Why this Michelin star chef is not easily satisfied
Michelin Star chefs, behind the glamour of television shows and hordes of adulatory fans, live on a slippery slope. Alvin Leung knows all about it.
Born in London, raised in Toronto, residing in Hong Kong, 54-year-old Leung belongs to the stratospheric club of just two self-taught Michelin three-star chef-restaurateurs, the other being Heston Blumenthal.
Leung trained to be an acoustic engineer and has seen the innards of more concert halls than restaurants, but when he opened "Bo Innovation" after buying the location of a former speakeasy for $3,000 in 2003, he was thrown immediately into the race for Michelin stars. He started with two, but dropped to one in a year. "It's good to go down because then you know you have to climb back to your old spot," Leung said to me before laying out a six-course dinner at the JW Marriott in Juhu, Mumbai. "And you can't be on top and not know that you can only go down."
It's this humbling thought that keeps him focused, even as he juggles multiple roles - he still heads his family's acoustics business; he does ten pop-up restaurants across the world (like the one at JW Marriott) in a year; and he's a judge on MasterChef Canada, an assignment that takes up three months of filming in a year. He also knows that his guests expect to see him at Bo Innovation - they want to assure themselves that he's the one cooking when they visit his celebrated restaurant. Unsurprisingly, Leung has not only held on to his three stars, but also acquired one for Bo London, which he opened in 2012.
It is not easy to get a seat at Bo Innovation. One has heard from friends about how they were able to get a couple of bar stools after booking a month in advance. That can be an uncomfortable perch for a punter paying a little fortune for the privilege of dining at Bo Innovation. At this 40-seater restaurant, the 15-course tasting menu is priced at the Hong Kong dollar equivalent of Rs 15,000 per person plus ten per cent service charge; add another Rs 9,500 for wine pairing.
Leung may be pricey, but he knows very well that a few gimmicks aside - he's famous for his take on "Sex on the Beach" for an AIDS charity: an edible condom filled with ham and honey on a beach of mushroom - it's what a chef serves that keeps the cash registers ringing. All the Michelin stars and the commendations of critics are just not enough to get you the numbers.
Leung understands the power of what business insiders call the "word of mouth" media. "Your best guide is a good word from a friend," said the chef who marries the best of Chinese culinary traditions with the techniques of fusion cuisine and molecular gastronomy.
With opinions flying thick and fast across social media and referral sites such as TripAdvisor, I could relate with Leung's sentiment: "You can't hide behind a Michelin star." It takes very little for a hero to become a zero.
I asked Leung what the secret of winning a Michelin star was. "If I knew it, I would have opened a school," he said with a wry laugh. "It's a big mystery, just like films that win Oscars don't do well in the box office, and the films that don't become runaway hits."
Life doesn't stop at three stars. You've got to keep elevating your cuisine and delighting your guests. Because, as Leung put it, he didn't open a restaurant to see disappointed guests. Smiling guests are his most valued Michelin stars. To earn that smile, chefs must cook to hear from their guests the words Leung longs to hear every day, "That was the best meal I have ever had." As he said to me, "It is not difficult now to make good food because we have sophisticated equipment and refined ingredients. Being innovative also helps you. It sets you apart from other chefs. But taste is king. The taste of your food draws people to your restaurant."