My Story Part 2-Hong Kong

“Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever.” - Lance Armstrong

Seizing the Opportunity

Hong Kong is a unique city. It’s one of those cities where the old compliments the new in such a way that if either one is taken away, the charm will be lost. For example, Hong Kong will not be what it is today without its Tram system which was built in 1904. You can easily get lost roaming and just be in awe of the modern skyscrapers while on a trolley. Or, how about the excitement that a Cha Chan Teng provides while you bask in the glory of the Hong Kong Skyline over at The Avenue of the Stars in Tsim Sha Tsui? Even taking a quick ferry ride to the old school fishing villages that seem to isolate themselves from modernity and venturing out to Stanley Market or Repulse Bay will leave you wondering how such a small place can integrate and pull together two different time spans and combine them into a wonderful synergy of vibrant living.

To refresh my reader’s memory from the first part, I received an email from L’atelier de Joel Robuchon regarding a job opportunity. I told my father that I have to take this job offer no matter what, and so we did. Within 3 days, we flew in and were able to find a small apartment, buy all the furnitures and show up to the restaurant so we could meet the chef. In front of me stood a very sophisticated, tall and I would say handsome french guy. He began by saying “How are you?” in his thick french accent.

My humble apartment

Shower / Bidet

$800 / Month

“I’m fine chef. A pleasure to meet you, I’m ready to work.” This guy was inspecting my face on all angles while we were talking and he suddenly said, “Everything seems good, you have a pretty face that would be perfect for our open kitchen,” I was quiet with amazement, “We will have your application form and papers ready and you can start on monday.”

I settled in and within three days, I said my farewell to my father.

A New Chapter

Entering the kitchen on my first day was very intimidating. I thought to myself, “These guys must be robots and real professionals, top-of-the-food-chain experts.” I would lie to you if I said that I had a fairy tale story regarding my time in Latelier. But to be honest, it was brutal, especially for an inexperienced young kid who aspires to reach the biggest star that he can ever get and for someone who is venturing into the unknown without speaking the language. It was a bold decision to make, but I had to seize the opportunity.

For my first month, I had to learn how to make soups, house cut fries (that were so meticulous to make), some sides and the famous Robuchon Mash Potatoes. What can I say? It’s the best god damn mash potatoes out there. Aside from learning these, I had to adapt how to work clean, fast and precise. I also got a crash course on how to hold a ladle and a mariz properly. How dumb was I? There was a chef de partie who just loved yelling at me every time he points out something. And then, I found out that there was a kid who had been working for about 7 months and had more experience than me but he was getting paid less. When he found out that I had a higher position and that I was getting paid more, it didn’t sit well with him. This guy was bitching at me straight to my ear every single day. I also made very good enemies with other station managers. Why, you may ask? Because I didn’t want to put up with their arrogance and their “I’m superior than you mentality.” I had that ego in me that I am more “exposed” to the real world than my coworkers despite only having less than a year of experience (look who’s the real foolish one). I always fight back and once I started yelling, these guys coward away to their corner. Most of these guys struggle to speak english and it annoys the heck out of them that I didn’t understand a single cantonese word.

So, I did what every person in the world does when they learn a new language, and that is, to get familiarized with all the curse words first. Oh boy did it make my life easy. I remember one time, I was talking to my chef de partie and we were laughing so hard, he turned to another manager next to him and abruptly stopped laughing and started cussing me. I was not surprised that he was so rude, I was surprised because I could finally understand what they were saying.

I’m pretty sure they had all the good intentions to make me a better cook. It’s just that their approach was not appropriate. I can’t blame them. I was being a stubborn kid. If our restaurant is guarding its 3 Michelin star status, then nothing, I mean nothing, is going get in the way of the people who work there to maintain that status. Now that I have been a manager for almost 6 years, I also catch myself having a very short temper. I try to avoid it as much as possible. But for some reason, when you have to repeat something to a cook several times, then it becomes tiring and frustrating. In the life of a chef, the more we progress and climb up the ladder, the more we have to nurture the people who are below us. This is the most difficult part of being a chef. You are in charge of running the restaurant, the kitchen and taking care of the staff. If in the future, my old colleagues can read this, I’m sorry for being stubborn and I thank you for making me stronger.

Mr. Robuchon

Mr. Robuchon arriving in the fall with his team to host a truffle gala dinner was a highly anticipated event in the entire city. The man stood about 5’6”, had a little bit of weight on him at that time and was very soft spoken. If he liked you, he would gently tap your cheek twice. Being next to him will make you feel overwhelmed. You haven’t even started anything while this guy has been there and done that. He became an executive chef of a hotel at the age of 21 with 80 employees under his belt. Impressive. He runs what I call a “Mcdonald’s” of fine dining, meaning, it’s the most well-known franchise of a fine dining concept with several locations around the world. Mr. Robuchon is the epitome of the best of the best in the culinary world. The franchise owner of L’atelier visits whenever Mr. Robuchon arrives, an old Chinese guy who is fluent in French. I remember them both conversing while I wished that I could understand what they were saying.

