Ekkebus teams up with Sepia’s Martin Benn

The culinary director of Hong Kong’s Landmark Mandarin Oriental, Richard Ekkebus, will partner with Martin Benn of Sydney’s acclaimed Sepia restaurant in a unique two-night collaborative dinner next month.

Martin Benn

Held on 20-21 March, the dinner is the latest partnership forged between Richard Ekkebus and a globally renowned chef, following visits from Singapore’s André Chiang, legendary Spanish master Ferran Adrià and Korean-American chef Corey Lee to Hong Kong.

Born in the UK, Martin Benn cut his teeth at the Oak Room in London working under Michel Lorrain before moving onto The Landmark London and then The Criterion where he trained under Marco Pierre White.

Moving to Australia in 1996, Benn spent two years at Sydney’s Forty One restaurant as sous chef before gaining a place at Tetsuya’s, learning the fundamentals of Japanese cuisine from Tetsuya Wakuda and then becoming head chef at the tender age of 25.

Amber’s Richard Ekkebus

In 2009 he opened Sepia with a his signature take on contemporary Australian cuisine that draws inspiration from Japan.

The collaborative dinner with Richard Ekkebus of two-starred Amber at the Landmark Oriental will see a blend of the two chefs’ signature dishes, including Amber’s black winter truffle dashi with a wild mushroom and black winter truffle puff and Sepia’s Saikou salmon belly with smoked roe, sudachi and chrysanthemum.

The following 10-course menu also shines a light on Amber’s newly created Brittany diver scallop seared with lime and ‘umami’ sabayon and Sepia’s western Australian marron cooked over charcoal and dressed with a yuzu and shellfish emulsion.

The dinner is priced at HK$3,688 per person and includes a signed copy of Sepia: The Cuisine of Martin Benn, with a wine pairing created by Amber head sommelier John Chan at an additional HK$2,088 per person.