KRUG FOCUS
This is what happens when childhood nostalgia and Krug Champagne meet for a meal to remember
For each dinner in the Creating Memories series at The Krug Room, Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong’s executive chef Robin Zavou pays close attention to the fond fragments of the past that each host feeds him during their meetings. The first three dinners were hosted by Peter Cheung, Victoria Tang-Owen and Christopher Owen, and most recently Evan Chow, with each meal distinctly different from each other. For the fourth feast at the iconic restaurant in the heat of summer, Zavou met with Yen Kuok—the youngest daughter of Shangri-La and Kerry Group founder Robert Kuok—to discuss the direction for a meal she would host for 10 of her closest girlfriends, paired with the finest Krug Champagnes.
As a child of the 90s, Kuok wanted Zavou to recreate the fun flavours of her youth—from the simple satisfaction of a McDonald’s Happy Meal to streetside curry fishballs and the cool icy treat that is a Milo Dinosaur. Kuok recalls how, as a child, her helpers would “treat” her to Happy Meals while her parents were out of town—a memory she loves, even if as an adult she realises that the action was more out of convenience. To fit the theme, Kuok asked her guests to come dressed in their finest red and yellow outfits to reflect the vibrant colour scheme of America’s most famous fast food restaurant.
Among the guests were Rebecca McGeoch, Veronica Lam, Maya Lin, Yijia Tiong, Faye Tsui, Lesley Chiang, Bonnie Chan and Queenie Mak, who were all delighted by the feast designed by Zavou and Kuok (at one point, the chef joked about how he and Kuok fought over the creative license for the menu—such was how intertwined their ideas were, in a true culinary collaboration).
In true Krug Room fashion, the meal kicked off with chilled glasses of Krug Champagne—in this case, Krug Grande Cuvée 166ème Édition, which was paired with the opening act of Hong Kong street snacks, fine-dining style. Kuok and her friends delighted over the egg waffle zhuzhed up with truffle and cheese (“a stark contrast” to what she ate as a kid, joked Kuok), the lobster curry fish balls, and the siu mai. Kuok had emphasised to Zavou that the siu mai should taste like the frozen variety you find in any Hong Kong 7/11 store, though obviously made with premium ingredients—and he delivered on this seemingly impossible task.