Art of Chocolate
Some use clay, some iron but Jim Victor is primarily a sculptor in food. Taste the World at Festival Walk is his first exhibition in Hong Kong where he will show Asia how to make sushi, roast turkey, hamburgers, Peking duck and more – all in chocolate. You may like art, you may adore chocolate – either or both, we talked to Jim Victor about the exhibition at Festival Walk you’ll be sorry to miss.

How did you get into the profession of sculpting food?
I studied sculpture at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Shortly after, I was offered an opportunity to make a sculpture of Mickey Rooney for a Broadway show in New York titled Sugar Babies. They decided to do something sweet, to go with the word ‘sugar’ in the title, so I ended up doing a chocolate sculpture. During a press conference one of the actresses in the play knocked the sculpture over, breaking off Mickey’s nose and I had to spend the next five hours sculpting it back. At that point, I thought this profession was a little crazy and wasn’t sure I wanted to be associated with it. But, hey, like every person, you’ve got to make a living, and that’s what I do now.

On average, how long is the process – from start to finish – to make a sculpture?
It depends on the size of the thing. I have spent 17 days on one sculpture, sometimes I’ve finished a sculpture in a day. For this event, I have to do 15 sculptures in 13 days. So this is a challenge; we have to finish more than one a day on average.

Out of all the items you have to carve for this exhibition – sushi, a hamburger, a turkey, Peking duck – which is the most difficult to do?
The bigger ones take the most time, but they all have difficulties. I’ve never tried to sculpt a roast turkey before, nor a sushi. I have to solve the problems as I go along. Sometimes I don’t know what I get myself into (laughs).

Will anyone get to eat the sculptures?
Oh no, no. These sculptures will be kept in a booth on display at the festival. It’s to promote all the different types of food there. Afterwards, I am told, the sculptures will be placed elsewhere, such as in orphanages, for viewing.

Good Eats in Kowloon Tong…
Dan Ryan’s Chicago Grill (LG228 Festival Walk, Kowloon Tong, 2265 8811), with its interiors decorated with sports posters of the Chicago Bulls, film and art posters, successfully gives off the Chicago restaurant/bar atmosphere. As for food, the BBQ babyback ribs (full slab $198 half slab #138) alone would be enough to fill up the average Hong Konger’s stomach, but you’ll also get cole slaw and fries on the side as well. The cheeseburger ($98) gives you the choice of three kinds of cheese—Swiss, Bleu and Cheddar, to go with the usual fries, pickles. The most popular item here, according to various servers and the manager himself, is the Molton Chocolate Cake ($58). Go on indulge yourself.

It’s no wonder most Italians have bigger frames than us, the portions they eat are enormous! That definitely applies here at Amaroni’s Little Italy (LG132, Festival Walk, Kowloon Tong, 2265 8818). “Most of the time, one meal is enough for two people,” says the chef Chan. Amaroni is an Italian-themed restaurant with oil paintings, a spacious bar, and big, round tables (for family dinners). Amaroni’s speciality is the rosemary chicken ($140) and the tiramisu ($78). Yes, both of these items are huge and you will have to loosen your belt by the time you’re done. There are also prawns with garlic, fresh baked pizza, fresh tomatoes, and plenty of dessert to choose from if Tiramisu isn’t your thing.

For a totally different atmosphere located just a few steps away in Festival Walk, there’s EXP (Shop UG 23, Festival Walk, Kowloon Tong, 2265 8298). Located right next to the ice skating rink with open setting, it’s a livelier, louder atmosphere than the other places in the area. EXP is a semi-fast food specializing in Asian-fusion food with a somewhat modern/futuristic design—shiny metallic red tables and seats, with some booths facing directly the skating rink. The clam linguine ($59) is cooked in wine and chicken soup, with fresh clams and onions. The most popular item is the chicken curry pizza ($63), the specialty is that both thin and thick crust are in the pizza. Thin crust on the outside, thick crust on the inside, with curry chicken, potato, pineapple, cucumber, and raisins on the inside. For you health-nuts out there, you’ll have quite a variety of juices to choose from, such as the one titled “Happy Juice”, made from cantaloupe, carrots, and apples ($25).

Overlooking the skate rink in Festival Walk is the Kushiyaki Sesson (L1-19A Festival Walk, Kowloon Tong, 2265 7722). We tried out the specialty, the yakitori, aka the grilled skewers. The assorted chicken skewer ($90) was made up of various selections of chicken, cooked in different ways, wrapped in different items, collected together. “There isn’t a need to put any sauce on it because the flavouring is natural through the way the chicken is cooked, grilled, and seasoned”, Mr. Mak, the manager informed us. If you prefer seafood, the seafood roast is made with seafood directly imported from Tokyo, then slow roasted by two chefs hailing directly from the land of the rising sun. Grilled saga Japanese beef ($200) is best eaten immediately after grilled, to take advantage of the crunchy-on-the-outside-warm-on-the-inside taste. There’s also the potato style bacon, it’s called as such because the pigs that are used to make the bacon were fed potatoes back in the farms of Japan. Although we couldn’t taste any specific potato taste on it, the bacon was the thickest piece of bacon we’ve ever had. Finally, the hand-made ice cream ($25) is a favourite here, with several interesting favours such as pumpkin, black sesame, bean curd, bullace, and the one that no Japanese restaurant can do without—green tea.

