Long Time No See: Xavier Boyer at Gaddi's

The door to the small elevator gradually slid open. Stepping in, I thought to myself, did I take this same elevator more than thirty years ago? Was the carpet blue? Was the elevator always this slow?

When the elevator door opened again, I arrived at the the reception of Gaddi's Restaurant at Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong. The last time I was here was in the mid-eighties – the first time I was in Hong Kong and the first time I was in a fine dining French restaurant. My parents told me that I was well-behaved throughout the long dinner. At that time, no one took pictures of the food. As I looked around the beautiful dining room from the waiting area, there was no madeleine moment like Proust. Frankly, I don't remember anything from that night.

Gaddi's is the granddaddy of fine dining restaurants in Hong Kong. Named after the then-general manager Leo Gaddi, the restaurant has been around for over sixty years. Since its inception Gaddi's was always one of the finest restaurants in Hong Kong. When I was there thirty some years ago, Gaddi's was head and shoulders above everyone else. At that time, there was no Michelin guide in the city, and neither were any high-end international hotel chains present; even the Mandarin Oriental group wasn't established (the hotel on Connaught Road was just called the Mandarin). However, in recent years while Gaddi's has maintained its prestige, the restaurant can no longer claim to be the best in town. The perception of Gaddi's was a slightly dated restaurant with an opulent but classical interior and traditional French cuisine. While not chasing the latest trends is a virtue, it also meant the restaurant has fallen off from the radar of the food journalists and diners. It also didn't help that the alleged dispute between the Michelin Guide and Peninsula Hotel seemed to have left Gaddi's without any Michelin stars. Hence, while I have been back in Hong Kong many times since my first visit, I wasn't that interested in dining at Gaddi's.

Last September I finally returned to Gaddi's because the restaurant has a new chef, Xavier Boyer, formerly the Chef de Cuisine at three Joël Robuchon restaurants around the world. I got to know Boyer when he spent a year at Taipei's L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon. While Boyer's stay was short, it was memorable. Sometimes when I was at L'Atelier he would design a special menu. He was very creative and seemed to have enough leeway from the Robuchon group to invent new dishes. At my last meal in Taipei with Boyer, prior to his transfer to L'Atelier in London, I told him I will try to visit him there. Before I had a chance to travel to London, Boyer was back in Asia again.

For my dinner at Gaddi's, rather than be in the main dining room, I made a reservation for the chef's table inside the kitchen. From the reception area, a waiter took my friends and I through a narrow corridor that led to the kitchen. Boyer was standing next to the pass of the kitchen waiting for us. I was very happy to see him again after several years. Instead of the black chef jacket he wore at L'Atelier, Boyer is now in the traditional chef white.

Before we sat down, Boyer gave us a tour of the kitchen. Gaddi's kitchen is actually just one of the several kitchens in a large contiguous space. Next door are the kitchens for room service, pastry, and chocolates. At one point during the tour we took a peak inside of a pastry station where the staff was already busy designing the gingerbread house for Christmas. I genuinely enjoyed the tour as it gave me a sense of the large operation of a five-star hotel that is often hidden from the guests.

The chef's table is nestled in a small alcove of the kitchen across a corridor from the cook's work stations. The aesthetics and ambiance of the chef's table are completely different from the tables in the dining room. Instead of a large table with white tablecloth and wood legged upholstered chairs, the chef's table is a four-person rectangular metal table with white-cloth placemats and satin aluminum Emeco navy chairs. The floor under the table is not carpeted but the same tiles as the rest of the kitchen. Exposed pipes run across the tile walls and doors for maintenance. The chef's table is actually quite warm as the diners are inside a working kitchen.

The server started our dinner by placing a brioche on the table with three types of butter. I like the act of breaking bread with my fellow diners. A few moments later, other types of bread were offered from a basket. I was told later by the server that the brioche was a new offering by Boyer intended to replace some of the classic bread. However, some of the regular customers insisted on being served the classic bread and Boyer had to offer both. I began to realize while Boyer may have taken over the kitchen of Gaddi's and its food, he may need to be patient with the changes to the restaurant.

The dinner started with a trio of amuse bouches: delicate, beautiful, and well flavored.

The first course is Scottish Langoustine topped with caviar and served with beetroots on the classic Geddi's dinnerware: just a beautiful and delicious plate of food.

The hamachi tartare was marinated with a little lemon, molded in a ring, and topped with a herb salad. On the side is a mustard sorbet that provided a nice little zing to the flavors.

The third course was a scallop from Hokkaido, served with Colonnato lardo, a thin slice of cauliflower, cauliflower cream, and a bacon chip. I always love the combination of seafood with pork fat. This was also the first dish not served with the classic Gaddi's plate.

