Caroline Sophia Li is a food columnist turned food influencer (@hungry.pea on Instagram) with a culinary arts degree from Le Cordon Bleu. She spoke to Andrew Sun.

As a child, I drooled over Eric Carle’s food illustrations in The Hungry Caterpillar and was always drawn more to food than toys.

My late grandfather loved to wine and dine. He would teach me all about good food over scrumptious meals at Fook Lam Moon, a renowned restaurant in Hong Kong which started as a humble home catering company when my parents were kids.

Since none of my family members enjoy cooking, I have taken it on myself to be a good cook so I can one day pass down family recipes to loved ones.

Following my passion, I enrolled at Le Cordon Bleu San Francisco in the US. After graduating with honours, I returned to Hong Kong and became a food columnist for Legend magazine.

This opened doors for me in the food and beverage industry and I made many like-minded food-loving friends.

Caroline Sophia Li is a food columnist, influencer and Le Cordon Bleu graduate. Photo: Caroline Sophia Li

I practise intermittent fasting so I often skip breakfast and lunch, but I would happily break my routine for Sushi Hare (29 Bridges Street, Sheung Wan), an eight-seat omakase restaurant. You can taste chef Motoharu Inazuka’s elegant and well-balanced omakase courses through his seasonal specialities.

A secret treat is a one-man ice-cream maker in Happy Valley, Fun Kee Scoops (@funkeescoops), selling only to friends and family via Instagram.

If you ask nicely, you might be able to score a tub of Drunk Punch – a beautiful concoction of Amaretto custard ice cream with raspberry jam and chocolate fudge swirls.

A omakase morsel from Sushi Hare. Photo: Sushi Hare

Newly opened Racines (22 Upper Station Street, Sheung Wan. Tel: 2886 8076) is my recent favourite for dinner. Caprice and Petrus alumni Adrien Castillo and Romain Dupeyre bring diners to the South of France with upscale Provençal cuisine. Pray that the artichoke salad with foie gras panna cotta is on the menu if you visit.

Locanda dell’ Angelo (12 Yuen Yuen Street, Happy Valley. Tel: 3709 2788) is another neighbourhood gem, serving fine-dining Italian without the Central prices.

Chef Steve Chiu, a protégé of Umberto Bombana, dishes up decadent pasta like linguine carabineros, tubetti with lamb neck ragù and mascarpone agnolotti with roasted chestnut purée, an off-menu special during white truffle season.
Roasted baby lamb chop from Locanda dell’ Angelo in Happy Valley. Photo: James Wendlinger

I like to wine and dine the night away at Vea (30/F, The Wellington, 198 Wellington St, Central. Tel: 2711 8639).

Chef Vicky Cheng’s “Chinese x French” menu is ever changing, showcasing the finest Chinese produce prepared with classic French techniques – think butter-braised fish maw in a luscious, caviar-filled beurre blanc sauce.

Craving Chinese but want something special? Head downstairs to Cheng’s Chinese restaurant Wing (29/F, The Wellington, 198 Wellington Street, Central. Tel: 2711 0063), which has been fully booked since its opening last year, and enjoy a tasting menu fit for a king.
Fish maw at Vea.

You can’t visit Hong Kong without trying Chinese siu mei, or roast meats. Serious foodies visit Sun Kwai Heung (G/F, N. 17, Kam Tam Yun House, 345 Chai Wan Road, Chai Wan. Tel: 2556 1183), a small takeaway restaurant selling the city’s favourite char siu.

For a quintessentially local experience, make a trip out to Lau Fau Shan in the New Territories, famed for fresh oysters. In season, try the salt-baked virgin female mud crabs at Siu Tao Yuen Seafood Restaurant (28 Main Street, Lau Fau Shan. Tel: 2472 1153).

Caprice Bar (6/F, Four Seasons Hotel, 8 Finance Street, Central. Tel: 3196 8882) is my go-to for cocktails in Hong Kong. Especially during tomato season, bar manager Anyss Saintilan serves an off-menu special, reinventing the Tomatini with delicious tri-coloured heirloom tomatoes flown in from chef Guillaume Galliot’s mother’s garden in France.I have been a fan of chef Daniel Calvert’s cooking since he started at Belon in 2016. I was a regular there and we became friends over our mutual love for champagne.

I look forward to visiting him at his Tokyo restaurant, the newly two-Michelin-star minted Sézanne (7/F, Four Seasons Hotel Marunouchi, 1-11-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-Ku, Tokyo. Tel: +81 3 5222 5810) next month.