He has come a long way from Yuen Long, in Hong Kong’s New Territories.

“Throughout my life I have always wanted to set ambitions. I did not decide to become a chef until I left school at 18, but when that decision was made, I fixed a personal goal that I would become an executive Chinese chef by the age of 30. And if I did not achieve this by that age then I would abandon the world of cooking and find a different job. Fortunately, I made executive Chinese chef at the age of 26 and have not looked back since.”

Growing up in Hong Kong, Lee’s parents founded a small business producing bamboo chopsticks while also running a coffee shop, the now-closed Ming Cafe, in Yuen Long, “so I often ended up cooking for my two brothers, after watching Mum prepare dishes in the kitchen”.

“I have always been ready to accept the chance to move to different countries,” he says, “even though it is not so easy when you are young, don’t know the language, have no friends. In Tianjin, I did not speak Mandarin and here I certainly did not speak French, so they were actually quite similar experiences.”

After stints in Shanghai and Beijing, Lee joined the Shangri-La group as executive Chinese chef of its hotel in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, and just two years later, in 2014, found himself on a plane to Paris, and the Shang Palace.

“The move from China to France was quite scary looking back,” he recalls. “I received a call in Wenzhou asking if I wanted to transfer overseas, but no details. Summoned to Hong Kong, I had to cook before a panel of experts without any idea who they were, all a bit terrifying. But they liked the food and then asked if I wanted to go to Paris.

“I did not hesitate. Who could resist the chance of cooking in the capital of gastronomy, the chance to join the elite Michelin chefs here.”

Having hardly unpacked his luggage in a tiny guest room near Shangri-La Paris, Lee was given no time to settle.

“The management immediately asked me to prepare a series of dishes for them to test,” he says. “The restaurant was closed for the season, there was no one in the kitchen and I had to prepare everything myself. It was worse than Top Chef or MasterChef.

“Then, when I submitted my market list of ingredients, half of them did not arrive, so I had to go to the Chinatown in the 13th Arrondissement and do my own shopping.

“Fortunately, they were happy with my cuisine and in November 2014, I began my first evening service at the Shang Palace.

“The first year was very hard – work, work and more work – with no time to discover Paris. Today, though, things are different. I have an apartment in the nearby 16th arrondissement, just 10 minutes walk from the restaurant.”

Around Paris with Samuel Lee Sum:

“One thing I love about Paris are the different street markets that move from neighbourhood to neighbourhood each day. On my day off, I go to the one nearest to me, on Avenue du Président Wilson. It is a very affluent neighbourhood and that is reflected in the prices and high quality of the food.

“The Thursday market at Boulevard Richard-Lenoir, near the Bastille, is more populaire: friendly, cheaper and, surprisingly, with a lot more choice. I think everywhere in the world, the local food market is a reflection of the whole city, and I would recommend any tourist to plan a visit.

“At Avenue Wilson there is Barreira, an amazing vegetable and herb stall where several star chefs of the Paris foodie scene buy ingredients for their Michelin-ranked restaurants.

“When I first arrived in Paris, and what I still love to do today, is to walk to the Jardins du Palais Royal or the peaceful Luxembourg Gardens, then sometimes continue to the Pyramide du Louvre, not to explore the museum but the beautiful Tuileries Garden. The green spaces in Paris are really one of the most wonderful parts of living here.

“And my life in Paris certainly changed when I met and married my wife, Jennifer, who comes from Taiwan. She is very interested in culture, which has opened my eyes to a new world, and I would especially recommend the modern art in the Pompidou Centre and the famous Impressionist collection of Musée d’Orsay.

“Right opposite the Shangri-La, the first museum I ever visited was the wonderful Musée Guimet, which coincidentally is dedicated to Asian art. I can honestly say that my day off here is very different to a chef’s day off in Hong Kong.

“Apart from the museums and walking through the most romantic city in the world, Jennifer and I love to go for cocktails at the bar of a grand hotel like Le Bristol, or a buzzing wine bar in St-Germain, L’Avant Comptoir du Marché, that has brilliant charcuterie and even fried pigs’ ears!

“And then there is Enyaa. They deserve a Michelin star, with the perfect pairing of Japanese cuisine with sake and champagne.

“When it is time for a special gourmet occasion, then I would make a reservation at the three-Michelin-star dining room of Japanese chef Kei Kobayashi or Christophe Pelé’s Le Clarence, while Le Relais Louis XIII is perfect for classic French cuisine – I would recommend lièvre à la royale, tender wild hare marinated in red wine with foie gras and truffles, or quenelles Nantua, delicate fish dumplings in a creamy crayfish sauce.

“Paris has certainly changed me as a chef. Not the style of cooking or the choice of dishes, but the way I run the kitchen, learning how to adapt to create the highest quality cuisine that makes the Shang Palace the only Chinese restaurant in Paris to be awarded a Michelin star.

“The philosophy of my cuisine has never changed; outstanding fresh ingredients, simply presented on the plate, cooked just before serving, bursting with flavour. This could be simple Cantonese fried rice, my favourite recipe, or complex seafood dishes using the wonderful produce freshly fished from France’s coastline – lobster, scallops, oysters, turbot.

“Even though we all speak Cantonese in the kitchen, this is not like cooking in Hong Kong. We are a brigade of 16, and apart from two cooks I have brought over from China, the rest are long-time Chinese living in Paris, some originally from Hong Kong, others from Macau, Malaysia and Cambodia.

“And they are all older than me, which is the opposite of what it would be in Hong Kong. So that means I need to gain the respect of my cooks, who I treat like uncles, so that we all work together as a team rather than a kitchen where the executive chef shouts and scares his brigade.

“I have been privileged to experience some memorable gastronomic moments during my time in Paris. Nothing quite compares to when I was invited to a gala dinner at the Élysée Palace that France’s President [Emmanuel] Macron hosted for [Chinese] President Xi Jinping [in 2019]. But, I also miss more simple pleasures from home.

“When I hopefully return to Hong Kong next year, after the long pandemic, my first priority is visiting my parents, then a bowl of wonton noodles [in Yuen Long’s Good End restaurant]. I can almost taste them now. I just never seem to have found Chinese restaurants in Paris that live up to my standards – though I won’t give up looking.”