Chef Jean-Georges in new HK venture

One of the world’s most renowned chefs, Jean-Georges Vongerichten will open a second Mercato restaurant in Hong Kong following its success in Shanghai’s Three on the Bund.

Three Michelin-starred chef, Jean-Georges Vongerichten

Launching in Lan Kwai Fong’s California Tower later this month, Vongerichten’s Mercato will offer a similar Italian-focused menu to its sister restaurant in Shanghai as well as a new cocktail list and extensive wine list at the Mercato Bar.

Mercato Hong Kong will also emulate Mercato Shanghai’s interior design with an emphasis on “farm chic” as well as a nod towards Hong Kong’s markets, streets and dramatic landscape.

Vongerichten’s Mercato Shanghai is in the city’s iconic Three on the Bund Renaissance-style building, developed in 1916 and transformed into its present-day look by renowned American architect, Michael Graves in 2004.

It now hosts six world-famous restaurants, including private dining venue, The Cupola; the Whampoa Club and Vongerichten’s other ventures, Chi-Q, Jean-Georges and Mercato Piccolo.

Born and raised on the outskirts of Strasbourg in Alsace, Vongerichten began his training at Auberge de l’Ill as an apprentice to Paul Haeberlin, then went on to work under Paul Bocuse and master chef, Louis Outhier at L’Oasis in southern France.

Afterwards, Vongerichten travelled to Asia and continued his training at the Oriental Hotel in Bangkok, the Meridien Hotel in Singapore and the Mandarin Hotel in Hong Kong.

In December 2015, his eponymous three-Michelin starred restaurant in New York City was ranked number 3 in the United States and 51st in the world by France’s international restaurant ranking, La Liste which rounds up the world’s 1,000 best restaurants based on hundreds of entries in guidebooks and online review sites.