'Hot List' Recognition for Hong Kong and Elite Concepts

Hong Kong’s innovative restaurant company, Elite Concepts, Executive Director, Mr Paul Hsu believes Hong Kong beyond the SARS crisis will quickly resume its position as the tourism, social, artistic and culinary capital of the East Asian region. “None of us at Elite Concepts has any doubt about that,” he said.

“This is why we are delighted that two of our restaurants, Cinecittà and yè shanghai Kowloon have been named by Condé Nast Traveler Magazine as two of “the world’s most exciting restaurants” in their prestigious “Hot Tables” list for 2003.

The publication’s fifth annual “Hot Tables” list contained in the May 2003 issue says “Cinecittà has the led the way in transforming Star Street, in Wanchai, from an average backstreet into the city’s newest, most popular dining area.”

yè shanghai Kowloon has followed in the steps of its sister restaurants in Pacific Place, Hong Kong and Xintiandi, Shanghai setting new standards with its modern interpretations of the sumptuous cuisines of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai.

According to “Condé Nast Traveler” yè shanghai Kowloon is “Kowloon’s newest culinary star with genuine Chinese dishes getting their inspiration from old Shanghai…” . The magazine highlights the specialty dim sum which is unusual for a Shanghainese restaurant and “the unique desserts including black sesame crème brûlée.”

The May issue also includes the “Hot List” of the world’s top new hotels. Each year the magazine’s editors evaluate hundreds of contenders and select only the hotels and restaurants that meet tough and exacting criteria …design, service, ambience and cuisine. Once the contenders are determined, a worldwide network of reporters and culinary critics are then sent to visit and review every hotel and restaurant in cognito.

According to the publication, “things on planet earth may not be quite as calm and prosperous as we’d like, but our appetite for travel remains insatiable – as does our taste for the best that the culinary world has to offer.”

“We believe this is again a tremendous accolade after having Kokage named in the “Hot Tables” of 2002 and will provide a strong basis for the expected strong resumption of business post-SARS,” Mr Hsu said.

Mr Hsu said that the “Conde Nast Traveler” Hot List for 2003 named four (4) restaurants in the China region, two (2) of those in Hong Kong and both Elite Concepts’ outlets. Within the East Asian region three (3) were named on the list in Indonesia; two (2) in Thailand and two (2) in Singapore. Hong Kong and China are therefore well placed in the East Asian region, with  Elite Concepts’ restaurants performing particularly well on the “Hot List” ranking.