Keto diet: ‘only’ 1,088 calories for a fine-dining meal? We try Hong Kong-based chef Olivier Elzer’s new US$125 menu
- French-German chef Olivier Elzer of Clarence and two-Michelin-star L’Envol recently partnered with a nutritionist to design a keto-friendly menu
- A few food writers were invited to spar with the chef at a high-end boxing gym in Central, before sitting down to taste the dishes
It’s probably more common for a chef to want to punch a food writer, but I can happily say that in this instance, it was the other way around.
I’m at The Fighter’s Club in Central, Hong Kong, a high-end one-to-one boxing and Muay Thai gym and – without much boxing history at all – I’ve been invited to spar with chef Olivier Elzer, even getting the opportunity to throw a few generous punches at his core at one point.
There’s a reason why the executive chef of the two-Michelin-star L’Envol in the St Regis Hong Kong hotel and the man behind smart French restaurant Clarence in SoHo has decided to become a punch bag for a few food writers.
Those who have followed Elzer’s journey in Hong Kong over the years know that he is one of the restaurant industry’s most visible advocates for personal fitness. He works out twice a day, hitting the gym first thing in the morning before strength training, boxing or cardio after lunch service. He tries to be in bed by 10.30pm every night to fully recharge for the next day ahead.
It might sound at odds with the life of a chef, particularly one entrenched in fine dining. After all, the industry is notorious for late nights and high-octane, high-calorie cooking, but Elzer is looking to shift the perception that luxury dining cannot equate to healthy dining.
