Alvin Leung

Alvin Leung King-lon (Chinese: 梁經倫; born 1961), is an English chef and television personality. He holds two Michelin stars at his restaurant Bo Innovation and one Michelin star at Bo London. He is nicknamed The Demon Chef, and has invented his own cuisine which he calls X-Treme Chinese, which includes meals such as an edible condom on a mushroom beach. He spent £1.7 million on his second restaurant, Bo London, based in Mayfair, London. It closed after a year in business.[2] Another restaurant, Bo Shanghai was opened in Shanghai, China.

Alvin Leung
Born1961 (age 58–59)
London, England
Culinary career
Cooking styleX-Treme Chinese[1]
Websitewww.boinnovation.com

Career

Leung was born in London in 1961 as the eldest of four brothers,[3] and was raised in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada.[4] His first job in the culinary world was as a waiter,[5] but afterwards trained as an engineer.[6] He moved to Hong Kong and purchased a speakeasy called "Bo Inosaki" for £3,000, renaming it Bo Innovation.[5][7]

A self-taught chef, Leung gave himself the nickname "The Demon Chef", and is known for a style of cooking he calls "X-Treme Chinese".[8] He describes the Demon moniker as coming from the Greek word "Daimôn", meaning "good-spiritedness". While X-Treme Chinese is a combination of fusion cuisine and molecular gastronomy, and is meant to show that the food he creates is pushing the limits.[7]

His dishes at Bo Innovation include one called "Sex on a Beach" which involves an edible condom made out of a konjac and kappa on a beach made of mushroom. The condom itself is filled with a mixture of honey and ham.[9][10] All of the proceeds from that dish go to charity AIDS Concern.[6] His restaurant in Hong Kong received two stars in the Michelin Guide's inaugural 2009 Hong Kong and Macau edition,[11][12] then upgraded to three stars in 2014 edition, and by 2012 was ranked in 52nd place in the list of the World's Best Restaurants.[13]

In December 2012, Leung opened a second restaurant, Bo London, in London, United Kingdom. Within 10 months of opening, Bo London had gained its first Michelin star. Leung said that he intends for it to serve classic British fare such as dishes commonly served at bed & breakfasts, but with Chinese ingredients.[14] He spent £500,000 on the site in Mill Street, Mayfair, and together with equipping the restaurant is expected to spend around £1 million on the restaurant.[5] In March 2014, the restaurant closed following a 'serious water leak'.[15]

He appeared on episode eight of the Bravo cooking travel show Around the World in 80 Plates. The episode was named after him, entitled "Feeding the Demon".[16] Alongside the winner of MasterChef Canada Season 1, Eric Chong, Leung opened a restaurant called R&D in Toronto.[17] The restaurant was opened in early 2015 and is named after the nicknames for Chong and Leung respectively, Rebel and Demon.

Leung serves as one of three judges in MasterChef Canada.[18] He also serves as one of the judges in MediaCorp Channel 5's Wok Stars. He was also in the show The Listener Episode "Amuse Bouche" as a judge in a reality TV show, Five Star Chef.

In October 2017 it was announced that Leung is opening a Spanish restaurant called Plato 86 and a Peking duck diner called The Forbidden Duck in Hong Kong. In April 2018, Leung will extend his success of his Hong Kong restaurant Forbidden Duck, opening another in Singapore.

He is also set to debut his first book titled My Hong Kong.[19]

Personal life

Leung is married to Abby Wong, and has a daughter[6] and son-in-law.

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References
  1. Simon Usborne (15 November 2012). "Here comes the demon chef: Is London ready for Alvin Leung's 'x-treme Chinese cuisine'?". The Independent. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
  2. http://londoneater.com/2013/03/18/bo-london/
  3. Leung, Jan (14 June 2007). ""Demon Chef" Alvin Leung". HK. Archived from the original on 17 January 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  4. Kühn, Kerstin (9 May 2012). "Alvin Leung to open restaurant in London". Caterer and Hotelkeeper. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  5. Gerard, Neil (16 August 2012). "Alvin Leung spends £1m on new venture as London sites hit record prices". Caterer and Hotelkeeper. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  6. Stamford, Janie (2 June 2010). "Alvin Leung – My Life in Hospitality". Caterer and Hotelkeeper. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  7. "Interview with Alvin Leung". The World's 50 Best Restaurants. Archived from the original on 17 October 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  8. Usborne, Simon (15 November 2012). "Here comes the demon chef: Is London ready for Alvin Leung's 'x-treme Chinese cuisine'?". The Independent. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  9. Rahmadianti, Fitria (14 September 2012). "Wow! Kondom Bekas Ini Bisa Dimakan!". detikFood (in Indonesian). Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  10. Constable, David J. (12 September 2012). "Is London Ready for an Edible Condom?". The Huffington Post. London. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  11. Lim, Le-Min (2 December 2008). "Michelin Hong Kong Gives 3 Stars to 2 Restaurants (Update1)". Bloomberg. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  12. Eversham, Emma (9 May 2012). "BO Innovation's 'Demon Chef' Alvin Leung to open London restaurant". Big Hospitality. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  13. "The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2012: 51 – 100". Big Hospitality. 1 May 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  14. Chomka, Stefan (14 September 2012). "Alvin Leung: Pearls of Wisdom". Big Hospitality. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  15. "Alvin Leung blames 'serious water leak' for Bo London closure". The Caterer. Retrieved 22 August 2015. It did not reopen.
  16. "Around the World in 80 Plates – Episodes". NBC Universal Media Village. Archived from the original on 30 January 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  17. Wong, Tony. "MasterChef Canada's Alvin Leung and Eric Chong open restaurant". Toronto Star. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  18. "Alvin Leung". ctv.ca. 3 April 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  19. Fok, Wilson. "Beyond Molecular Gastronomy: Alvin Leung On His Next Chapter". Hong Kong Tatler. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
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