The origin story: What grew out of an invite-only, midnight supper test kitchen at chef and owner Vicky Cheng’s debut Hong Kong venue, Vea, became his “boundary-less” Chinese fine dining establishment, Wing, located just one floor below. With a 20-year background in French fine dining, Cheng never planned to open a Chinese restaurant. But after returning to his birthplace of Hong Kong, he found himself gravitating towards local tastes. 

What’s in a name: Drawing inspiration from Cheng’s Chinese name, Wing represents hope and perseverance – sentiments that reflect his pride for China’s heritage coupled with a desire to share the untold stories of its abundant culinary history; an expedition diners traverse with the restaurant’s expansive 80-dish menu. 

Untraditionally traditional Chinese: Wing’s fare serves as an homage to the Eight Great Chinese cuisines, innovatively respecting tradition through a “no-rules,” contemporary interpretation.Think dry-aged crispy Cantonese chicken – a recipe that took over 80 trials to perfect; house-cured century egg paired with Japanese oysters; and a pork belly-like slab of braised sea cucumber enveloped in a puffed spring roll.

Memorable pairings: Affording diners the opportunity to concurrently explore both the familiar and unexpected, the ingenious menu sees Chinese dishes reimagined with compelling flavor pairings. Expect classic Cantonese ingredients in anything-but-conventional form, like abalone, presented in two connected halves – fresh and aged – the demure sweetness of the former amplified by the umami stickiness of the latter, resulting in a synergistic whole greater than the sum of its parts. 

Chef CV: After attending George Brown College Toronto for culinary study, Cheng cooked alongside influential names from Jason Bangerter at Auberge du Pommier in Toronto to Daniel Boulud at Daniel in New York. Cheng joined the Liberty Group Hong Kong over a decade ago before his first foray into owning a restaurant – Vea – in 2015. 2021 saw the opening of his second locale, Wing.

Wing, 29/F The Wellington, 198 Wellington St, Central, Hong Kong

This article was originally written for and published on the Asia's 50 Best Bars website here.