Winning a Tatler Dining Award is a reflection of a chef’s growth and artistry in their career thus far, as well as a harbinger of even more success to come. Over the years, we’ve watched previous winners of the city’s most prominent dining awards go on to global success. Some develop a loyal following, while many have built upon their accolades to accomplish even more feats in the world of gastronomy. As we celebrate 40 years of the Tatler Dining Guide in Hong Kong, we’re also revisiting four Tatler Dining Award-winning chefs from previous years for a glimpse of what this year’s winners can expect in their future.
See also: The top 20 restaurants in Hong Kong for 2024
Daniel Calvert; Best New Chef, 2018
It was the mille-feuille Daniel Calvert created for Belon that captured the heart of many a diner, and rightfully so: precision is in Calvert’s blood, which, combined with his knack for culinary science and artistry, easily made his then-brief tenure at Belon a frontrunner for the Best New Chef title at the Tatler Dining Awards in 2018. Naturally, Calvert’s accolades didn’t stop there—the next year, he led Belon to its first Michelin star, and in July 2021, he moved to Tokyo to open Sézanne at the Four Seasons Hotel in Marunouchi. In two years, the restaurant has garnered two Michelin stars while placing second on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list in 2023.
For Calvert, it all began with a supposedly six-month stint as sous chef at Belon that unknowingly turned into five years. “Tatler Dining’s Best New Chef Award was the first accolade to honour our work at Belon,” he recalls. “It kicked things off, and everything became easier when more people came to check out what we were doing at the restaurant.”
The chef is the first to admit that the award was not a personal feat. “It’s great for the team, really. Awards attract new staff and new guests, and we build relationships that way. Awards also keep people following what we do, as well as spreading the word. They are an outcome of the good work we do every day, sans heavy marketing. We earn the recognition by being the best at what we do.”
Despite the success that followed Belon, Daniel Calvert made a conscious decision to leave Hong Kong to move to Japan to eventually open Sézanne in 2021. “At Sézanne, we scraped every bit of Belon from it,” he says. Today, the fine-dining establishment bears little resemblance to his Hong Kong workplace. On the menu, premium fruit, vegetables and seafood sourced from around Japan are transformed into climatic showstopper courses, with Calvert’s meticulous eye for detail helping to realise the true potential of each ingredient.
Calvert’s time in Hong Kong also reminded him of a different side to being a chef—the importance of building relationships outside the restaurant. These relationships have evolved into some of the closest bonds and friendships for the chef, and have subsequently followed him to Japan. As ever, he is relentlessly forward-looking. “I’m proud of what I accomplished at Belon but I also did not want to dwell on past successes—especially when it comes to building something new.”
Fabrice Vulin: Best New Chef, 2015
“To be honest, when I got [Tatler Dining’s Best New Chef] award I had just worked at Caprice for a year, so to get this award was not a personal victory,” says Fabrice Vulin of his 2015 win. “I only got there because I had a team that could help me reach it.”
Today, the former chef de cuisine of Caprice holds the role of corporate executive chef role at the Sofitel hotel group in Morocco, though it’s no understatement to say that fine dining runs in his blood. Before arriving in Hong Kong in 2013, he had wrapped up a three-year stint at Anne-Sophie Pic’s Maison Pic in Valence, France.
Following in the footsteps of his decorated predecessor, Vincent Thierry was never going to be an easy feat—and being in Hong Kong for the first time professionally didn’t help either—but winning the award was a vote of confidence to continue what he did best as Caprice’s frontman, recalls Vulin. “The award certainly rewards your efforts in the kitchen. For a French chef who works abroad, it honours your daily work, the choices you make for yourself and the team, and it was a blessing to be recognised for the work I did for one of the most beautiful restaurants in the world.”
That’s not to say that the pressure eased off after his win. “Taking up a new role often requires a learning curve, but in a high-profile restaurant such as Caprice, you have to be extra diligent in learning the codes of practice and eating habits of your guests. The most challenging part, I found, was delivering the right culinary message across all of the menus I designed, in order to develop my signature at Caprice.”
