What goes into opening a restaurant that revolves entirely around one ingredient? We spoke to the chefs behind newly-opened Mora to find out
What's white, wobbly, and wholesome? The answer has been an obsession of chef Vicky Lau and partner Romain Herbreteau for the past two years, culminating this past January in the opening of Mora, an elegant bistro on quaint Upper Lascar Row in Sheung Wan that is focused solely on exploring the possibilities of tofu and soy.
Mora's philosophy is a natural evolution of chef-owner Lau's "Ode To..." series of lunchtime tasting menus at her first restaurant, Tate Dining Room, each of which focused on a single ingredient as the main character, ranging from eggs and rice, to tea, mushrooms, and (at the time of writing) seaweed. "It allows me to go really in-depth into one ingredient, which a lot of the times you’re not able to do that in one or two dishes," Lau explains. "One of our strong points is to make innovative dishes and change the menu quite often. It’s also what a lot of guests come to Tate for."
The cuisine at Mora builds on Lau's learnings from her Ode to Tofu menu in June 2020, which featured the likes of cold noodles with yuba and fermented tofu; as well as the Ode to Soy Sauce menu in January 2021. But to fully realise the ambitions of a wholly dedicated restaurant, Lau had to go so far as acquiring her own dedicated factory, along with countless hours of research and experimentation to create a cuisine representative of soy and tofu across East Asian food culture.
Heading up the kitchen is head chef Percy Ho, an alum of David Lai's Neighborhood, Bistronomique and On Lot 10, whose impressive head-to-toe tattoos nonetheless contrast with the restrained aesthetic of the restaurant interior, and his deft hand in teasing out the delicate flavours of the starring ingredient. He, along with Lau, sat down with Tatler Dining to shed light on the process of opening Mora, tofu's more esoteric varieties, and the culinary culture of China's Song dynasty from which they source ample inspiration.
See also: Now Open: Vicky Lau’s New French-Chinese Restaurant Mora is an Ode to Soy
How did the idea for Mora come about?
Vicky Lau: There’s two types of restaurants—those that people go to for a new journey and every time it’s a surprise; and other restaurants like a traditional Italian trattoria where you get the veal Milanese every time. Tate is very much the first kind, so that's how the idea to focus on one ingredient for the "Ode To..." menus evolved. Tofu was one of our earlier menus, and that’s when I went deep into understanding the history behind tofu. Coincidentally there was a lot of news about tofu restaurants closing down. I actually considered buying out some of them, but I went there and the machines were so old that I didn’t even know what I was buying.
I’ve had great experiences at tofu restaurants in Japan; the versatility [of the ingredient] is really attractive, like how it can absorb so much sauce. The most important thing is the texture—ranging from super soft to super hard. A lot of people are also wanting to eat mock meats nowadays, but back in the Song dynasty we were already doing that, using tofu sheets to make mock chicken and more. It’s a very sustainable ingredient to use.
All this evolved and we always wanted to open a restaurant that is more casual. We have a lot to give and this time the most important topic is sustainability. I feel tofu can really reduce the protein consumption and it’s just a good way to remind people not to eat so much meat every single day.
Percy, what was your experience with tofu before you began at Mora?
Percy Ho: I wasn’t super familiar with cooking it, but I’ve always liked soy milk and tofu fa. Now that we’ve opened Mora I’ve learnt so much more about tofu. Back in the day they would use gypsum to make tofu, but today people are concerned about what goes into gypsum; so we use some more chemically neutral ingredients to coagulate the tofu instead.