British chef David Thompson has opened a Thai venue inside the Tai Kwun heritage and arts centre.
“Aaharn”, Thai for food, features a balcony for alfresco dining shaded by a mango tree, and serves high-end Thai dishes in the former Central Police Station, an historic local building.
Thompson, who spent 18 years cheffing at Nahm Bangkok, said: “I’ve always liked the rakish quality of Hong Kong. I like a dishevelled charm in a city, as it shows soul and depth and character … as Aaharn begins to develop its own character, it won’t be rooted in the ceremonial past but in a sense of time that is contemporary rather than retrospective.”
Thompson told HKTDC’s Hong Kong Means Business online magazine that his palate has been “honed on those old recipes”.
“I’m taken with many of them. Aaharn will be the enjoying the benefit of that, but I’m going out of my way to make sure that the menu and the presentation is far more streamlined and made for modern diners – not a compromise of taste, but of simplicity.”
David Thompson already has Long Chim restaurants in Singapore and Australia, as well as his Thai venue and a Michelin-star Nahm London. In 2016 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants.