Another Michelin-starred restaurant from Hong Kong is coming — Han Lai secures the agency for Celebrity Cuisine and sets up in Kaohsiung

▲ Hong Kong’s Michelin-starred restaurant Celebrity Cuisine is coming to Taiwan. This time, it’s landing in Kaohsiung. (Photo / Screenshot fromLan Kwai Fong Hotelofficial website)

Reported by Huang Shiyuan, Taipei

Following Tim Ho Wan and Shanghai Night, yet another Michelin-starred restaurant from Hong Kong is heading to Taiwan. This time, it’s the two-Michelin-starred "Celebrity Cuisine," and instead of landing in Taipei, it will set up shop in Kaohsiung — great news for southern Taiwan foodies. The Asian agency rights for Celebrity Cuisine have been acquired by the Han Lai Group, with an official signing ceremony expected on March 13.

"Celebrity Cuisine" is a high-end Cantonese restaurant in Hong Kong, which opened in 2007 and is tucked inside the Lan Kwai Fong Hotel at Kau U Fong, Central. It offers exceptional private-kitchen-style Cantonese cuisine for discerning gourmands, with its mastermind being Chef Cheng Kam Fu (also known as Uncle Fu), who was hailed as the "hidden culinary deity" by Hong Kong food lovers in 2009. Celebrity Cuisine earned its first Michelin star in 2010 and was elevated to two stars in 2011. Cheng Kam Fu, renowned for his exceptional cooking skills, was recruited over 20 years ago by Hong Kong textile tycoon Lincoln Lam Pak-yan to work at his private guesthouse.

Unlike Tim Ho Wan, which was founded by a Hong Kong local, Celebrity Cuisine primarily serves international guests. As such, it can introduce the authentic flavors of Hong Kong cuisine to Taiwan and other regions in Asia.

In addition, the Michelin-starred Shanghai Night at Shin Kong Mitsukoshi’s A4 New World A4F on XinYi Road will also open in April. Its branch located on the sixth floor of the Marco Polo Hongkong Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, was awarded two Michelin stars in 2012 and one star in both 2013 and 2014. True to its name, Shanghai Night serves a variety of classic Shanghai dishes, such as twice-cooked pork, tender chicken stewed noodles, dry-fried bamboo shoots with green beans, and hundred-layered Chinese cabbage.