Whenever I talk to a chef about why they were drawn to the culinary arts, I’ll often hear stories of spending hours in the kitchen with mothers or grandmothers cooking on weekends, eating around a long table with family and friends. For Té Bo’s executive chef Sebastian Lorenzi, however, it couldn’t have been more different.

Born and raised in Hong Kong by a single mother, Sebastian had quite a regular upbringing, cruising along as most do in international schools here in Hong Kong: video games, rugby, friend gatherings at Cyberport – everything you’d expect of a normal teenager. Aside from taking food technology as a class in school, Sebastian had close to no other relationship with cooking.

“My story isn’t romantic at all,” the chef says. “I didn’t have a dad. It was just me and my mom, who worked as a restaurant manager. She was always at work from 11 am until midnight, so most of my time was spent with the helper. She’d cook me simple meals, and I never really had an interest in cooking or food at all. I actually never cooked anything until I was 18, not even like a fried egg – nothing, I had no interest.”

Even the cooking he did at 18 wasn’t entirely voluntary either. After graduating from West Island School, Sebastian spent most of his days continuing with his usual, laid back schedule. Eventually, his mother had had enough. “I was sitting at home just playing games, and she said ‘you can’t keep doing this,’” he laughs, “and I knew she was right.”

With that epiphany, Sebastian joined the restaurant his mother worked at and was put in the salad section, “cutting leaves and making croutons.” He tells me it was a very casual restaurant: think pre-cooked pasta and American-style portions. The new chef managed to pick up some skills there, and that was when he realised cooking could be a career option for him.

“I was never really good in school, and I didn’t graduate with good grades, I was just messing around,” he admits. “My friends would all fool around and still get good grades, but I messed around and got terrible grades. I just never had natural academic skills. But when I was working in that kitchen, I realised I’m actually pretty good with using my hands, and my knife skills were great. That’s when I thought maybe this is something I can pursue, and I went straight to culinary school.”

Sebastian then spent nine months at the Cordon Bleu in London, studying both cuisine and pastry, and upon graduation, he was immediately thrust into the deep end at then two Michelin-starred Uliasi in Senigallia, Italy, which now boasts the full three Michelin stars. He called the experience “eye-opening and humbling,” but he also went in knowing what to expect, as he had worked with chefs from the restaurant during his time at culinary school.

After several months in Italy, Sebastian returned to Hong Kong and joined L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon for two years, where he met then head chef Olivier Elzer, r é n’s longtime chef advocate. Another two-year stint followed back in London at the famed Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, which the Té Bo chef looks back on as possibly the toughest time of his career thus far.

“It’s a two-star restaurant, but it’s the only two-star restaurant that serves 180 people for dinner and 120 for lunch,” he explains to me. “So it’s not like a classic tasting menu where you have nine courses – you have three courses: starter, main and dessert, and it’s got two Michelins stars, so it’s very unique. Because we did so many covers, it was like a factory. We’d work 17 or 18 hours a day, six days a week. You learned how to be organised there and how to do things in big quantities, but it was really tough. I worked there for two years, but many people didn’t last more than three months.”

He eventually made his way back to Hong Kong, where he continued to master his skills working with chef Olivier Elzer at Seasons, chef Daniel Calvert at Belon, and chef Shane Osborne at Arcane, where he led the Michelin-starred restaurant as head chef for close to six years.

“I’ve always been comfortable in every situation I’ve been put in,” he says. “I’ve never been put in a section that I couldn’t handle; I’ve always just grasped it. People could see I could do it well and then the promotions came. I don’t want to sound arrogant, but I really just always felt comfortable. Obviously it’s tough work, physically and mentally. You’re exhausted, but I was confident in the results I achieved.”

Comfortable as he may have been working for other chefs, Sebastian is now all on his own, leading Té Bo with a freedom he has never yet experienced. How’s that change of pace like for him?

“It’s a whole different mindset, which I’m still getting used to, because now I’m truly on my own,” he admits. “I’d say it’s just sink or swim. I wouldn’t say every dish will be amazing, because if you’re creating dozens of dishes a year – let’s be real – some of them are not gonna be as great. But you learn, and you figure out what works and what doesn’t, and you start building almost an encyclopedia of all the dishes that have worked before.”

Té Bo originally launched back in 2024 as part of the member’s club 1880, but we all know how that business went, and it wasn’t long until it hit Sebastian that his restaurant might also go down with the ship. Fortunately, Swire swept in and decided to keep Té Bo running.

“They were very keen to keep us, and I was very keen to keep going because I thought we had a very good momentum,” he tells me. “We made it onto the Michelin Guide within four months of opening, the team was amazing and I was very confident in the food, so I was ready to do whatever it took to make this happen. Thankfully, Swire was very keen, and we reopened a month and a half later.”

Despite the hiccup, it’s clear the chef has found his rhythm once again, and things have been smooth sailing so far. Serving up modern European cuisine thanks to Sebastian’s Swiss-Italian heritage and French training, Té Bo changes its menu often, keep its offerings fresh and seasonal. Just earlier last month, the restaurant launched its latest menu, which now highlights everything from red prawn carpaccio with lobster jelly and pickled myoga, and lightly roasted white asparagus with Piemonte hazelnut and truffled Taiyouran egg yolk, to Hokkaido scallop raviolo in a roasted fish sauce, and Patagonian toothfish in Champagne sauce with Oscietra caviar and trout roe.

“I think we’re finding our stride, and I think it’s comfortable,” he reflects. “We know what the restaurant is about, and the people here in Taikoo Place know us. Dinner time is up and down, but lunch is very, very busy. It’s a tough ask for people to come to Quarry Bay, but they’re making the trip here, from Central and around Hong Kong, so that’s been great. 

“For now, I’m very happy, I’m very fulfilled,” he says with a smile. “But I won’t lie and say I don’t want a Michelin star. I can’t say it’s next, but it's definitely what I aim for. I’ve worked in Michelin starred restaurants my whole life, and to get one myself is a big deal for me. If one day we ever do get a star, that would be my proudest moment ever. I didn’t work in this industry and in all these Michelin starred restaurants to not be recognised, you know?”