Cover Chef Zimmer has carefully curated every detail of this leisurely dining experience to bring the spirit of this decadent period to life (Photo: Stephanie Teng/Tatler Hong Kong)
Chef Zimmer has carefully curated every detail of this leisurely dining experience to bring the spirit of this decadent period to life (Photo: Stephanie Teng/Tatler Hong Kong)
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Chef Eyck Zimmer reimagines the spirit of La Belle Époque with turn-of-the-20th-century recipes served using a collection of specially selected antique silverware
Spanning the late 19th and early 20th centuries, La Belle Époque was a period of almost 50 years when art and culture flourished across Europe, with Paris as its beating heart. It was a time of creativity and opulence, including in the culinary arts. During this period, on the other side of the world, The Hong Kong Jockey Club opened in 1884, bringing a new experience of European traditions to the east. Executive chef (Western) Eyck Zimmer calls on this historical era to present La Belle Époque, a decadent new private dining experience for club members at Centurion in Sha Tin Clubhouse.
“I want to take guests back to the good old times when things were simpler, when it was all about the hospitality and the service,” Zimmer says. “I want them to spend time together enjoying the food, the environment and the wine, and hope they enjoy the whole experience and understand the history, love and care that have gone into the concept.”
Above (Videography: Ricky Nyhoff)
Zimmer has carefully curated every detail of this leisurely dining experience to bring the spirit of this decadent period to life. Beginning with antique silverware and utensils, which Zimmer handpicked and sourced from throughout Europe, the chef has specially curated dishes to match the silverware and further elevate the refined white-glove service, borrowed from grand hotels of the era such as London’s Savoy and Paris’s Ritz. Expect a duck consommé served in a vintage duck-shaped teapot; vinaigrette shaken in miniature silver cocktail shakers; and an authentic French duck press.
The French-inspired dishes were designed to recall the decadence of this epoch while pleasing the palates of Hong Kong’s 21st-century epicureans. The eight-course feast begins with an elegant sea urchin and egg sabayon served with a side of Kristal caviar. What follows is a symphony of upscale ingredients and flavours: Boston lobster and green asparagus chaud-froid, duck consommé with beetroot and black trumpet mushrooms, and whole roasted monkfish served with crustaceans and clams.
Sea urchin and egg sabayon served with a side of Kristal caviar (Photo: Stephanie Teng/Tatler Hong Kong)
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The pièce de résistance, though, is the visually arresting pigeon, served with black truffle sauce and made using a vintage duck press, right there in the dining room. Zimmer reimagines the classic French dish canard à la presse by replacing duck with pigeon and pairing it with pommes mousseline and an étuvée of vegetables. The finishing touch is chef Zimmer’s sweet Fabergé Egg, a decadent dessert constructed to resemble the famous jewelled objets d’art commissioned by the Russian Imperial family.
To complete the banquet, diners can indulge in a sommelier-curated wine pairing that includes Perrier-Jouët Belle Époque Rosé champagne, the 2020 Recto Verso from the Rhône Valley’s Domaine des Accoles, and the 2012 La Dame de Montrose Saint-Estèphe from Bordeaux’s Chateau Montrose.
La Belle Époque is now exclusively available from Thursday to Sunday in the Centurion Trophy private dining room, at The Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Sha Tin Clubhouse.
Credits
Videography: Ricky Nyhoff
Photography: Stephanie Teng
Grooming: Kenji
