soiree
Getting Into the Spirit
Exclusive dinners, elegant cocktail gatherings and parties galore
Michelle Ong-cheung’s annual First Initiative Foundation (FIF) gala dinner was held at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum to coincide with the opening of Le French May’s Claude Monet: The Spirit of Place exhibition, which has brought 17 Monet paintings from France’s Réunion des Musées Nationaux to Hong Kong for the first time. The foundation published two children’s books, My Monet and Colour Me Monet, to complement the exhibition, aiming to benefit young visitors, schools, libraries and the community at large. Fancl was the principal sponsor and charitable partner of the gala dinner, whose theme was celebrating the importance of art in daily life. The evening began with a cocktail reception followed by a VIP preview of the exhibition. Guests then made their way downstairs to the foyer, which had been transformed to resemble Monet’s garden, a flower-filled setting with peonies and roses hanging from the ceiling. Kenny Bee, a member of the Cantonese pop band the Wynners, performed a medley of his best-known songs, including Sha La La La, which had guests singing along. Many people raved about the menu created by French fine dining restaurant Épure, with executive chef Nicolas Boutin and head pastry chef Matthieu Godard overseeing the kitchen on the night. The feast included lobster salad, cod fillet and seared black angus prime striploin. The pièce de résistance was a dessert resembling a painter’s palette made from a combination of white, milk and dark chocolate, a sweet tribute to Monet.