A graduate of the New York International Culinary Center and having spent four years at the now three-Michelin-starred Amber in Landmark Mandarin Oriental, Casa Cucina executive chef and co-founder Anthony Cheung is unquestionably a fantastic chef. He’s also our chef advocate, and one of our biggest supporters since we began working together almost a year ago.

Chef Anthony and our founder Jo Soo Tang first came to know each other through a mutual friend, chef Joanna Yuen of Otera, who had previously worked alongside Anthony at Amber. As soon as he learned about r é n from Jo, he was immediately onboard with the mission.

“Towards the end of the old Casa and the start of this new Casa, the restaurant’s operation started to get on track, and I didn’t have to spend as much time in the kitchen,” chef Anthony shares. “My mindset then was that I wanted to reach out to the outside world because I’ve been stuck in the restaurant all this time, and I want to somehow give back to the community. That’s when I talked to Joanna and met Jo through her.

“As soon as Jo told me about r é n, I felt that it was a great idea, because they’re working with people who are less privileged or have special needs, and it really gives you a chance to give back to this part of society. It also gives opportunities to these kids, which are often rare, because not many people know about them and think of hiring them. It requires time and patience, and it’s not just about training them; you also have to communicate with them and build trust between you. It takes a lot of work, so many employers might now offer these opportunities to them.”

Putting his words into action, chef Anthony soon started planning with us to see how he can participate and aid in r é n’s mission to support Hong Kong’s disadvantaged and underprivileged youths. The first project we decided to work on together was FOOD+FILM, our special series where chefs come together to celebrate the world of cinema through an exclusive menu based around a theme. For this particular occasion, chef Anthony and Casa Cucina were joined by our friends at Plumcot, and together they chose the stunning Wes Anderson film The Grand Budapest Hotel. The evening saw stunning, delectable dishes such as duck l’orange with truffle and pumpkin; Miyazaki rice-raised pork belly with pickled pumpkin, beetroot, and pork jus; Madagascar vanilla rice pudding with salted caramel and roasted nuts; and a choux pastry trio of orange blossom, pistachio, and Valrhona single origin dark chocolate.

“During the project, because it was mainly a culinary fundraising event, we didn’t really get to work with the r é nkids,” chef Anthony reflects. “But Jo is a very understanding person, and she doesn’t want to just have people supporting the cause without really believing in it or experiencing it, so before the FOOD+FILM evening, she gave us some opportunities to attend some of their activity sessions, so we could meet and talk to the people r é n supports. She really wanted us to be a part of the community.”

With a desire to work more closely with the individuals we support, chef Anthony got to brainstorming for the next steps with Jo once again, and soon the two came to a brilliant idea leveraging the chef’s expertise in pasta-making: a r é n teen Pasta Series, which forms part of our ongoing R21 youth programme that provides individuals with Down Syndrome vocational training and potential employment opportunities.

Stay tuned to Part 2 of our story with chef Anthony, where we’ll go deeper into the r é n teen Pasta Series, as well as our R21 member Chi Wing, who now works with the chef at Casa Cucina.