‘We will not reopen in Hong Kong’: chef Alain Ducasse focused on earning a third Michelin star for Macau restaurant
- Chef Alain Ducasse, whose Hong Kong restaurant Rech closed during the Covid-19 pandemic, has no plans to reopen in the city – but ‘never say never’
- As he aims for a third Michelin star for his restaurant Alain Ducasse at Morpheus in Macau, he talks about converting diners to plant-based menus ‘step by step’
If one were to compare chefs and rock stars, Alain Ducasse might be the culinary equivalent of Mick Jagger.
Ducasse is legendary – he is one of the first chefs in the world to own three-Michelin-star restaurants in three cities, and is one of two chefs whose restaurants have held 21 Michelin stars at one point in their career (he was only surpassed by the late Joël Robuchon).
What’s more, he is still touring. We managed to catch up with the superstar chef, on a stopover at his eponymous two-Michelin-star restaurant at Morpheus in Macau.
“For now, we have more proposals than we can possibly execute,” says Ducasse.
He makes time for certain chefs, however. In February, Ducasse teamed up with Daniel Humm, the renegade Swiss vegan chef of Eleven Madison Park in New York, to work on a plant-based menu to be served in Paris and New York.
When asked about the possibility of plant-based dishes on menus in his restaurant empire, Ducasse gives a response that reflects his decades of experience.
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“I’ve had a vegetarian menu in Monaco since May 1987. It’s nothing new,” he says, while quickly adding. “It’s too early for a city like Macau to present dishes that are all vegetables.”
He acknowledges the shift towards plant-based diets in recent years, but suggests that a softly, softly approach will be more effective.
“Today I am offering French cuisine with a vegetable trend, but not too much. We have to do this step by step,” he says.
The chef-restaurateur offers a macro perspective on dining trends around the world.
“London is very similar to Macau, because they prefer French cuisine; however, in Saudi Arabia, our menu is 20 per cent animal protein and 80 per cent plant-based,” he says. “Because traditionally the Saudi Arabian diet has more cereals and vegetables, we are able to maintain this ratio.”
The chef will be opening a restaurant in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in May, and a culinary school in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates in the next few months. “We’ve been managing three restaurants in Doha (the capital of Qatar), so we understand the region,” says Ducasse.
Amid all this activity, it can be easy to forget that Ducasse once had a presence in Hong Kong, too.
But it appears Hong Kong will not see an encore from the chef, who quickly dismissed the idea. “We will not reopen in Hong Kong,” he says. “To open [a restaurant] we have to support the conditions of the hotel and other stipulations.”
Still, he hedges his response. “With the right partners, who knows? Never say never.”
For now, Hong Kong’s loss is Macau’s gain. Alain Ducasse at Morpheus retains its two-Michelin-star status in the 2024 edition of the Michelin Guide Hong Kong Macau. Ducasse is eyeing a coveted third star in next year’s edition.
The restaurant closed for five weeks earlier this year for minor refurbishment. In addition, chef de cuisine Cedric Satabin travelled to Paris to work in the kitchens of Le Meurice by Alain Ducasse for a month.
“This is one of my most beautiful restaurants,” says Ducasse of the Macau location. “We hope to reopen with a new culinary inference, re-energised and modernised.”
Alain Ducasse at Morpheus in Macau reopens on April 25.
