Ta Vie

2/F, The Pottinger, 74 Queen’s Road Central, Central, Hong Kong

HIDEAKI SATO’S Ta Vie is run by a team of eight. In the hours leading up to dinner service, Sato-san gathers the staff in the kitchen. Together they stand and slurp up freshly made noodles in a rich broth made with a roasted bird. Impressed and satisfied, the staff quietly disappear, heading back to their respective duties. For Sato, preparing staff meals is a routine—and a requirement. In his words: “There is a schedule that we follow at the restaurant.”

“We always have carbohydrates,” he elaborates on the staff meals. “We use off-cuts of meats. In fine dining, we trim off so much from the premium ingredients, which can be best used and be transformed into a family meal for staff.” On occasion, Sato and his team make curry, but another solution is ramen. “In the kitchen, we experiment with prospective new dishes for future menus. One of the many new trials we have been doing is perfecting Peking duck. My staff and I sit and enjoy the duck, and the meat and carcass are perfect for ramen.”

The team makes the ramen broth from scratch, adding the bird’s carcass, dried shiitake mushrooms, bonito flakes and kombu. The chef pours some extra broth into the simmering stock. “Abalone jus,” explains Sato. “We pressure-cook fresh abalone with Shaoxing wine for a dish and the leftover jus we save for staff meals.” The abalone jus reaffirms Sato’s belief in reducing waste in the kitchen, but that isn’t the only mission he has in mind. “The meal is so important to young chefs, because the staff meal is something a chef prepares for other chefs—and especially, a meal that a young chef makes for older chefs. There is always a teaching moment.

If I spot something in the staff meal, I always discuss it with the chefs. It’s how we learned in the past and it is how we pass on our knowledge, too.”