Diner’s Diary | Iconoclast chef of Hong Kong is back – in Pattaya, with new restaurant in Thai party town
Harlan Goldstein says that he has calmed down since leaving Hong Kong and is happy to be back in the kitchen with new multi-cuisine restaurant Comfort, a passion project that he does not intend to run like a business
Harlan Goldstein, the self-proclaimed “celebrity chef of Hong Kong”, is back – but this time he is about to open a restaurant in Pattaya, Thailand.
Called Harlan Goldstein’s Comfort, the restaurant – which has the tagline “Food for Friends” – will open on March 28 and serve an eclectic menu of various cuisines.
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Goldstein abruptly resigned from Hong Kong-based ZS Hospitality Group in September 2016 due to what he says were differences between him and chairwoman Elizabeth Chu Yuet-han. The restaurant group gave him what he calls a “golden handshake” – almost US$3 million – and he decided, after 26 years in Hong Kong, on a change of scenery and moved to Thailand.
“I’ve been here for seven months and originally I wanted to go to Bangkok. I was there for two weeks, then Chiang Mai for two weeks. And then I told my wife [Helen Pong] we should check out Pattaya,” he says.
He explains that the place isn’t just about its seedy undertones. “Only certain areas are like that. I’m in an area that’s surrounded by luxury condos and there are a lot of Russians, Belgians, French and Americans. In Pattaya there’s the low-end market, then the mid-section where people have money and good jobs, and then the mega rich.”
The dining scene in Pattaya is like Hong Kong 30 years ago