When? November 18, 2022

Where?: The Magistracy, Tai Kwun

Who?: Syed Asim Hussain, Adrian Cheng, Allan Zeman, Danny Yeung, May Chow, Girish Jhunjhnuwala and Chibo Tang 

Here's what you missed:

To celebrate the group’s tenth anniversary, its founder Syed Asim Hussain threw a glitzy dinner for 100 guests on November 18. The black-tie affair was held at The Magistracy, Black Sheep’s latest opening, which is located inside Tai Kwun and occupies one of the oldest surviving court buildings in Hong Kong. Designed by architect Joyce Wang, it draws inspiration from the stately interiors of some of London’s oldest restaurants, while also paying homage to historic details inside the space.

Chefs and creatives working across establishments at the restaurant group brought out all the stops for the evening and delighted guests with their offerings. At Botanical Garden, which forms part of The Magistracy, cocktails and canapés by chef Luca Marinelli, who helms Osteria Marzia, kicked off the evening. This was followed by oysters, caviar and champagne, which guests enjoyed alongside entertainment from a jazz band and a caricaturist.

The stylish set was then ushered into The Magistracy Dining Room, one of the opulent spaces inside the venue, for a Chinese-inspired banquet dinner curated by chefs Theign Phan of Grand Majestic Sichuan and ArChan Chan of Ho Lee Fook.

"While this has been a time of celebration for me … this has also been a time of reflection,” said Hussain to the glamorous crowd, which included titans of industry like Adrian Cheng, Allan and Charmaine Zeman, and Chibo Tang. “I have allowed myself the indulgence of retrospection and I am so proud of the journey we have been on. We have never taken our losses too seriously, and even through all the chaos, we have kept putting one foot in front of the other. While tomorrow this moment might not be good enough, right now we are exactly where we are meant to be.”

Guests were also treated to a preview of On the Edge of Chaos, an upcoming Black Sheep documentary that chronicles the pre-opening of The Magistracy. It was met with a standing ovation, for Hussain and his team.

As dinner wrapped up, a beautiful cake, complete with trumpets and sparklers, was presented to guests. The cake, created by Butter and Messina’s head pastry chef Karys Plaxe, features multiple tiers, with each inspired by the stories behind the group’s restaurants. The evening reached a crescendo with Who Wants to Be a Black Sheep Millionaire?, a game testing guests’ knowledge of Black Sheep’s history, hosted by the company’s head of creative Marc Hofmann.

The party continued at The Upper Chambers, which takes up the second floor of The Magistracy. Famed Elton John impersonator Jeff Scott, who flew in from Toronto, wowed the crowd with his renditions of classics. The revelries lasted until the wee hours. If the evening—and the last ten years—were any indication of what the hospitality pros can bring to guests, we can only imagine what the next decade Black Sheep has in store for us.