After three years at Caprice, Fabrice Vulin continued his Asian tour at The Tasting Room at City of Dreams Macau, where he spent the next three years refining his French seafood-driven cuisine. His current Moroccan post sees him managing the food and beverage programmes for six hotels under the Sofitel group; yet to this day, Vulin still holds his time in Hong Kong close to his heart.
“Hong Kong has this effervescence that suits it so well. The city is consistently deserving of global talents—who wouldn’t want to eat in Hong Kong, with a gastronomic culture so diverse and citizens who never stop thinking about food and wine? That’s a miracle we can all appreciate.”
Nicolas Lambert; Best Pastry Chef, 2016 and 2018
You may remember him as the two-time winner of Tatler Dining’s Best Pastry Chef award in 2016 and 2018, but Nicolas Lambert’s talent goes beyond what we’ve given him credit for. Despite being born into a family of boulangers and patissiers in Epinal, France, Lambert’s first time in a professional kitchen came when he started at Caprice.
“I only spoke two languages—French and pastry—but in relocating to Hong Kong, I had to quickly learn English and some Cantonese to survive in the kitchen. It was my first position as a pastry chef in a Michelin-starred restaurant where you aim for perfection and beyond. It held a pivotal role in moulding me into who I am today.”
As the first person to win Tatler Dining’s Best Pastry Chef title twice, Lambert has taken to heart the many benefits of the honours. “When I received my first award, I felt like I had been at the restaurant for a lifetime. It is more about the effort you exert rather than the time you spend. It validated everything our team worked for.”
The second trophy, he recalls, was different. “It was proof that I was heading in the right direction in pastry and that I could adapt and appeal to the local palate. It became a guiding beacon that reaffirmed that I was true to my art form—something I have carried with me ever since.”
After Caprice, Lambert went on to become the executive pastry chef at the Four Seasons Hotel Lion Palace in St Petersburg, Russia for three years. Today, he’s based in sunnier climes, as the senior executive pastry chef looking after the Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach and Four Seasons Hotel Dubai International Financial Centre.
Taking on responsibilities beyond plating desserts and pastry making, Lambert now looks after a team of 24 chefs. He splits his time between the kitchen and overall planning and management, but he takes it all in his stride. In Dubai, his newfound adaptability has led him to design an evolving afternoon tea based on seasonality, a line of wedding cakes and even a Ramadan cake with local flavours.
“Thanks to my time in Hong Kong, adapting to a new city and its culture has become an easy feat. I start with researching the people and their dining habits and preferences before I develop a proper signature to convey my style while satisfying their palate.”
Xavier Boyer: Best New Chef, 2016
“Nobody will ever deny that recognition and awards don’t boost the ego. All chefs have egos to feed, but I learnt to look beyond, towards personal growth, because we cannot cook in a restaurant by ourselves,” admits Xavier Boyer, named Tatler Dining’s Best New Chef in 2016.
“The award gave me recognition for being able to do my job well, but that also means running the team well, presenting my vision properly and helping our guests understand where we come from.”
The native of Montpellier, in the south of France, had only joined Gaddi’s at the storied Peninsula hotel in the same year as his win, but he brought with him 16 years of experience at various restaurants by Joël Robuchon, including in Paris, New York City, London and, just before Gaddi’s, Taipei.
At The Peninsula, Boyer drew heavily from his French culinary training, although the contemporary remit of Gaddi’s allowed the veteran chef ample room to express himself in lighter, more artistic dishes that are anathema to the butter-rich dishes most people view as “classic” French cuisine. Cue creative plates such as vanilla and citrus gelée paired with Dover sole, Earl Grey-infused carrot mousseline with sea urchin, and Brittany crab rolled with avocado atop blood orange gelée.
After five years helming Gaddi’s, Boyer eventually returned to Taiwan where, after a brief stint at the Regent Taipei, he opened Papillon, his fine-dining restaurant at the TAI Urban Resort in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Boyer considers Papillon his most personal project to date: “It takes a lot of effort for a caterpillar to become a butterfly, and even then, the life of a butterfly is fleeting. To me, Papillon represents my take on cooking—every dish requires a long time and much effort from idea to execution. While we may lose our way on the journey, we never forget the memories these dishes bring. Papillon is about the memories we create together.”
Xavier Boyer has since left Papillon
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