Hip and popular Sydney chef Jowett Yu plans to raise some eyebrows with his Hong Kong restaurant, and it won’t just be with his food.
The owner of cool Australian eateries, Mr. Wong and Ms. G, is opening a casual Chinese canteen diner in Hong Kong’s SoHo district in April with the name, Ho Lee Fook. Yes, it is deliberately designed to sound like a certain profane English phrase.
It seems the branding came courtesy of lifestyle chain G.O.D.’s Douglas Young. The provocateur last proposed a cheeky and obscene pun similar to this when G.O.D. launched the Delay No Mall, which closely resembled the Cantonese swear words for “you motherf#@ker!”
Instead of the obscene term, the publicists for Ho Lee Fook explains the name actually means “good fortune for your mouth,” as the characters can literally be defined as ‘tongue very lucky.” Yeah, sure, it does.
Chef Yu, who was born in Taiwan but raised in Vancouver before settling in Sydney, will be offering his reinterpretation of classic Chinese dishes in a funky, modern setting. Among the entrees to be served include Yunnan-style Steak Tartare with Hot and Sour Sauce and Mint; Fried Brussels Sprouts with Cauliflower and Bacon Chili Jam; Raw Hokkaido Scallop with Snow Peas, Pickled Enoki and Fish Fragrant Dressing, Steamed Cobia with Pickled Jalapeños, Pickled Mustard, Fennel and Radish Salad; and Clams Cooked in Pork Broth with Fennel, and Fried Bread.
It appears the influence is a combination of chef Yu’s Taiwanese grandmother’s cooking and a North American influence (his first kitchen job was washing dishes at a burger joint). He then trained at Tetsuya’s in Sydney, and at the Marque Restaurant. Later, Yu teamed with fellow young chef Dan Hongto create Ms. G’s, which won a prized hat from the Sydney Morning Herald’s Good Food Guide.
Ho Lee Fook will be opening in April. The exact address hasn’t been revealed yet. We’ll see if customers think Sum Ting Wong about the name.
