Profile | ‘I was an unknown’: head chef of Japan’s best restaurant Sézanne, Daniel Calvert, on how Hong Kong put him ‘on the map’, as Macau menu launched

After working in London, New York and Paris, Daniel Calvert was given his ‘first shot’ leading Belon in Hong Kong, where he won a Michelin star against the odds

This led to him opening Sézanne in Tokyo and gaining more accolades. His new, limited-time menu in Macau showcases ingredients from his travels around Japan

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For Daniel Calvert, head chef of Japan’s best restaurant, Sézanne, Hong Kong is where he got his first shot leading a restaurant, Belon. That led him to his current restaurant, which has earned two Michelin stars. Calvert has launched a limited-time menu at Aji, in the MGM Cotai, in Macau. Photo: Aji

Published: 12:45pm, 6 Sep 2023

Daniel Calvert’s culinary story neither started nor ended in Hong Kong; but, like a good sandwich, it’s what’s in the middle that counts.

“Hong Kong is such a fast-paced and dense city, you can do anything. Asim [Syed Asim Hussain, co-founder of Hong Kong hospitality group Black Sheep Restaurants] gave me my first shot. Hong Kong definitely put me on the map,” says the executive chef of Tokyo’s two-Michelin-star Sézanne.

Calvert’s culinary journey began in London, where he worked for Shane Osborn at Pied a Terre, which led to a job at Per Se in New York working with chef and restaurateur Thomas Keller.

From there he returned to Europe to work at Le Bristol hotel in Paris, where he met James Henry, who eventually closed his own restaurant, Bones, to open up Belon with Black Sheep Restaurants in 2016.

Inside Sézanne, Calvert’s two-Michelin-star restaurant in Tokyo.

“I was James’ sous chef and we moved over from Paris together,” Calvert says. “The original agreement was for James to come over for six months to start the restaurant and then to return periodically to check on things.