Seeing Mr. Robuchon cook was like seeing the Pope put on his miter and conduct a mass. I was tearing up while watching him orchestrate, you can’t believe it, he makes it look so easy and does it gracefully. He brings with him a team: Eric, his right-hand guy for the entire Robuchon franchise, his corporate pastry chef and 2 young guys. I will not forget the time when Eric decided to change the whole tasting menu, 7 courses, after lunch service. He showed us the dishes at 3:00pm and told us that we were gonna launch it for dinner. Holy hell, 4 hours to prep. When you get to the point where you can work efficiently and fast at such a very high level and still manage to pull it off, then you know that you’ve already reached what only 5-10% of chefs in the world can do. It’s no joke, your job is at stake and the pressure is weighing on your shoulders.

Aside from preparing the dishes, we also have to paint our chinaware. Yes, we decorate them using paint brushes, stamps and inks of different colors. It’s a Robuchon signature that really fascinated me. It’s a very playful yet elegant touch to the presentation of the food.

Being part of the Truffle Gala Dinner was a compelling experience. The whole entire restaurant (80 seats) gets packed. People who know Robuchon personally, frequent and first- time visitors alike gather to see and greet the man. His influence knows no bounds. You will see him come up to a table and just shave white truffle like it was for free. During that time, we were the biggest purchaser of truffles in the entire city. White truffles from Alba don’t come cheap. We are talking about spending $30,000 to $80,000 during season on truffles alone. Once you open the box, the smell just travels everywhere, and it takes me to heaven every time.

From then on, I was able to catch up with the rest of the group. I was able to get my bearings together and started rotating to different stations. It was there where I learned how to make foie gras torchon or confit, how to clarify and process jellies and how to make simple things like butternut squash, elegant. I love everything French. Truffles, Foie Gras, butter, cream and caviar are fascinating to me.

I love you Mr. Robuchon but this dish was a torture to make. Takes 4 hours to make 30 plates. No Lunch Break For Us!

The downside of having Mr. Robuchon 2-3 weeks every 6 months is that you cannot take a single day off during his stay and you can only leave after he leaves the restaurant. That means, 17-hour days for 3 straight weeks.

How to Keep Yourself Sane

During my days off, I try to make sure that I go somewhere to relax or to have a good comfy meal. One spot that I hold dear is Stanley Market. I took a random bus going to I don’t know where and soon discovered one of the most expensive, if not the most expensive, area of Hong Kong which is Repulse Bay. This is where the wealthiest of the wealthy live. If you are rich by Hong Kong standards, then you are Internationally considered rich. Real estate in Hong Kong is crazy, not to mention, just owning a car alone is already a privilege. Stanley Island or Market is a bit farther than Repulse bay. It brings my sanity back as it is a very quiet and tranquil area. You have a community center with all the eateries and shops and the water next to you. During this time, is when I reflect on my poor life choices (lol) and how to achieve my dreams.

Like I mentioned earlier, I normally take a ferry trip to visit some Hong Kong Fishing Villages. These are small islands with a sleepy atmosphere and they seem to have mastered the art of allowing time to pass slower than usual. It’s fun to hike and just get lost in the streets of these small communities. You will notice how simple their life is and show you that you don’t need much to be content in life.

The best way to enjoy a day off is to go to Mongkok Station via the subway and just surround yourself with all the sneaker shops, eateries and stalls. It’s an ecosystem on itself and you cannot get enough of it.

Luckily, back in October 2014, my girlfriend (who is now my wife) paid a visit for a whole month. I was able to show her everything that I discovered, and we went to Thailand for a week. It was my first time experiencing a Ping Pong show. This is not an article about Thailand but I had a really good time over there. We did a river cruise dinner, tons of body massages, soaked our feet in a pool full of the small fish that eat your dead skin and watched a cabaret show that I did not understand the concept of. It’s a vibrant country with full of exciting things to see and do. Of course, the food speaks for itself, no doubt about that.

Hong Kong is an exciting city if you have somebody to enjoy it with. Despite visiting Hong Kong for probably a hundred times in the past, it still excites me once the plane lands on the runway. It has a lot of magic built within in and food is just so good.

My childhood Food: Radish Cake and Cheung Fun

Hong Kong Waffles & A Typical Street Food Stall

Claypot Rice with Pork

Whenever I recall the things that happened to me back in Robuchon and share it with the people I meet today, I always have a consistent story regarding how it went:

The first month, I was calling my parents saying that “Mom, Dad, it’s so difficult here.”

3 months after, while sobbing, “Mom, Dad, what did I get myself into?”

My first 6 months, while crying like a baby: “Mom, Dad, I can’t do this anymore. It’s too brutal.”

My dad would just tell me, “Man up and just stay there for a year.”

