I dash through the rain and up the pathway to LockCha Tea House. As I shake off the first downpour of Hong Kong’s rainy season, I realise I have committed a cardinal sin: I have suggested a restaurant to one of the city’s most famous restaurateurs.
By the time a colleague had explained that a guest for Lunch with the FT picks the venue, it was too late to change the plan. Michelle Garnaut had never been to the combination tea house and vegetarian restaurant — a rare exception for the Australian who has catered to the Chinese and international elite, here and in Shanghai, for decades.
I step into the pristine colonial-era building, tucked away in a corner of Hong Kong Park, a few minutes’ walk from the Asia headquarters of HSBC and Standard Chartered. The calming thrum of a Chinese zither pumped in from ceiling speakers reverberates between the white plaster walls and dark hardwood beams.