The secret behind the two-star Michelin success of Tin Lung Heen, according to its self-taught chef Paul Lau
- The chef de cuisine at The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong’s Cantonese fine-dining restaurant first learned how to cook by observing other chefs at work
- Lau says being uncompromising with his high standards got him to where he is today, and he expects the same level of discipline from his team
Many years ago, well before Paul Lau became known as the famously strict chef helming Michelin-starred restaurant Tin Lung Heen at The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong, he was a kitchen apprentice keenly watching culinary masters at work. “No one taught me how to cook. I learned it from my own observations,” says Lau, who moved to Hong Kong from Guangzhou with his family at age 14.
“At night, after all the chefs left the kitchen, I would practise cooking secretly. I would turn on the stove and fry the vegetables and other leftovers,” he recalls with a smile.
Fast forward to today, and Lau is a chef de cuisine with 40 years of experience under his belt who runs the kitchen of a two-star Michelin restaurant – a place where his style of cooking is now the example for others to follow.
Tin Lung Heen is home to what Lau considers his favourite dishes. “The food we make here is according to my taste, as an original Cantonese,” he says.
Lau’s success at the restaurant – which overlooks Hong Kong from the 102nd floor of Kowloon’s International Commerce Centre, the tallest skyscraper in the city – can perhaps be attributed to the exceptionally high standards he maintains uncompromisingly.
