Contemporary British chef Isaac McHale on putting 16 hours into a 1-bite dish, and his blend of technique and tradition
- Isaac McHale, who runs two-Michelin-star The Clove Club in London’s Shoreditch, was in Hong Kong recently to cater for a private event
- We caught up with McHale, who spoke about his love of the city, and cooking Cantonese food for his friends when he was nine years old
When you sit down with Isaac McHale, you would never guess the soft-spoken chef is one of the pioneers of contemporary British cuisine in the UK.
The only hints that he is fastidious about his food and drink is when he asks the staff of Cafe Causette at the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong to make his green tea at 90 degrees Celsius (194 degrees Fahrenheit) and not with boiling water, and when he reveals he was fascinated with Cantonese cuisine from a young age.
The chef, who was in Hong Kong recently to cater for a private event, recalled an early attempt to recreate the city’s cuisine.
“For my ninth birthday, all I wanted was money to cook a Cantonese dinner for my friends. I got the recipes from a cookbook and I made congee, pigeon and celery stir-fry, and all kinds of stuff. I’ve always been excited by Hong Kong and I love travelling here,” says McHale.
For the uninitiated, McHale is the chef behind The Clove Club, which started life as a supper club in London and became a celebrated two-Michelin-star restaurant renowned for its innovative take on traditional British dishes.
