‘I use different parts of my brain’: wedding dress designer by day, chef and tart maker by night, Rania Hatoum shares her story

Rania Hatoum is equal parts a bridal gown designer with her own Hong Kong studio, chef in a private kitchen, and the maker of luxury sweet and savoury tarts

She talks about her family’s love of fashion, learning French cooking techniques from a neighbour, and how the coronavirus pandemic opened up new career paths

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Rania Hatoum is half-Egyptian, half-Chinese, and leads a double life as a bridal gown designer and gourmet chef. Photo: Rania Hatoum

Published: 11:15am, 7 May 2023Updated: 3:11pm, 7 May 2023

Google “Rania Hatoum” and the first results are for a bridal designer. Scroll down a little more and you’ll find the chef Rania Hatoum, who runs a members-only private kitchen in Hong Kong, RH Fine Dining. What may surprise you is that they are the same person.

“I use different parts of my brain. They’re both very therapeutic for me,” says Hatoum, who serves French-Japanese fusion cuisine. “I completely switch off the cooking side of my brain when I’m doing my bridal designs. The two sides are very separate.”

She adds: “I enjoy designing and cooking equally. If you ask me which I prefer, I wouldn’t know how to answer. I couldn’t just pick one.”

Born and raised in Hong Kong and with an Egyptian father and Chinese mother, Hatoum was surrounded by family who worked in the fashion trade – so it was natural for her to develop an interest in design.

A dish Hatoum cooked for a recent four-hands dinner, The Golden Bowl – black truffle foie gras rice topped with A4 Kagoshima wagyu, Hokkaido sea urchin, Osetra caviar, salmon roe, and 18-carat gold flakes. Photo: RH Fine Dining

Food would become a second passion as she grew up something of a global nomad.