Q&A: the chef behind Hong Kong’s music-inspired menu

The British expat heading up the kitchen at Hong Kong haunt Melody picks his all-time favourite chefs to cook for, and explains why music is the driving force behind the restaurant concept.

When did you move to Hong Kong?

“I started cooking in London at 19 and left when I was 35. It was full of the working over 80 hours a week and screaming at people that London was rife with. I happened upon a friend with a bunch of restaurants over here and the stars aligned. I make quite snap decisions. I don’t tend to dwell on things, but it works out, more often than not. I had nothing stopping me from going – no wife or kids – so I hopped on a plane to do something cool in this buzzy city. I fell in love with it immediately.”

What are the challenges the hospitality industry in Hong Kong faces?

“I’m not going to lie, the Hong Kong market is very difficult at the moment. This summer has been the emptiest I’ve seen Hong Kong in a long time, even during Covid. The company-card big expense accounts have all gone. There’s no tables of six dudes smashing serious bottles of wine on a company credit card – a lot of that’s dried up.”

What does your clientele look like now?

“We’re a butch restaurant really – we’ve got a big barbecue and there’s house music pumping out, but I have noticed that our restaurant is heavily populated by women. Big tables of six, eight, or 10 women, and it’s noticeable because there’s not the reverse with men.“

What’s the concept behind Melody?

“We’re trying to create a members’ club without the membership fee. It’s a huge place broken up into sections, so you can come here at 6pm and leave at 2am. You can go for the music round the back, you can sit in the bar lounge in the garden, and there’s invariably a DJ or live band. There’s an entertainment value to it – you’re not just going out for dinner.”

Why is music such an important part of the dining experience?

“We’ve got a big barbecue, and it adds a certain rock ’n’ roll element to the vibe and the food. I always find it weird to sit and eat dinner and there’s no music on at all. There was also a music room already built in the back, perfectly soundproofed, perfect acoustics, so it just made sense to carry that on through. We have some of the best sound equipment in Asia, so we’re going to use it.”

What inspires the menu?

“I hate the word ‘fusion’ so I’m trying not to use that word. We don’t have to be rigid and stick to what society conforms to as ‘classic’. Yes I’m English, but I also have a kitchen full of Asian chefs, and we are in Asia, so we borrow sauces and techniques to amalgamate them with what I grew up learning. I’m not arrogant enough to make everyone believe that it’s all about me. I’ve got some very talented people around me and I’d be foolish not to use them. There are loads of brasseries and Italian restaurants here. In fact, there are far too many Italian restaurants. And while not copy and paste, there are certain things they have to have – burrata and pasta and so on. But the way we’ve engineered it means we can pretty much put anything on the menu and it doesn’t look out of place.”

How has your training in London influenced your cooking?

“I trained under Albert Roux and Michel Roux Jr, so very classic French cuisine, which is something I was doing for years. Then I worked for Adam Byatt for seven years, and I guess you get a slightly more modern take on that. But over here, I’ve been able to just fuck around with the food a bit more and have fun with it. We do chicken tikka tacos, for example, in beautiful homemade roti because I’ve got these wonderful Nepalese ladies in my kitchen, and they made the best roti.”

Which chef would you love to cook for?

“None of them are still alive, but it would have been Keith Floyd or Anthony Bourdain. Anthony Bourdain is one of the most enlightening people. I read his book before it was cool when I was about 19 and just thought god, this is insane. It appealed to my darker side. And Keith Floyd, just because he’s the world’s greatest TV chef. Always cooking on the side of a mountain or something. I loved his joie de vivre.”

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