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Hong Kong’s Hottest Female Chefs

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Peggy Chan - Grassroots Pantry

Founder, Executive Chef and Managing Director of Grassroots Pantry, Peggy is one badass chick! Hong Kong-born Peggy stopped eating red meat 16 years ago and has had a passion for eating with a conscience ever since. Her love for the environment and animal welfare inspires us to want to eat better and her dishes at Grassroots Pantry are to die for! We think everyone needs a woman like Peggy in their city, and we are so glad to have her in ours!

 

Why we love her: With so many achievements, Peggy is recognised in the community for her role as a young female social entrepreneur, striving for a cleaner food system and equal opportunities in the workforce.

 

Read more about Peggy as one of our first That Girls here

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May Chow - Little Bao

May is the genius behind one of our favourite restaurants in Central, Little Bao, and we don’t just love her for her bao buns – although they are god-damn amazing! Hong Kong-born via Canada and the States, Chow has become somewhat of a celebrity in HK, and while interviewing her previously she expressed her thoughts on sexism in the  kitchen: “There are perks as a woman that I truly embrace – I don’t feel the need to prove that I can carry a 50-pound bag of flour. I just ask one of the guys to do it!”

 

Why we love her: She’s personable and ALWAYS smiling. Her passion for food is so genuine that she almost makes us want to get up from our table and start cooking ourselves – almost.

 

Read more about May as one of our That Girls here. 

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Lori Granito - Magnolia

Lori is the brains behind New Orleans-style private dining kitchen Magnolia, co-founder of Little Burro, the popular San Francisco ‘Mission Style’ burrito eatery, and owner of Kitchen Sync, Hong Kong’s first culinary incubator for startup food entrepreneurs (to name a few). With all these businesses under her belt we’re surprised Lori has any time to do anything but cook! She’s also the proud owner of both the 2013 and 2014 Sassy Hong Kong awards for Favourite Private Kitchen, among many other awards and accolades. She’s not only a food queen but was also named Entrepreneur of the Year by Skal Hong Kong. Go Lori!

 

Why we love her: Not only does she run a million businesses but she also makes time to visit foodie events with her husband and daughter by her side – always laughing, always chatting – a real Hong Kong sweetheart!

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Judy Joo - Jinjuu

Iron chef TV personality Judy, a Korean-American executive chef and food writer, recently came to Hong Kong to open her second Jinjuu restaurant (her first one was in London). Splitting her time between London and Asia, her passion for Korean food has come alive throughout her new jaunt in California Tower. Former employee of Mr Ramsay and executive chef of the Playboy club in London, she certainly has a fair few stories to tell and we get to see some of those through her cooking! Stay tuned for our interview with her coming soon.

 

Why we love her: She’s a former Morgan Stanley trader who quit her successful job when she realised what her true passion was – and look how far she has come! We could all do with a bit of her courage and motivation!

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Vicky Lau

Named Asia’s Best Female Chef in 2015, Vicky Lau is perhaps one of the most well-known female chefs in Hong Kong after receiving one of the most important accolades a chef can receive – to be voted for by peers across the restaurant industry and recognised by those who really know what it takes to succeed. As the chef behind Tate Dining Room, she’s paving the way for fellow female chefs. Vicky is a role model in the F&B industry and she takes her title very seriously. Here’s some advice she has for any aspiring female chefs: “Accept and embrace the repetition of the job, and also perfect what you’re doing each day so you can bring it forward and use it as a solid foundation to build your career. It’s also important to keep an open mind and learn about the world around you and not just within the industry. Nowadays as a modern chef, to develop a style and personality of your own cuisine and restaurant is very important.”

 

Why we love her: She’s showing women the way it’s done!

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Helina Tesega - Eat Ethio

Eat Ethio is a project food goddess Helina started in Shanghai nearly three years ago to promote a modern understanding of the food and culture of Ethiopia, and has now brought over to Hong Kong. Collaborating with the likes of The Woods and Ping Pong, she is on a mission to educate HK on Ethiopian cuisine and jokes that Eat Ethio is her way of telling the world, “Yes, y’all, we have food.”

 

Why we love her:  As the only provider of Ethiopian cuisine in the city Helina is making waves with her passion of cooking and putting Ethiopian food on the map – Go girl!

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Mina Park - Sook

It all started selling kimchi tacos at PMQ night market and has now turned into a pop-up restaurant appearing in places like French restaurant Serge et le Phoque. Only moving to Hong Kong four years ago Mina love of cooking for friends and family is now feeding the mouths of hungry foodies around the city. Good friends with another one of our hottest chefs, May Chow, we envision huge things for Mina in within the HK dining scene.

 

Why we love her: She is still working as a full-time lawyer while running Sook and she always puts her friends first!

 

Read more about Mina as one of our That Girls here.

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