‘I didn’t expect it to be so good’: French chef on how Hong Kong’s independent farmers and growers made his new restaurant Feuille possible
- Normandy-born chef David Toutain, who runs his eponymous two-Michelin-star restaurant in Paris, recently opened his first venture in Hong Kong
- Feuille is a love letter to Hong Kong’s local farmers, producers and suppliers, with fresh ingredients celebrated on his ever-changing menus
A year ago, David Toutain was content running his acclaimed two-Michelin-star restaurant in Paris, France. Happily married to “an amazing woman”, with kids and a dog, he had no plans to expand, especially overseas. “Life was good,” he says.
Then Elizabeth Chu – founder of Hong Kong’s ZS Hospitality Group, behind restaurants including Hansik Goo, Whey and Ying Jee Club – ate at his eponymous restaurant. Impressed, she invited him to collaborate on a new venture.
He flew to Hong Kong to see what had changed since his previous visit 16 years ago. “I told Elizabeth about my vision, which is local, vegetal and produce-focused. I didn’t want to open for the sake of it, it had to be right for what we are doing,” says Toutain.
What he found blew him away. “Every day I saw something new, and each day was amazing,” he says.
He visited small farms in the New Territories, the fish market in Aberdeen and the wet market in Central district.
“The farm, the fishermen, the purveyors and producers were all amazing. I didn’t expect it to be so good, and I knew we had the right foundations to make this happen,” he says.
The result is Feuille (French for leaf) in Central, Toutain’s first venture outside France.
