Where a French chef in Hong Kong eats French-style pastries, pizza and dim sum
Thomas Caro is the executive chef of Rex Wine & Grill, which is now rebranded as a French steakhouse. He spoke to Andrew Sun.
I tend to eat in a very polarised way: very regimented and healthy, or purely for pleasure and comfort.
Growing up in the French countryside, I remember walking to our village's farm with my dad to buy eggs and milk, and picking cherries, Reine Claude plums – also known as greengages – and apricots at my grandparents'.
My grandmother, Geneviève, was an exceptional cook, making classic cuisine bourgeoise – middle-class home cooking – staples every Sunday for lunch. Grandpa Jean, who cultivated my love of food, made endless batches of jam, stored in his basement cellar to be given away during the year.
A pizza from Fiata Pizza. Photo: Fiata Pizza
Signature dishes at New Punjab Club, where 'everything bursts with flavour'. Photo: Black Sheep Restaurants
He would spoil me at brasseries, ordering a whole sole meunière, a classic French fish dish, for my nine-year-old self. Now the only cuisine that makes sense to me in the summer is southern French.
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