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‘My 1-year nightmare’: Hong Kong chef Aven Lau on his panic attacks, the gruelling lifestyle that led to them and how he found his way back
- A rising star in Hong Kong’s culinary landscape, Aven Lau was an overachiever, driving himself to create edible artworks and barely sleeping
- Things came to a head after he left Hong Kong to go home to Singapore, where he started having panic attacks. He talks about his anxiety and recovery
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Barely two years ago, when people talked about who would be the next culinary star in Hong Kong, Aven Lau’s name was often on the list. The then 27-year-old was head chef at Bâtard, one of the hottest restaurants in town.
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Once he took the reins in the kitchen, the food went from simple bistro fare to edible artworks that wowed the city’s gourmets.
Bookings became insanely difficult to secure even for industry insiders, and Lau’s ascendancy seemed unstoppable.
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But then something started to feel off. “Because of Covid, I didn’t travel for a long time and was feeling a bit trapped,” says Lau. “The ideas weren’t coming. I could imagine the flavours and dishes tasted all right, but they didn’t look stunning. I felt like I needed to realign myself.”
And just like that, he left Hong Kong.
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