Anniversary Celebrations
It started last month, but the month long 15th anniversary celebration continues all through this month at the TST branch of El Cid Spanish Restaurant (G/F New Knutsford, 14 Knutsford Terrace, TST, 2312 1898). If you’ve been following the celebration, surely you have enjoyed tapas week, and paella week. Even if you missed those, don’t worry there’ still two more weeks to go, from March 31 to April 6 will be the Chef’s specialties week, with traditional special main courses: grilled monkfish and clams in green sauce ($200), roast game hen with rosemary chocolate sauce ($160), shellfish and fish in cazuele ($380), and grilled kurouta with Serrano ham ($230), you can get a free half-liter of Sangria with any of the main courses. Then from April 7 to 15 will be Spanish dessert week, you’ll get either the Spanish hot chocolate or the almond tart free with any meal.

Eat-ster…
Celebrate the resurrections of Easter with the following promotions

Along the steps of the Knutsford Terrace is the newly opened The Black Stump’s Australian Bar and Grill’s (G/F 1 Knutsford Terrace, TST, 2721 0202) Easter set dinner ($298) looks to fill up the stomach of even those with the biggest of appetites. To start, you get your choice of either homemade duck liver plate, snow crab soup, or home cured dried salmon, moving onto the main event—there’s the char grilled prime rib, casserole of rabbit and the grilled black cod filet. To finish everything off, you get either fresh raspberry crème brule, or pineapple fritters with liquorice ice cream.

To help you enjoy dinner over the bay, Bayside Brasserie (G/F 25 Stanley Market Road, Stanley, 2899 0818) will have the appropriately named “dinner by the bay” promotion on the 5th through the 9th. For parents, your kids should be kept busy with the Easter egg painting competition and free gifts to keep them happy, so you can enjoy a quiet dinner over the bay for once…
Despite its name, the Coffee Shop (4/F, Eaton Hotel, 380 Nathan Road 2710 1863) at the Eaton hotel serves more than just coffee. They’ll join in on the Easter fun with a Easter gourmet carnival on the 6th to the 9th. There will be a magic show, performance by Mr. Clown, and free Easter eggs for the children. The buffet has four different run time—Noon buffet 12:00 to 2:30 ($148 adults $108 children), tea buffet 3:00 to 5:00 ($98 adults $68 children), dinner buffet 6:00 to 9:30 ($248 adults $168 children), and the supper buffet 10:00 to 12:30 am ($98).

InterContinental Hong Kong (18 Salisbury Road, TST, 2313 2323)’s three restaurants will all be having special lamb menus Easter Sunday. At Steakhouse Wine Bar and Grill, they will be having the milk-fed baby lamb from France, served on a charcoal rotisserie. The Easter Sunday Lunch runs for $488 for adults and $298 for children 12 and under. It comes with salad buffet and soup, and dessert buffets, plus a white and red wine selection. At Spoon, you can get a rack of lamb w/ spring vegetables and tomatoes during the Easter Sunday Lunch for $518 per person. Then finally at Harbourside, the Easter Sunday brunch ($558 adults, $298 children) includes the Australian leg of lamb with a special dessert section featuring chocolate Easter eggs.

Room With A View
Rice Paper (Shop 3319, 3/F, Gateway Arcade, Harbour City, TST) appears to be a standard Vietnamese fusion restaurant w/ French elements inside, it’s the back patio that stands out... big time. The open patio gives you a full, open view of the entire Hong Kong harbour—truly a beautiful sight at night. Comfortable couches on the side and dining tables made for groups or couples are available. To add to the atmosphere, renowned bassist Rickard Malmsten performs live with his band every Fri and Saturday. But none of it would matter if the food wasn’t any good. For appetizers we had the deep fried soft shell crab rice paper rolls ($65), which come with a tangy Vietnamese dipping sauce. The pomelo lime juice peanuts coconut and dried shrimp salad ($55) lives up to the long name, as the bowl bursts with flavour. The grilled beef tenderloin spicy sour salad ($85), is made with fresh herbs and grilled-to-your-liking beef. For dessert, the “French kiss” ($58), a sour yogurt on top of custard with ice cream, is a mix of sour and sweet. Good eats with one of the best views in HK and a great band, what more can you ask for?

Stuck at the KCR Rail waiting for a relative from China, only to hear your stomach growling? If you don’t want to put up with the fast food joints at the railroad station, you can take the short walk to The Metropolis Mall and try Ryo-Zan Paku (Shop 767-771, Lvl 7, The Metropolis Mall, Hung Hom, 2994 8626). This spacious restaurant, with a sake bar on one side and tables on the others, offers the mackerel, grilled several ways, all salt-cured. The salt-grilled mackerel ($50) is an easier eats than the grilled pin mackerel ($45), which requires more “picking and cutting”. The tempura w/ rice ($65) isn’t just tempura on top of rice, but tempura skins mixed with Japanese rice as well. There’s also the Japanese cod green tea noodles, you know, in case you can’t get green enough from the tea and the ice cream.