{"id":7729,"date":"2026-02-28T20:23:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T20:23:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=7729"},"modified":"2026-02-28T20:23:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T20:23:15","slug":"secrets-from-the-man-behind-hong-kongs-most-popular-restaurants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=7729","title":{"rendered":"Secrets from the man behind Hong Kong\u2019s most popular restaurants"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n CNN<\/span>
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\n Hong Kong is widely considered one of the most challenging cities in the world to operate a restaurant \u2013 a roiling cauldron of changing tastes, cleaver-sharp competition and unsavory economics.\n <\/p>\n

\n Right at the heart of its culinary world, with connections to at least half of its hottest tables, is publicist Geoffrey Wu.\n <\/p>\n

\n Wu and his 10-year-old consultancy firm The Forks and Spoons<\/a> work with some of the most decorated restaurants and bars in town, such as the two-Michelin starred TATE Dining Room and Ando, one of the most sought-after reservations in town.\n <\/p>\n

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\n <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n \u201cI wouldn\u2019t say we\u2019re better at our job than other people. I\u2019d say we\u2019re different,\u201d he tells CNN Travel in The Baker and The Bottleman, a new casual bakery and natural wine bar by celebrity British chef Simon Rogan, where he\u2019s agreed to spill some of the secrets of Hong Kong\u2019s dining scene.\n <\/p>\n

\n After being expelled from the University of Science and Technology in Hong Kong for \u201cskipping too many classes to play cards at McDonald\u2019s,\u201d Wu joined Amber, the famed French restaurant under the helm of Richard Ekkebus, as operations staff in 2005.\n <\/p>\n

\n Over the next few years he took on various marketing roles for different companies \u2013 but always found himself back in the food and beverage industry. In 2012, he opened his F&B consultancy firm.\n <\/p>\n

\n Wu isn\u2019t your typical food and beverage publicist. He isn\u2019t congenial. He\u2019s known for occasionally yelling at clients for making a mistake, or members of the media he feels haven\u2019t done their research.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI am not afraid to speak up \u2013 people know that for sure. Sometimes you need a consultant who is straightforward about things that must be fixed. We aren\u2019t here to massage your ego. We are here for the results. We are here to win,\u201d says Wu, <\/strong>sounding more like a football coach than a PR professional.<\/strong>\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIf I wanted to please everyone, I\u2019d go sell ice cream. Luckily, most of my clients understand.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Among these clients is Yenn Wong, founder and chief executive officer of JIA, a restaurant group behind popular award-winning Hong Kong eateries like Mono and Duddell\u2019s.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe Forks and Spoons understand and personalize the needs of each concept and is always staying very current with the relevant strategies to ensure we as clients get the most publicity to our target audience, which ultimately delivers positive revenue growth,\u201d Wong tells CNN Travel.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u2018The most cutthroat F&B market in the world\u2019
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\n \"Dinner<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n One of the important duties for a F&B publicist is to be physically present at a restaurant, according to Wu. He is either tinkering with menus, sampling new dishes or simply meeting with clients.\n <\/p>\n

\n It could be anything from translating the restaurant\u2019s a la carte menu from Chinese into English to working with chefs on choosing dishes for a tasting menu, \u201cso you can see what\u2019s happening and let the staff know that you care,\u201d says Wu.\n <\/p>\n

\n For instance, later that day, he says he\u2019s having a trial lunch at Bluhouse, a new casual Italian dining concept at the Rosewood Hotel in Kowloon.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cAt a tasting, we\u2019ll look at everything \u2013 taste, presentation and temperature of the food. We also look at furniture, operation flow, pricing, etc.,\u201d he says. \u201cNo new restaurant is ever perfect, but let\u2019s try to minimize the error.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe have only worked with clients in Asia \u2013 Hong Kong, Macao, Maldives, etc \u2013 but I really believe that Hong Kong is the most cutthroat food and beverage market in the world.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n His claim isn\u2019t baseless.\n <\/p>\n

\n Getting the opening right is essential in Hong Kong due to its competitiveness.\n <\/p>\n

\n The city is frequently named as the world\u2019s most expensive rental location. And Hong Kong residents are some of \u2013 if not the \u2013 biggest spenders on dining out, especially pre-Covid. Food imports are extremely expensive<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n

\n According to a recent government survey, Hong Kong households spent an average<\/a> of HKD60,539 (or US$7,761) on meals out and takeaway food in the year of 2019 to 2020 \u2013 Hong Kong suffered from half a year of social unrest<\/a> in 2019 before the outbreak of Covid in 2020\n <\/p>\n

\n That was about double what New York-area household spent on average on food away from home during the same year<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt\u2019s such a condensed market,\u201d says Wu.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cPeople always talk. Hong Kong customers are also very knowledgeable. If you don\u2019t get it right from the get-go, you have to revamp many things. The question is \u2013 will the customers give you a second chance? There are so many choices that chances are they\u2019d go somewhere else.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cSo to build a successful restaurant, it\u2019s important to make sure the opening is a strong one. With good word of mouth then businesses will come. It\u2019s that simple.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Case in point: Bluhouse. It <\/strong>opened in June and dinner reservations are full through October and November at the time of the writing.\n <\/p>\n

\n Hong Kong\u2019s F&B industry has evolved rapidly in the last decade, thanks in part to the arrival of Michelin Guide in 2009 as well as the rise of social media and the local food community.\n <\/p>\n

