Alvin Leung – The Man Behind Bo Innovation

Where else can you find a lovable demon chef but in Hong Kong.  Yes, there is one great chef in Hong Kong that calls himself “The Demon Chef” and allows others to call him that.  This is Chef Alvin Leung, one of the top chefs in Hong Kong right now that is also fast becoming known in the international culinary world.

Last year, S. Pellegrino named his restaurant, Bo Innovation, as the 97th best restaurant in the world.  This is because not only does Chef Leung come up with some of the most delicious dishes, but he never fails to astound his diners with his innovative and very creative cuisine.  Only in Bo Innovation will you see traditional Chinese cuisine modernized with molecular gastronomy techniques.  In fact, there are many who compare his techniques with the best molecular gastronomy chefs in the world, Chef Ferran Adria of Spain.  Through his exemplary cooking style and unique dishes, his restaurant climbed up to the 65th position in the S. Pellegrino list, and we are sure to see more of the Demon Chef in the next coming years.

If there is another thing that can be said about Chef Leung, aside from the fact that he is the Demon Chef who got his restaurant included in the very prestigious S. Pellegrino list, is that he is self-taught.  He did not receive any formal culinary training, and what culinary experience he had came from cooking for his family back in Canada, the country where he grew up in.  He would also cook for his friends, and it was his friends, in fact, who urged to take over an eatery in Hong Kong.

In 2003, he purchased the eatery his friends were talking about, and called it Bo Innovation.  With his own kitchen to run, he became much more imaginative in combining ingredients to create Chinese cuisine with a very modern twist.  He was not afraid of experimenting with different ingredients and combining unlikely ones to come up with dishes that burst with flavor.

Pretty soon, he had diners wanting more of his dishes and food critics raving about his exemplary cooking style.  He also received good reviews from restaurant journalists.  In 2008, he received one of the biggest accomplishments of his culinary career when Michelin gave him two stars.  This award only increased his popularity among the food gourmands, be it local and international.  Right now, there are only two chefs who earned Michelin stars despite the fact that they were self-taught and had no formal culinary training, these chefs are Chef Alvin Leung of Hong Kong and Chef Heston Blumenthal of the United Kingdom.

Chef Leung is enjoying the success that he made, and he is continuously coming up with dishes that you would normally not see in fine-dining restaurants.  Ever heard of his Sex on the Beach dish?  This was served during the Valentine season, and the dish included an edible pink condom that has been loaded with honey as well as Yunnan ham.  For the sand, shitake mushrooms were powdered and placed over the plate, on top of it was the edible condom.  This dessert created controversy but was enjoyed by his diners nonetheless.

There are a lot of activities that makes the Demon Chef busy, aside from his Bo Innovation kitchen and giving cooking lessons.  For one, he was the guest chef of the Hennessy X.O. Appreciation event that was held last September 2010 in Bukit Kiara, Malaysia.  As well as giving a very delightful speech, he also created scrumptious dishes for the guests of the said event.

He also attended the Jakarta Culinary Festival in Indonesia in November 2010.  The event was held at the Grand Indonesia Shopping Town, and it was well-attended by numerous guests as well as a big number of participating chefs from all over the globe.  Fans of the Demon Chef got to sample some of his best dishes during the said event.

Right now, he is going to open another Bo Innovation in the United Kingdom, and this will be situated in central London.  He promises to bring his talent to the country, so we can rest assured to see quirky and fun dishes there.

Image Credit: theaustralian.com.au

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