Do people still want ultra-long fine dining menus? This Hong Kong-based chef is banking on it

Singapore-born Edward Voon knows a thing or two about big menus – his Hong Kong restaurant Auor is offering a 24-course tasting marathon, fusing French fine dining with Asian cuisine

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Edward Voon knows a thing or two about big menus. The chef behind Auor, where French fine dining will meet Asian cuisine in a 24-course tasting marathon next month, talks about the challenges and triumphs of his illustrious career. Photo: Handout

Published: 12:15pm, 15 Aug 2024

Edward Voon is a man of many chef’s hats. Born in Penang, Malaysia, and raised in Singapore, he started his career as a 16-year-old butcher at the Mandarin Oriental, Singapore. Through determination and talent, Voon rose through the ranks, eventually becoming executive chef at Le Pan, a French fine dining restaurant in Kowloon Bay, where he gained renown for his elaborate, ultra-long tasting menus. Now, at Auor (pronounced “hour”), the Wan Chai restaurant he founded in 2022, Voon is pushing the envelope even further.

Chef-founder of Auor and The Laksa Club, Edward Voon. Photo: Auor

At a time when the fine dining sector is facing significant challenges – with government figures showing an 11.5 per cent drop in Hong Kong’s retail sales in May from a year ago, marking the second consecutive month of double-digit decline – the food and beverage industry has borne the brunt of shifting consumer behaviour, forcing chefs to get creative to retain regulars as well as attract new guests.

Voon’s approach? To offer everything from comforting laksa, served during lunch as part of daytime concept The Laksa Club, to refined tasting menus that combine Voon’s Southeast Asian roots with French technique. But he is not one to rest on his laurels, with plans to return to marathon tasting menus in the coming weeks. We caught up with him to hear his thoughts on cyclical trends in dining, balancing opposite ends of the food spectrum, and whether diners today still have the patience for fine dining.

What has the most influence on your food?

Chef Edward Voon’s laksa dish at The Laksa Club in Wan Chai. Photo: Handout

“The clock has played a very big part in my career. I’m talking about the clock on the wall – the time. My theory is the faster you move, the more you will learn. So it’s about how much you want, how hungry you are, how much you want to do, want to learn.

“As we grow as chefs, every few years our mentality changes and our perspective changes. Our surroundings change, our friends change, our expectations change. So we always have to keep this very competitive spirit to be able to live in this world of gastronomy.”

How has your cuisine at Auor evolved?

The mud crab au gratin with sago and Tellicherry pepper at Auor. Photo: Handout

“Today, the cuisine at Auor is based on my growth as an individual. Along the way, my palate has changed and I find more freedom in working with ingredients that I grew up with and that people recognise, such as mui choi, baby pigeon, laksa and black pepper crab. I have the courage to express myself in a very different manner, to do something a bit more different.