Cover David Toutain (left) and Joris Rousseau (right). Photo courtesy of Feuille
David Toutain (left) and Joris Rousseau (right). Photo courtesy of Feuille
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The upcoming restaurant will champion locally grown vegetables along the tenets of French haute cuisine
French chef David Toutain, the talent behind his eponymous two-Michelin-starred Paris restaurant, is taking his culinary vision to Hong Kong with the debut of Feuille (pronounced 'feuy' and French for 'foliage'). Feuille marks Toutain's first restaurant outside France and was brought about via a partnership with ZS Hospitality Group, the company behind Tatler Dining 20 honourees Hansik Goo and Whey, as well as the two-Michelin-starred Ying Jee Club. Collaborating with executive chef Joris Rousseau, Feuille will showcase Toutain's refined brand of vegetable-driven French cuisine.
Feuille's seasonal menu celebrates explores the possibilities of local ingredients—after all, Toutain's commitment to sustainable practices and ethical sourcing earned his Paris restaurant a coveted Michelin Green Star in 2020. In Hong Kong, he continues his eco-friendly initiatives by sourcing ingredients from local producers and organic farms.
Toutain's respect for nature began early during summers spent at his grandparents' farm in Flors in southern Normandy, where meals began with crudités from their garden, he recalls. "The purity of those tastes became a compass point for me." By 21, Toutain was sous chef to French culinary icon Alain Passard at Arpège, and he further honed his skills alongside culinary icons such as Pierre Gagnaire, Bernard Pacaud, and Marc Veyrat.
Helming Feuille's kitchen is executive chef Joris Rousseau, who developed his culinary style under renowned French chef Yannick Alléno while working as a sous chef at Alléno's three-Michelin-starred Cheval Blanc Courchevel and Pavillon Ledoyen.
With Feuille, Toutain will address diners' evolving expectations and desire for healthy eating at the level of fine dining—Feuille's tasting menus will utilise sustainably grown local ingredients to support Hong Kong farmers while pairing them with sustainably sourced meat and seafood.
Over the multi-course tasting menu, each dish will feature vegetables as the predominant ingredient in a nod to Toutain's respect for local ingredients and his distinctive understanding of flavour combinations. A vegetarian menu will also be available, utilising every aspect of the vegetables—from seeds, stems, and roots to flowers and leaves—while adhering to seasonality.
Stay tuned for more news of the opening of Feuille in May 2023.
Feuille, 5/F, 198 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong; zshospitality.com
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Gavin Yeung is a Hong Kong-based writer and was the editor at Tatler Dining. He has written across the realms of F&B, design, fashion and travel, with a focus on in-depth profiles and experiential features. Previously, he held editorial positions at Hypebeast, Soho House and Vogue Hong Kong. He’s also a keen photographer and aspiring home bartender, and is constantly thinking of original, Cantonese-inflected (and occasionally questionable) cocktails to shake up. Follow him on Instagram at @gaviny.