\n Chefs in Hong Kong have experienced a shift in their roles.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cSome 20 years ago, chefs mostly just cooked and served food,\u201d says Wu.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cNow in 2022, there is also this thing called relationship building. Chefs have to show their faces. They have to touch the tables and to take pictures with guests. The job of a chef is much bigger than before. It all goes back to a need for human connection. Customers, media, influencers, bloggers \u2013 everyone wants to have a human connection.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n And it just makes good business sense \u2013 guests are more likely to return to a restaurant where they have established a relationship with the chef.\n <\/p>\n

\n The problem, of course, is that chatting with diners doesn\u2019t come naturally to all chefs. That\u2019s where Wu comes in.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe just encourage and encourage and encourage them,\u201d he says.\n <\/p>\n

\n He cites Manav Tuli of modern Indian restaurant Chaat \u2013 which is also located at the Rosewood \u2013 as a success story. Chaat opened in 2020 and won its first Michelin star two years later.\n <\/p>\n

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\n \"Chef<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n Unique dishes like Tuli\u2019s showstopping tandoori lobster \u2013 Indian food with a Hong Kong seafood twist \u2013 and a team of knowledgeable staff which communicates the stories of the food beautifully are some of the reasons Chaat is one of Hong Kong\u2019s hardest to book restaurants.\n <\/p>\n

\n Tables are released two months in advance and swept up in minutes.\n <\/p>\n

\n But the biggest star of Chaat is Tuli, considered one of the city\u2019s most beloved culinary figures right now.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWhen he arrived two years ago, he didn\u2019t know the landscape or culture of Hong Kong,\u201d said Wu. \u201cHe is a quiet person but we align in a certain way as we both have a drive. For him, moving his family to Hong Kong with him, he wants to make this a success. So we have been working very closely since day one on that,\u201d said Wu.\n <\/p>\n

\n He encouraged Tuli to meet the guests and fellow chefs, joining him at events and meals as the chef built a name for himself.\n <\/p>\n

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\n \"Wu<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n On his days off, Wu organizes lunches for media, including revered industry critics, and chefs he works with or may work with in the future.\n <\/p>\n

\n These often take place at venues Wu doesn\u2019t work for, from Hop Sze, a no-frills Cantonese diner that has a six-month wait list, to the Forum Restaurant, a Chinese joint with three Michelin stars.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI worked til 4 a.m [this morning]. I only joined because Geoffrey Wu arranged this lunch,\u201d one food critic tells CNN Travel as he enters the private dining room inside Forum.\n <\/p>\n

\n The menu of the day includes all kinds of dishes \u2013 from street food-style rice rolls to classic Cantonese sweet and sour pork and the restaurant\u2019s famous braised abalone.\n <\/p>\n

\n As with most lunches with Wu, there\u2019s also an off-menu surprise.\n <\/p>\n

\n Adam Wong, the executive chef, and CK Poon, the general manager, come in with a pushcart near the end of the meal.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe are thinking of adding this to the next menu update,\u201d says Poon as he caramelizes sugar for the candied apple fritter (ba si apple), a Northern Chinese-style dessert, on-site.\u201dIt\u2019s the first time we\u2019re doing this \u2013 so let us know what you think.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n The five-hour lunch wraps up with industry gossip over bottles of cognac.\n <\/p>\n

\n But Wu is never not working.\n <\/p>\n

\n He punctuates gatherings with potential collaboration ideas (Tuli and Wong exchanged ideas that day on a hookup between the two restaurants), and fills in moments of silence with jokes to keep the meal entertaining.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI always say that I\u2019m the chief entertainment officer,\u201d says Wu. \u201cBuilding relationships takes time. Cold-calling and sending press releases aren\u2019t building a relationship.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

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\n \"Wu<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n At the end of the day, connections won\u2019t get you far if the food isn\u2019t good or the restaurant refuses to evolve.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cFlavor doesn\u2019t lie,\u201d says Wu. \u201cBut everything \u2013 restaurants, bars, chefs \u2013 has a shelf life. It\u2019s impossible to stay number one forever. You need to keep coming up with new ideas to continue to elevate the restaurant.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n It could be doing more tableside services, educating guests about the dishes, or simply adding a pre-dessert bite that cleanses the palate, he says.\n <\/p>\n

\n One of Wu\u2019s latest tasks is to edit the menu at one of his new clients, Yong Fu, a Michelin-starred restaurant that specializes in high-end cuisine from China\u2019s east coast Ningbo region.\n <\/p>\n

\n He\u2019d like to trim down the original one-inch-thick book and has created a tasting menu to offer a more curated ordering experience.\n <\/p>\n

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\n \"In<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n In Hong Kong, Ningbo cuisine is often confused with Shanghai cuisine. The tasting menu includes dishes that diners may not know enough about to order \u2013 a \u201csticky\u201d boiled wax gourd and yellow croaker fish in sour broth, for example \u2013 that amplify the trinity of Ningbo cuisine\u2019s star flavors: \u201csavory, umami and sticky.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Yu Qiong, Yong Fu\u2019s manager, is there to offer an in-depth explanation on each of the dishes.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThese are some of the things that will enrich the whole dining experience,\u201d says Wu. He compares marketing restaurants with running: \u201cKeep refining. Keep pushing. My belief is, just don\u2019t stop until you are at the finishing line.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n It\u2019s an apt metaphor. The avid runner wakes up at 5:45 a.m. on most days to fit in exercise.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI enjoy Hong Kong on quiet mornings when the city hasn\u2019t woken up yet. When you run, you see a lot of things and think about a lot of things,\u201d says Wu.\n <\/p>\n

\n As for what was on his mind that particular morning?\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI was thinking about our interview. I was thinking about not swearing. I did well \u2013 I only swore once.\u201d\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n


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