to have started hours earlier! A quick glance around, my focus was immediately directed to the far end of the venue where the Racettle stations were setup!

Feast @ Hotel EAST (Hong Kong)

As mentioned before, I rarely attend tasting events but this time would be an exception for the following reasons: (1) Mochachocolata Rita was joining as well, (2) the gathering was relatively small scale and (3) I could have the chance to meet Patricia of  Sù Yán Tiān Shǐ 素顏天使™ , the man behind Cha Xiu Bao Josh Tse as well as Nana Chan whose food writing I enjoy very much. However, it was to my disappointment that both Josh and Nana could not make it. Ah well, that certainly did not deter from from having a fun and entertaining evening.  Thanks for the warm invitation by Swire's Hotel EAST (Hong Kong), our night started off on the rooftop lounge Sugar overlooking the Victoria Harbour.

The Gingery - Winter Collection 2010

The title of this post hides no secret, it literally means Winter Collection for my freshly baked Gingerbread Men / Ladies! It may seems odd that I am doing such a thing but let me explain how I got inspired to work on this late night project. Inspiration: (1) Hong Kong Fashion Geek's coverage on their recent H&M x Lanvin craze, (2) my recent desire to crate stuff and (3) my recent Gingerbread Man Jamming session at Christmas Fair Tiffany (and my semi-shirtless gingerbread man). Actually there was a 4th inspiration which was from V who kindly gave me some of her first batch of gingerbread men this year (see attached pictures at the end of this post, their cuteness inspired me to do the same and bake some of my own gingerbread men! Thanks V). During the recent H&M x Lanvin 1-day sale, I saw many people lining up outside the store 4am the morning before with blankets and folding chairs looking at the display window that hosted the collection which they were so anxiously waiting to buy. Was is worth the wait? I cannot be the right person to judge unless we are talking about queue and food. It would be weird for me to line up just for the sake of experiencing the hype and part with nothing, so I decided to create my own collection, one that I design, one that I require no queuing to experience and one that I can EAT! ... The Gingery by Jason - Winter Collection 2010 is official launched!

Tiffany's Christmas Fair (Hong Kong)

The Circle of Giving, A Legacy of Light

Ruth Carter Stapleton once said "Christmas is most truly Christmas when we celebrate it by giving the light of love to those who need it most." While it is very true, I think Dale Evans described it even more straight forward by saying "Christmas, my child, is love in action." Love is not to be given but shared, love is not only to be shared with your loved ones but with those in need of your love. I am very honored once again to be invited back by Tiffany & Co. for their Christmas Fair in partnership with Mother's Choice, held at the 1881 Heritage in Hong Kong. A few weeks ago, it was Breakfast at Tiffany and this time it was Christmas Fair Tiffany which I absolutely loved because the festive activities during the evening made me feel like a kid once again! Yes it is not always the food that makes me act feel like a kid, stuff like decorating gingerbread man or making snow globe can easily do the trick!

Butao Ramen 豚王

My first visit to this place was back in early Nov 2010, a few days before its prime time TV feature which created the recent hype on this little ramen joint with about a dozen seats. M (from eatshowandtell) and I waited for about 10 minutes only back then instead of the average 1 hour or perhaps 2 hours wait nowadays? It took me this long to blog about it because I wanted to give the rest of the ramen selection a try first. However, any queue for food that requires more than 30 mins wait and less than 10 mins consumption time will likely skip. Therefore, I might as well share my experiences now in the middle of the hype. If you require a more detail insight into the different selection during this hype, please check with e_tingfood.com (also Facebook Fan Page) and tomeatsjencooks.com, both who recently went an hour before it opens on a Saturday morning for its first bowl of ramen. Based on my latest information, the y have limited the supply of ramen per day to 200 bowls ....

Classified (Hong Kong)

I love cheese and that's not a secret for those who frequent my blog. I would like to take this opportunity to extend my thanks to Geoff (the man behind Geoff's Twitchen) for inviting me to this Mont d'Or event / gathering at the Classified, an event he single handedly organized. I had a cheesy yet amazing night at Classified (Wan Chai) but there was one thing really disappointed me: I thought we could have one carton of Mont d'Or for each one of us! :) ... Where was I with cheese again? Oh right, I love cheese and Mont d'Or can be considered a beginner's cheese. It is a seasonal soft cheese made from cow's milk. If you are not a fan of cheese at this moment, give Mont d'Or a try and eat with a spoon while watching TV. I am very serious about it! Let the cheese rest under room temperature inside the round wooden box and dig in when it becomes slightly running and creamy!!!!