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Andrew Sun

Has “fusion” ceased to be a dirty word among chefs?
For many years, gimmicky creations such as Korean-Mexican tacos, sushi burritos and Peking duck pizza defined the genre-bending food trend. To serious chefs, such dishes mostly inspired an eye roll and a shrug.
But a new generation of Hong Kong chefs is happy to utter this “F” word as they dabble in elevated East-West culinary crossover.
Their bold melding of disparate ingredients and techniques has resulted in ambitious “third-culture” restaurants that are neither Chinese nor Western but a tasty mash-up of influences.
One such restaurant is Amalgamate, by chef Kasey Chan. The Hong Kong native has over 20 years of fine-dining experience, including in Michelin-star restaurants Amber, L’Envol and VEA. Most recently, he was the head of Cafe Bau, a modern Chinese venue opened by Bo Innovation’s Alvin Leung.

At Amalgamate, in Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay neighbourhood, Chan crosses culinary boundaries.
“My background is in French cuisine and at some Michelin-star restaurants,” he says. “But at home, my family prepared more traditional Hong Kong-style dishes. I really liked these flavours, so I want to bring them into the restaurant. Yet, the Western style of cooking appealed to me because the dishes were so beautifully and artistically presented.”
For Chan, fusion is the norm in Hong Kong’s melting-pot food scene. He reflects this in his own dishes, including foie gras marinated in Chiu Chow-style lo sui, Taiwanese three-cup chicken refashioned into a Rossini with local yellow chicken, and a sweet-and-spicy Sichuan pepper parfait dessert.


Chan is old enough to remember “fusion” being used pejoratively, but young enough not to care about such labels.
“There are lots of restaurants here which could be considered fusion, so I think generally people have kind of got used to fusion-y foods,” he says.
“I guess what we do is fusion too, as we want to emphasise the blending of styles, so there are distinct Chinese and Western characteristics in each dish. It’s not about making one thing more Chinese and another more Western, but to fully fuse the inspirations seamlessly together.”
Also making his mark is chef Antonio Au. At his restaurant, Ebauche, which is also in Causeway Bay, he puts his own spin on modern French cuisine.
“For me, the inspiration from Chinese cuisine comes more from its flavour profiles than from specific dishes. Instead of trying to recreate Chinese food, we take ingredients or taste combinations that are common in Asia and use them as a starting point,” says the 28-year-old, who was previously Maxime Gilbert’s chef de cuisine at two-Michelin-star Écriture before its untimely closure in 2023.
“A key lesson from chef Gilbert was to not place any restrictions on ingredients. When you allow yourself to use anything – whether it’s a classic French vegetable or something less expected – you naturally discover flavour combinations you wouldn’t have found otherwise.”

Au’s decision to pursue French fine dining was shaped by the cuisine’s emphasis on sauces, the complexity of flavours, and the artistry of plating.
“I find the process of deconstructing ingredients and then reassembling them into something refined both intellectually and creatively stimulating,” he says.
He was also deeply influenced by his internship at Spain’s El Celler de Can Roca, a former No. 1 on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. However, as the saying goes, you can take the boy out of Hong Kong, but you cannot take Hong Kong out of the boy.
Au’s delicate and precise presentation is complemented by his loyalty to the humble flavours of his childhood. He deconstructs ingredients such as nam yu (fermented bean curd) for umami-filled beef dishes and adds spicy XO sauce or Sichuan chilli accents to seafood dishes.


“I feel the word ‘fusion’ has become a bit overused,” Au says. “If I were truly trying to blend Chinese and Western techniques into something new, maybe I’d use that term. But I am taking inspiration from Chinese flavour profiles, and those inspirations get translated through French technique and presentation.
“At the end of the day, we are making modern French cuisine shaped by Asian flavours. So I’d rather not call it fusion. It’s French cooking with an open mind.”
Hong Kong-born Chevalier Yau is fascinated with Nordic culture and aesthetics, even though he has never been to Scandinavia. At his restaurant Aera, which recently relocated from Wan Chai to the 30th floor of a commercial building in Sheung Wan, he embraces the Nordic ethos of local, seasonal and sustainable in simple, stylish dishes.
This philosophy is also expressed in the restaurant’s understated decor, which is dominated by a long counter and full-length windows facing Victoria Harbour.

“You cannot put Nordic cuisine in a box,” Yau says. “It is not confined by any rules. Unlike Chinese, French or Italian food, where the ingredients and produce might dictate a dish, there is no set definition for Nordic cuisine.
“I think the culture is also quite like Japan in its focus on ingredients and nature. I like the quiet contemplation and atmosphere. That is what I like too, to concentrate and create here, looking out at the water.”
For Yau, the fusion in his food is as much about feeling and philosophy as it is flavour and technique. His process behind creating dishes is almost meditative.
“When I was little, I loved watching the show Iron Chef. The way everyone cooked was very clean-cut and stylish. It was so beautiful that it made me want to be a chef. Also, I don’t like being hot,” he laughs. “In school, I worked part-time in a cha chaan teng [traditional Hong Kong cafe] kitchen, and it was really sweaty and warm. I hated that.”
Yau reinvents korngrynsgrot – Swedish barley porridge – in the image of Chiu Chow oyster congee and risotto, using sushi rice in an extra note of creativity.


And while Yau’s menu is full of innovative ideas, his dishes avoid confusion.
“I actually like the word fusion,” Yau says. “It is fitting for chefs working in different environments and bringing new ideas back to infuse them into their way of cooking. This is how you enhance old traditions. You can either improve the ingredient, develop better cooking methods, or, with fusion, you bring in new culinary elements and make something your own.
“I think of fusion as a positive thing. Take a stir-fry noodle, for example: it is done year after year the same way. You can even use a machine now to stir-fry noodles. But if you have newer ideas or alternative cooking methods, maybe in 50 years it could be done differently and be more delicious.
“I really like the idea of fusion because, to me, it means working with no boundaries.”
Amalgamate, G/F, 7 Lan Fong Road, Causeway Bay
Ebauche, 18/F, Aura on Pennington, 66 Jardine’s Bazaar, Causeway Bay
Aera, 30/F, Connaught Marina, 48 Connaught Road West, Sheung Wan


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Chef Kasey Chan at Amalgamate in Causeway Bay. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Foie gras marinated in Chiu Chow-style lo sui at Amalgamate. Photo: Amalgamate

A sweet-and-spicy Sichuan pepper parfait dessert at Amalgamate. Photo: Amalgamate

Antonio “Toni” Au, the chef-founder of Ebauche, has worked in some of the world’s best restaurants, including El Celler de Can Roca in Spain. Photo: Ebauche

A nam yu (fermented bean curd) beef tendon beignet at Ebauche. Photo: Instagram/ebauche.hk

Shima aji with kohlrabi turnip and silky yuzu panna cotta at Ébauche. Photo: Ébauche

Aera’s head chef Chevalier Yau has a fascination with Nordic culture. Photo: Jonathan Wong

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Food & Drink

We meet three Hong Kong restaurant pioneers who are elevating the maligned food trend by serving French and Nordic dishes with Asian accents


We meet three Hong Kong restaurant pioneers who are elevating the maligned food trend by serving French and Nordic dishes with Asian accents.


The Hong Kong chefs serving up East-West fusion food without the stigma

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}We meet three Hong Kong restaurant pioneers who are elevating the maligned food trend by serving French and Nordic dishes with Asian accents

We meet three Hong Kong restaurant pioneers who are elevating the maligned food trend by serving French and Nordic dishes with Asian accents