Arcane - not so hidden or mysterious after all

http://www.arcane.hk/

I'm probably biased, but Australian chefs are taking over the world!

It seems that every day, a new Aussie chef is hitting Honkers to open a new restaurant or join part of an established team.

This invasion, of a sort, arguably started when Perth born chef Shane Osborne, moved from the UK to Hong Kong to establish his own take on a simple yet delicious fare.  Having achieved two Michelin Stars at well known London restaurant Pied-a-Terre, Osborne threw it all in to travel for a while, before ending up at HK restaurant St Betties.  Turning the fortunes of the under performing restaurant around, Osborne eventually developed his own restaurant in Central.

Arcane

"Understood by few" and "mysterious and secret"

An interesting name for a restaurant from a Chef that had run one of the world's top restaurants, perhaps hoping for anonymity in Hong Kong?

We arrived for our 7pm reservation and unsurprisingly, we were the first to arrive, seemingly the only couple in Hong Kong that think dining at this hour is normal.  Located near LKF, we had no trouble finding the restaurant and were so early, LKF was actually really, really quiet!  

Aberdeen Street Social - Invasion of the British Chefs

http://www.aberdeenstreetsocial.hk/

I first came across the name Jason Atherton while watching one of my all time favourite cooking shows out of the UK.  Great British Menu is a program that pits the UK's top chefs, often with two or three Michelin Stars, against each other in daily cook offs.  It's like a cage battle where many go in and only a few come out.  Jason Atherton was one of the contestants in 2008 and in his first appearance, won through to the main banquet, no less preparing the main course (the most coveted spot).

It was Atherton's only appearance on the show as a contestant, but he later returned to the show as one of the Mentor's and weeknight judges.  Great British Menu has a history of taking amazing chefs and putting them in the spotlight, which certainly doesn't hurt their careers and many of the chefs who have appeared have seen their restaurants flourish.  Not that Jason Atherton needed the attention! He worked for Gordan Ramsey directly and was the executive chef of Maze in London before leaving in 2010 to establish his own restaurant, Pollen Street Social, which won a Michelin Star in its first year.

Aberdeen Street Social is Jason Atherton's flagship restaurant in Hong Kong and is part of his growing stable of International restaurants, including Singapore, Dubi and Shanghi.  Located at the super cool PMQ complex, Aberdeen Street Social combines a fine dining restaurant with a more casual and relaxed bar section that also serves food.  We'd decided that a Sunday night visit was in order, so rocked up without a reservation, after misreading the website stating that no reservations were required.  We were greeted with a puzzled look, one that said 'no reservation? how dare you?' but after a few minutes were shown upstairs and granted a seat.

Vasco Spanish Fine Dining - Incredible and Memorable

http://www.vasco.com.hk/

I'm normally pretty pedantic about the order in which I write my blogs, with each post in the order in which I ate the meal.  Normally.  Sometimes, I have a meal that's so magnificent, that I simply can't wait until I get through the backlog and I just have to write about.

Vasco, Spanish fine dining, was one of the most exquisite dining experiences I've had in a long time! Big call, I know, but there it is.

Located in the heritage listed and superbly renovated Police Married Quarters (PMQ) site on the corner of Aberdeen Street and Hollywood Road, Vasco is one of a handful of restaurants that calls the site home.  If you've not been to the PMQ before, it's probably worth your time, with restaurants, art studios and just an all round cool spot to hang out (especially once a month for the night markets).

We'd first spotted Vasco while visiting the aforementioned night markets and somehow knew that it was going to be a special event.  So, on a Tuesday night, after a huge day at work, we'd arranged to treat ourselves to the  mind and kitchen of Chef Paolo Casagrande formerly of two-Michelin-starred Lasarte Restaurant in Barcelona.  Located on the 8th floor, we took the large service elevator, then final few steps upstairs to the top floor of the PMQ and plush looking entrance to Vasco.