Who’s the girl?

Hong Kong born but (b)raised in Australia, she’s a self confessed food and eating addict with an insatiable appetite who grew up watching her father kung fu chop veggies and flip woks at the family’s Chinese restaurant. Meals at home were fresh, and plentiful, and all cooked with love. Between bowlfuls of rice, she would occasionally take turns at the stove and help out with making the odd Chinese dumpling.

So it was, in such an environment, that from an early age she developed what has now become an enduring life-long love affair with food. With her first pay cheque she dropped the chopsticks (accidentally) and migrated to fine dining. First up was Tetsuya’s Restaurant in Sydney, so mind bogglingly good, she’s never looked back since.

A two year work stint in New York City opened her eyes to a wondrous literary discovery, the New York Zagat food guide. This became her bible and she worshipped it lovingly, immersing herself in its written word with great conviction, eating her way from A through to Z. The result was culinary enlightenment of the highest order, where she embraced every cuisine imaginable, and indulged in the epicurean delights of some 40 of the top 50 restaurants in the Big Apple.

With such dedication to eating (prompting some to even suggest that she may have actually been born in a wok), she was able to fine tune her vocation as a full time foodie; as a curator of food and restaurant knowledge, and as a gourmand. Consequently, her motto to gourmandising was thus defined; to devoutly eat in the eternal pursuit of both gastronomic paradise and adventure.

Countless calories later, she set her sights on Europe. Now residing in London, her foodie habits and motto to eating have not changed. Rather, they now encompass a larger geographical scope, taking in both the UK and the Continent. Europe and North America aside, she has also been fortunate enough to partake in many mouth-watering meals during various holiday sojourns around Asia, South America, Africa and of course Australia. Although loving nothing more than to eat, when she does have spare time she carefully undertakes research for future restaurant outings and occasionally dabbles in preparing dinner parties, piano, belly dancing and the odd drop of champagne.

Here are her food stories and restaurant reviews.

OTHER IMPORTANT STATISTICS:

Some of her most memorable gourmand experiences of all time:
By mains
1) Lobster and pigs trotter lasagne at three-star Michelin The Fat Duck, Bray, UK
2) Wagyu beef at three-star Michelin Per Se, New York, USA
3) Millie-feuille of smoked eel and foie gras at three-star Michelin Martin Berasategui, San Sebastian, Spain
4) All you can eat sirloin steak in Ushuaia, (the Southern most city in the world), Argentina
5) 20p bowl of pho noodles from a street vendor in Hanoi, Vietnam

By Desserts
1) Passionfruit soufflé at two-star Michelin Le Chateau de la Chevre D’or, Eze, France
2) Grandma’s recipe for meringue with ice-cream at three-star Auberge de L’ill, Illhaeusern, France
3) Chocolate dessert with cigar (Montecristo No. 5) smoke-infused cream at two-star Michelin El Celler de Can Roca, Girona, Spain

Most commendable achievements in gluttony:
1) Eating three dozen oysters in one day at the Galway International Oyster Festival (preceded by a seafood platter lunch and followed by a four course banquet)
2) Eating at all three Three-star Michelin restaurants in San Sebastian over three days (Arzak, Martin Bersategui and Akelare)
3) Eating two dozen petit fours after a three-course meal at the one-star Michelin Konigshof Restaurant in Munich

Happiest non-eating moments:
1) Being bestowed with a reservation at El Bulli
2) Having a picture taken with Ferran Adrià at El Bulli