Portfolio

Take a breath. Take a deep breath. You can not resist the blowing fresh air Yerevan covers you with. Armenian spirit will never abandon you once you’ve met its endless horizons, cloudy mountains and hospitable people. Born in picturesque Yerevan, I am holding tightly my motherland language, culture and sense of humor. I am Edgar Yeganyan, now heading the cuisine at “Charles”. I may confidently state I am far from being a typical cook. I am young, fit and do not keep the secrets of my success. I am what I am and happy to share a piece of my mood. I do feed them as my best friends, stuffing the meals with positive emotions and love.

My name is Jaakko Sorsa. I’m a typical Finlander that every morning cheerfully goes to work in Hong-Kong. And I’m also an Executive Chef at Nordic FINDS restaurant & bar, but there are much more interesting things you can learn about me. My Homeland is Finland. I spent my childhood in the area called ‘Finnish Lakeland’. The name alone evokes a range of associations and fantasies related to nature. It was in Kuopio where I felt the reality. I felt nature and culinary and I will never forget those feelings. Fishing, foraging, obtaining wild game from hunters. Nordic life as it is.

I was born and grew up in the city of Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan. I spent my childhood in a sunny, high mountain city, surrounded by apple gardens of Zailiyskiy Alatau. Smell of apple blossom, taste of melt water from mountain springs and roaring wind in mountain gorges made me strive for beauty my whole life. Combination of traditions and cuisines of the multinational region have been attracting me since I was a child. The brightest memories from my childhood are smell of my mother’s baking and cooking national pilaf and unique manti together with my father.

My name is Caesar Lee. I’m a Chef at Charlie Brown Café. And although it might seem that Charlie Brown is some historical figure, the story is much more interesting than that. Do you remember cartoon dog Snoopy? The name of its owner is Charlie. And no, we don’t serve food for pets, but the real American one instead. Here in Hong Kong. I was born in China, in 1960. I was a simple Chinese boy, who started working before having his head screwed on the right way. I was around 13-14 years old, and I had just finished primary school. Of course, I couldn’t choose work by myself, and I couldn’t go to HR agency either. Can you imagine a 13-year-old child wearing suit and bearing folder with documents? It’s a figure of speech, of course, but this was my mother who chose work for me.

I was born on 26 May 1980 in Kyiv. And although 34 years have passed, I can still clearly remember, when I decided to become a Chef. I was always amazed with how my father cooked, and although cook profession was considered women’s one at that time, in the 7th grade I was 100% sure that I would learn to become the best chef. My parents say my first attempts to cook something were quite successful, but perhaps they, like all other parents, wanted to support and inspire me.

I wonder, how many are there Chefs in the world, who don’t think their dishes are the best and the most interesting, and restaurant they work at is the only one which is worth of visiting? Oh no, I’m more modest. My name is James Roy Oakley. I am an Executive Chef at the Armani/Aqua Restaurant in Hong Kong. Our customers are beautiful people with zest for life. As you might guess, I was born not in Asia, but in windy England. If you want to send me a postcard on occasion of my birthday, please do it on 16 April, I’ll be 30.

One can think that Pizza&Grill has only pizza and grill food – similar to famous world Burger & Lobster chain, where you can eat everything provided it is burger or lobster. But despite its simple name, I work at Pizza&Grill in Odessa, and I specialise in a completely different food. My name is Ruslan Vycherov. I’m a Pastry Chef in the above mentioned chain in the city, where people still dry their clothes on ropes in yards of the central streets. And they shall be definitely multicoloured. This is Odessa!

My name is Simson Kwan. I’m Chef at CAFÉ LANDMARK. This café is located in a premium Hong Kong shopping mall with the same name, where time runs faster than usually. This café is also filled with food enjoyment! But I would like to tell you my story first, not boring as it might usually be, but an interesting one. I was born in January 1955, and it means that I’m almost 60. This is really a lot, but I know for sure that there are tons of things ahead of me. I’ve never travelled far from home and have achieved considerable success here. But my childhood was not that prosperous. I grew up on a farm raising pigs, geese and chickens. My family was not rich. We used to produce preserved meat like «lap cheong» (Chinese sausages). But we were more known for the sea salt preserved ducks.

My name is Billy Otis, I’m a chef of the Socialito, Hong Kong. I was born in Santiago, Chile on April 24th Mom always had a garden when I was growing up and she would pick vegetables and make us dinner each night. I would always help make dinner it was very interesting for me. In the spring we would visit my Grandparents in Florida and I’d end up in the kitchen with my grandmother making pasta sauce, casseroles and pies. Food has always played a large role in my life.

My name is Frank Lebiez. I’m the proprietor, partner and Chief executive of Metropolitan Restaurant, Hong Kong. I was born on August 15, 1973 in Normandie, north-west of France, which is famous for its apple orchards, farms and Camembert cheese. My childhood was the one of a happy boy in a traditional French family. I grow up with the memories of the big tables of friends and family meeting together to enjoy the numerous delicacies that our region and country offer.