I have never felt so alone when I was in Hong Kong. Imagine working for 15 hours every single day for 6 days a week and you come home to nothing but your tiny apartment, staring at your tiny tv. I didn’t have friends for the first couple of months. Until I found out that a couple of collegemates were also paving their way to success in the busy streets of Hong Kong. It made my life a bit better and exciting. One particular person, Aaron became my best buddy. He was a batch older than me in college. He joined the L’atelier team for a month and we would grab beers after work, just sit down at an alley in Lan Kwai Fung and watch different groups of people pass by. We came up with these delusions of us running a Michelin star restaurant and come up with the most mind-blowing dishes. We talked about life, love life and where we see ourselves in the future. I even remember us taking our lunch break and head off across the street from L’atelier and go to this very tiny Filipino canteen where, whenever they spot us, they would start yelling “Oh, pagkaing pahinante,” meaning, food for construction workers, because they would normally eat tons of rice with so little viand. We would squeeze ourselves in a very tight corner and that was life back then. I miss you bud!

No matter how much I wanted to quit, i still kept on trying to show up. Just get to that one-year mark, I would tell myself. It wasn’t easy. At one point, I thought to myself that despite all my parents’ effort, I still feel like a spoiled brat because of how much I was complaining about my hardships. My dad spent a hefty amount for me to go to culinary school and here I am to find myself mopping and sweeping the floor of our kitchen. What a cry baby. I sometimes wish that I really started from nothing because you won’t be afraid of anything, there’s nothing to lose and that the only way is up. Working for Mr. Robuchon taught me how to be humble. Being humble in the kitchen is a character that is highly favored by chefs. We love cooks who are willing to admit that they are wrong, ACCEPT it in a good way, and then work towards that mistake (and hopefully avoid making it again) and master that skill. You need to have confidence in what you do and maintain to be humble and teachable. This is what a true chef is.

Moving on and an advice to young chefs

I found myself staying for a year and a half until I told myself that I am done and have to move on. I was tired and burnt out. Robuchon left a very numbing and traumatic experience that I would carry over for the next four years of my life. But it also showed me the wonderful gift of being the best that I’ve ever been as a young fellow and humility. I tried to stage at several restaurants, but they didn’t give me the feeling of satisfaction. I even tried to be a server at one point, but the heart was not there.

To sum it all up, Hong Kong, with its good and bad, will always have a special place in heart. Now that I am wiser and mature, I do understand that everything happened for a reason. If it were not for my training, I wouldn’t be able to get to where I am right now. After Robuchon, life became easy.

This is an advice that I give to all my cooks. Sacrifice a small portion of your life to something that’s really challenging, something that’s going to make you better, then reap the rewards after.

The generation today is different. They are way too entitled and demand a lot from our industry without putting the work first. Once they get the money/title that they asked for, they then fail to deliver what is needed from them. And when you tell them that they are not performing at par, they get easily upset, try to look for another job that will pay them more, then expect that they’re going to have a better life. But in reality, they are just stuck in a loop that will never end.

I started from earning $10 an hour working 65-75 hours a week. In order for me to get to $12 and hour, I had to show my chef that I can run his restaurant better than his sous chef, as an intern. I got an employee of the month award and kept working hard. In order for me to get to $16 an hour and get the title of a sous chef in training, I had to scrub the hood system of my kitchen when the chef paid a visit one time and saw me doing that. In order for me to become a real sous chef and make decent money, I had to build a team that came from nothing and nurture cooks who didn’t have any fine dining experience. Now, these people thank me because I taught them something that they will never learn in most places in America. In order for me to be a chef de cuisine, I had to change my tone with the way I talk to people, win their hearts and run a 1,300 covers per night restaurant.

Now, don’t argue with me that you are a hard worker by working two jobs. Most people who work two or more jobs are not good at either one. IT IS THE QUALITY OF WORK being done at a job compared to the quantity of jobs you are juggling in the air. I interview a lot of cooks saying that I have 25 years of experience and this and that. Yes, you have 25 years of experience, but where? How many of those 25 years did you really try to develop yourself? Because if you have a career span of 25 years, you should naturally progress to be an executive or even a director of culinary or maybe run an empire. The fact that you got stuck being a cook or sous says it all.

Kids, I’m 31 as of writing, I might not be the best, but for me to make it where I am now at a very fast pace and make it on my own WITHOUT ANY help from anybody except for the loving support of my wife, it means that you have to toughen up and prove yourself that you are deserving of success. Success only comes to those who do something towards a goal.

The way money/success works is like this: The more you give to the world, The more you receive in return. Whatever effort you put in will only dictate whatever reward you will receive after.

And the best time to be promoted to a new title is when you are NOT READY. As a new CDP, sous or CDC, you need to shit your pants and be afraid! BUT DO NOT GIVE UP and make excuses. Suck it all up and you will see yourself progress.

There was another US opportunity waiting for me that I wanted to grab.

San Diego, CA.

Stay tuned for part 3.