Diner’s Diary

Get ready for Amber 2.0 – Michelin-starred Hong Kong restaurant looks to past and future ahead of revamp

Contemporary French restaurant the hottest ticket in Hong Kong as it serves 14-course menu of signature dishes to celebrate its 14 years in Central

For US$880, diners on last day before its closure will be first to taste eight-course menu Richard Ekkebus and his team will serve when it reopens

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The interior of Amber at the Landmark Mandarin Oriental in Central, Hong Kong. The two-Michelin-star restaurant closes next week for a revamp. Photo: courtesy of Amber

Bernice Chan is a former SCMP Culture writer who is now based in Vancouver, Canada, where she writes compelling stories about food and drink, lifestyle, wellness and the Asian diaspora.

Published: 11:43am, 7 Dec 2018Updated: 12:58pm, 7 Dec 2018

This week the hottest table in Hong Kong is at Amber in the Landmark Mandarin Oriental hotel in Central – and it’s not because culinary director Richard Ekkebus has a new “silver fox” look.

The two-Michelin-star contemporary French restaurant is serving its “Feast for the Future” – though it’s actually a last hurrah, an epic 14-course menu of signature dishes from its 14-year existence before it closes for renovations on December 9.

The entire seventh floor of the hotel, which currently houses the restaurant and two function rooms, will be renovated. According to the Dutch chef, there will be three restaurants in the space, including a new Amber in late spring.

He would not divulge too much, except to say he and his team have spent the past four years researching and discussing what they would like Amber 2.0 to be.

Chef Richard Ekkebus before his dye job. Of Amber’s revamp, he says: “We have the responsibility to pave the path to better eating.” Photo: May Tse

This included hiring a public relations consultancy to conduct a survey of 150 people, from tai tais to industry titans to foodies, asking them questions that included their impressions of what fine dining is, what their expectations are, their preferences for fine dining, not just in Hong Kong but overseas as well.