How to create a restaurant menu: top chefs at Hong Kong’s Michelin-starred and other fine-dining restaurants like Petrus and Louise reveal the secrets behind the crafting of their seasonal dishes

Chefs from award-winning Hong Kong restaurants share how they plan their menus, taking seasonality, ingredient availability and quality, and their own tastes into account

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Steamed black truffle, foie gras and prawn dumpling at Hong Kong Cuisine 1983. Photo: Hong Kong Cuisine 1983

Published: 6:15am, 13 Mar 2025Updated: 10:26am, 19 Mar 2025

Eating an exceptional dish is often likened to a symphony, with flavours all working together to create a harmony greater than the sum of its parts. But individual dishes are in turn one part of a greater performance: the menu. In the finest restaurants, especially those serving tasting menus, the full dining experience from amuse-bouche to petit fours is defined by a consistent harmonious flow.

While it might feel like magic to a diner, the art of a menu relies on prior planning, experimentation and strategic decision-making. Along with knowing who they are cooking for and what their guests’ expectations may be, chefs need a clear idea of what they want to “say” through the menu – for example, showcase a regional cuisine, a specific style of cooking or seasonal ingredients.

Chef Liu Zhen of Yong Fu in Hong Kong. Photo: Handout

Liu Zhen, head chef at Ningbo specialist Yong Fu, carefully chooses each dish in a menu to craft a “cohesive culinary journey”.

“A great menu is more than a collection of stand-out dishes,” he says, “it follows a central theme – seasonality, seafood or an experience tailored to suit new or repeat guests.”

Brown croaker with finely chopped peppers at Yong Fu. Photo: Handout

Uwe Opocensky, executive chef at Restaurant Petrus, who also oversees the six other dining concepts at the Island Shangri-La hotel, follows a seven-step process when designing new menus. At Petrus, he uses this process to launch a new menu four times a year to reflect seasonal changes in his primarily European and Japanese ingredients.

He describes ingredients as “paramount” in the Petrus kitchen. “When we have the best quality ingredients, they require minimal intervention to shine. Therefore, the story behind our sourcing is crucial and serves as the foundation of our culinary approach.”