During the launch of Cristal Room in Hong Kong, we took a moment with the celebrated French chef to discuss her return to the city after three decades and the inspiration behind her latest fine dining destination
Situated in the multi-concept venue Forty-Five, Cristal Room by Anne-Sophie Pic is the new jewel in Hong Kong's culinary crown. The fine dining restaurant emerges from a collaboration with crystal artisans of Baccarat and is designed by Parisian studio Gilles et Boissier, which makes for a rather refined and mesmerising setting.
The cuisine, an innovative approach to traditional French gastronomy, showcases Pic’s unique philosophy, where flavours and aromas intertwine through techniques like marination and infusion.
In an enlightening conversation, Anne-Sophie Pic opens up about the inspirations shaping her menu, her reconnection with Hong Kong after thirty years, and the profound influence of her Asian experiences on her approach to French cuisine. Continue reading for an intimate look into the visionary mind behind Cristal Room’s extraordinary gastronomic adventure.
See also: Hong Kong’s newest restaurants and bars to visit right now
In your own words, how would you describe the cuisine that you will be serving at Cristal Room?
It's an expression of French cuisine—my DNA is French after all—but it's also a combination of what I like in Asia because I'm very fond of Asian ingredients. I travelled to Asia at a young age, 21 or 22, and I was very inspired when I was here. I decided to enter the culinary world thereafter so I kept in mind those memories. At the restaurant, it’s more than cuisine as we are very focused on the experience that we want to give to our guests.
How do you plan to interpret Asian ingredients for a French fine dining experience?
For me, the first step of a dish is the aromatic spirit. Aroma perfumes the dish but it’s also about flavour. When I create a dish I think about the overall flavour of the dish and then I try to find the ingredients that I can combine to create this flavour. It is not simply a French dish with Asian ingredients put in.
For example, in one of the dishes at Cristal Room, we use Chinese peas from Yunnan. My chef, Marc [Mantovanihe], brought them back [to France] with him and with that, we developed the new dish in Valence. But now that we are here in Hong Kong, we will continue to develop it even further.
Having already established La Dame de Pic in Singapore, what lessons from that experience are you bringing to your new venture in Hong Kong?
Every opening is a new experience. With Singapore, it was quite difficult because we opened just a few months before the pandemic. I was not able to visit so it was difficult for me, but I have a very good team there and I’m very proud of them. In Hong Kong, it will be completely different. We are working with Baccarat and Leading Nation, which is a very good partnership and they have supported us so much.
When I was a student, I visited Singapore first and then Hong Kong and I felt like the energy in Hong Kong was different from Singapore. It was more powerful. I felt Hong Kong was like the New York City in Asia. I was very impressed by this city and it's like a dream to open here.