The fourth course was sautéed porcini in a porcini custard with Iberico ham and parsley sauce. The dish was earthy, hearty and the mushroom chips offered a nice contrasting texture. When Boyer brought over the dish, I told him the use of photograph under the glass bowl reminded me of some of the plates at L'Atelier. He smiled and said, one cannot forget where one comes from. Prior to joining Peninsula Hotel, Boyer worked with Robuchon for around 16 years.

The next course was a piece of foie gras seared perfectly. Plated on the other side are rhubarb and mango coulis, which balanced and complemented the fattiness of the foie.

The sixth course, using another plate, was a line-caught sea bass from Brittany. The skin was crispy and the interior was moist and well seasoned. The fish was served with the classic combination of artichokes and barigoule sauce. The cannelloni on the side came with a some black truffle. This was just a wonderful dish. When Boyer described the dish at the table side, I jokingly told him he no longer worked with with local seafood. Unlike when Boyer was in Taipei, where he used many local ingredients, in Hong Kong just about everything is imported. While Boyer lost some connections to the local land, he gained quality and consistency. Furthermore, Peninsula Hotel gives him the freedom to buy just about anything he wants from anywhere in the world.

In Taipei Boyer mostly used duck from Yilan County, on the northeastern coast of Taiwan. In Hong Kong, he sources the duck from Challans, the west coast of France. Unlike the duck in Taiwan, the product from France is more gamey in flavor. This is due to the different ways the ducks are killed: draining versus not draining the blood of the animal. The duck for my seventh course of the night, was paired with a turnip and fig and served with a Port-based sauce. The simplicity and clarity the dish was quite enjoyable.

For the last savory course, Boyer used a beef from Australia called Black Market: a special Black Angus beef that's highly marbleized. As Boyer brought over the dish to our table, he said, everyone is using wagyu these days and it is a little boring. Maybe I am jaded, but I couldn't agree with him more. Boyer topped the fillet with black truffle coulis and served it with a parmesan sauce. The beef was simply superb.

After we finished the savory courses, Boyer asked if we would like some cheese as he had some really nice ones. By this time, I was already extremely full, but how could I resist? Few restaurants in Taipei have a selection of cheese. The server brought over two trays and I picked out a few.

After the cheese course we were served a chocolate dessert conceived by Peninsula Hotel's Executive Pasty Chef, Frank Haasnoot. Similar to Boyer, Haasnoot also spent some time in Taipei, working at Mandarin Oriental Hotel. The dessert consisted of chocolate Chantilly cream, caramelized hazelnuts with slices of lime, and milk chocolate ice cream. This dish reminded me a little bit of the mushroom dish earlier in the dinner: the idea of using one ingredient in several variations. For a chocolate lover like me, the dessert was fabulous.

As if we didn't have enough chocolate, the server brought out a beautiful box of bonbons made by Haasnoot's team as well.

As we sipped our teas and espresso, the server brought us more things to nibble. Before we finished our dinner, I remarked to my dining companions that, I don't care if Gaddi's doesn't have a Michelin star, no one in Hong Kong tonight is eating better than us.

Besides what was on the plate, the service throughout the dinner was exemplary. It was just the right balance of formality and friendliness. Throughout the night, the servers were not always in our views, yet whenever we needed something, they would somehow appear without missing a beat. At one point during the dinner, my napkin fell off to the floor. Seemingly from nowhere, a server magically appeared, picked up the napkin, and handed me another fresh one. The servers were very well trained: precise and professional yet not overbearing.

Gaddi's Restaurant and Peninsula Hotels are institutions in Hong Kong. Similar to the restaurants in the famous old hotels in Europe, such as Plaza Athénée and Le Meurice, Gaddi's is full of history and traditions. On the one hand, history is an invaluable asset (money cannot buy history) and provides the restaurant with a sense of prestige. On the other hand, history can also be a burden, as traditions, memories, and the inertia of status quo, often become an invisible resistance to change. Therefore, for a restaurant such as Gaddi's, moving forward will require a careful balance of the old and the new.

For a long time Gaddi's always served traditional French cuisine. Even now, you can still order the Canard à la Presse; Boyer said he just needs a three-day notice to procure the duck from France. While some of the old dishes remain, Boyer is slowing changing the menu and adding his personality to the food. Boyer is also using new tablewares to present his food. At the time of my meal he said he was only using the new plates at the chef's table and in the private dining room. In time as the customers, especially the older regulars, become accustomed to and comfortable with Boyer's new creations, the restaurant will not only taste but feel different. Institutions have a tendency to evolve slowly. But I have confidence that Gaddi's has the desire to change. After all, while Gaddi's seems to be old-fashioned, it was actually the first restaurant in Hong Kong to introduce the concept of chef's table in 2000. Boyer is a dazzling chef and it will be interesting to see how he will transform the restaurant. Based on my dinner, Gaddi's is already an exciting place to dine again.