CHRISTOPHER MARK

Co-founder of Black Sheep Restaurants, Hong Kong.

Black Sheep Restaurants’ co-founders Christopher Mark and Syed Asim Hussain own and operate 24 restaurants in Hong Kong that are some of the most transportive and international dining experiences in the region. Their properties include the Michelin-starred New Punjab Club and Parisian-inspired Belon, as well as Tuscan trattoria Associazione Chianti and Peak-top dining destination Rajasthan Rifles. Straight out of college, Hong Kong-born Hussain first worked in finance in New York: “It was just as the subprime mortgage crisis hit so my first big professional achievement was staying employed,” he says. “I said to myself that I was not going to be fired from my first job, and while I was not the smartest in the room, I was in first and out last and no task was too small for me. I learned the value of doing simple things well and that has served me ever since.” But he eventually returned home to start an apprenticeship in the restaurant business. His father had been a restaurateur in Hong Kong in the 1980s and his son’s first job was as a dishwasher in his now-legendary Indian restaurant, the Mughal Room. Food was also central to Mark’s upbringing. Born in Canada to Chinese and Italian parents, he grew up in a neighbourhood full of immigrants. “From a very early age I was exposed to tons of foods,” Mark says. “They always fascinated me.” Before Black Sheep, he was the executive chef at Dining Concepts. In 2019, the New Punjab Club became the world’s first Punjabi restaurant to receive a Michelin star. Mark and Hussain also created and operate a proprietary delivery app, Go, and recently launched Uncle Desi Food & Sons—its first delivery-only digital restaurant, overseen by Chef Palash Mitra, Black Sheep’s Michelin-starred culinary director of South Asian cuisine.