Tartine - very fancy toasted sandwiches

http://thetartine.com/

There are so many new restaurants opening in Hong Kong that it's hard to keep up.  Sure, I have my regular sources of information to keep abreast of the changes, but it's nearly impossible to track them all.  I didn't have any such problems with recently opened Tartine, I'd been keeping a close eye on it's development each night on my walk home.  I love watching restaurants go from empty spaces to fully fledged establishments, mainly because I know that soon enough I'll be trying them out for myself!

That I was going to check out Tartine was a foregone conclusion, not just because it looked quite different from everything else around SoHo, but because of the involvement of Michelin-starrred Philippe Orrico, the man behind On Dining (see post here) and Upper Modern Bistro (see post here). Orrico is noted as consulting chef, which I assume is just helping with the menu and attributing his name to help the restaurant along, never the less, it got my attention.

Just in case you didn't know, a tartine is a fancy French toasted sandwich and Tartine has combined the humble toasty and spruced them up with high quality ingredients and a farm-to-table philosophy.

We'd planned to hit up Tartine on the way home from work one night and figured that as a brand new restaurant, we'd not need to make a booking.  It was a solid plan, especially since we'd walked by a few times since opening and not seen a soul inside so far.  It was also flawed, unbeknownst to our morning plans, Tartine had gone on an advertising blitz with an article in just about every food publication available in Hong Kong!

New Zealand - Fergburger: legendary burgers?

http://www.fergburger.com

While we were skiing the wonderful mountains in Wanaka, New Zealand, we'd been hearing of a near mythical place to eat up the road in Queenstown.  I'd pretty much had every day planned for food, but after hearing about a little place called Fergburger, I had to satisfy my burger craving and get along to check it out.

I was told to expect long queue wait times.  I was told that the place was open for twenty two hours a day, just to cater to all the ski freaks and ski bunnies.  I was told all sorts of stuff, but mainly, I was told that Fergburger pumped out the best hamburgers that most people had ever eaten!  I love burgers and I like to think I know a little bit about them too, so I was keen to see if I shared that popular opinion.

Fergburger stared as a little hole in the wall burger joint around 2001 in well known Cow Lane, where there were not too many casual food options after a hard day on the ski fields.  As it's popularity grew, Fergburger outgrew its little spot, but it wasn't until the threat of its original home being torn down that a move was initiated.  

It was to this remodelled burger joint that we rocked up for a sampling of the Fergburger burger. Looking very much at home in a ski village, Fergburger stood out with its exposed wood and slate floors.  We didn't see the expected queues, but we'd timed our run to perfection, hitting the joint at 3pm, too late for lunch and too early for dinner.  Even though there were no long queues, it was still really busy, with most of the seats taken and about 6 people in the line before us.  SC grabbed one of the only seats left while I jumped in line to wait.

G7 Private Dining - Singapore sling Italian style

http://www.g7privatedining.com/

After recently finding a taste for Hong Kong's private dining scene, I decided it was again time to sample the uniquely HK approach to dining.

This time, it was to well known Hong Kong Chef Eddy Leung, who's plied his trade at some of the city's most famous 5 Star restaurants, including those at the Swire Hotel, The Ritz-Carlton and the Peninsula Hotel.  More recently, Chef Eddy has been working the private dining scene, with his Aberdeen kitchen called Chef Studio by Eddy.  

But who really wants to head to Aberdeen for dinner?  So, Chef Eddy created a more accessible Private Dining experience in the heart of Central, G7 Private Dining.  Well, much more accessible for this little foodie!  Located on the edge of the Botanic Gardens in Glenealy Street, G7 is a little hard to find at first, and when we did stumble across the front door, we couldn't figure out how to gain entry.  It got to a point where I had to call the restaurant and say we were out front, before the door magically slid open!

London - Byron Hamburgers

https://www.byronhamburgers.com/

What do you do when you are catching up with a mate you haven't seen in ten years?  Well, you head for a burger of course!

I was in London for work and caught up with one of my favourite bosses from days gone by, Johnzo. Apart from being awesome catching up, Johnzo took me along to that time honoured tradition in London of afterwork drinks down at the local pub.  That we were at Canary Wharf meant that we had to tackle a pub in shiny new building, but strangely once through the front door, it was largely still an old style pub.

Anyway, I'm not gonna talk about the pub, this is after all a food blog first and foremost.  While we were at the pub, Johnzo had been banging on about this burger place around the corner that we had to visit.  Not for the burgers, but for a side that he rated as the best in town.  Me?  I was happy to get along for a burger, as after visiting a slew of two Michelin starred restaurants (The Square, Hibiscus, Marcus), I was looking for something much more casual.

It was a short walk from the pub to our destination, a burger chain called Byron.  I'd initially thought it might have been named after Byron Bay in Australia, but no, owner Tom Byng had been inspired after a four year stint in America, where he 'ate enough burgers to sink the Titanic'. Wanting to bring back that authentic US of A style burger to the 'old country', Tom had the craving for the classic and simple stylings from his favourite spot in the US, Silver Top in Providence, Rhode Island.