Vicky Lau
🇭🇰 Hong Kong · Chinese cuisine · b. 1979
The first female chef in Asia to win two Michelin stars — French technique meets Chinese ingredients at Tate Dining Room.
Biography
Vicky Lau is a Hong Kong chef and the chef-owner of Tate Dining Room in Sheung Wan, which in the 2021 Michelin Guide Hong Kong & Macau became the first restaurant in Asia run by a female chef to be awarded two Michelin stars. She is one of the most influential figures in the new wave of contemporary Hong Kong cuisine, alongside chefs like Alvin Leung and Richard Ekkebus.
Lau was born in Hong Kong in 1979 and originally trained as a graphic designer at New York University. She worked in graphic design and branding in New York for several years before returning to Asia in her late twenties and enrolling at Le Cordon Bleu in Bangkok, where she received the institution's Grand Diplôme in 2010. She stagéd at the one-Michelin-star Cépage in Hong Kong under chef Sébastien Lepinoy, then opened the first iteration of Tate Dining Room on Hollywood Road in late 2012 with seating for just 18 people.
Tate earned its first Michelin star in 2013 and a second in 2021. The cooking is built around what Lau calls 'Ode to' menus — multi-course tasting menus each structured as a tribute to a single ingredient (Ode to Cucumber, Ode to Egg, Ode to Tomato), filtered through French technique but rooted in Chinese ingredients and flavour grammar. In 2022 she opened the more casual Mora, a soy-focused restaurant in the same Sheung Wan neighbourhood that pioneers the use of fermented Chinese soybean products in contemporary fine dining. Lau was named Asia's Best Female Chef in 2015 by Asia's 50 Best Restaurants.
Cooking Philosophy
Ode to a single ingredient. Each Tate tasting menu is built as an extended meditation on one ingredient — cucumber, egg, tomato, almond, jasmine — explored across eight to ten courses. The discipline forces every dish to add something the previous one did not, and trains the kitchen team to know a single ingredient in depth before introducing another.
Restaurants
- Tate Dining RoomSheung Wan, Hong Kong
Flagship since 2012; two Michelin stars since 2021. 18-seat dining room organised around single-ingredient 'Ode to' tasting menus.
- MoraSheung Wan, Hong Kong
Opened 2022; the world's first contemporary fine-dining restaurant focused entirely on soy in its many fermented forms.
Awards & Recognition
- 2 Michelin stars (Tate Dining Room, since 2021) — first female chef in Asia ever to hold two stars
- Asia's Best Female Chef, Asia's 50 Best Restaurants (2015)
- 1 Michelin star (Mora, since 2023)
- Michelin Green Star (Tate Dining Room)
Iconic Dishes
Cookbooks
- The Ode to Cookbook (planned)
In Vicky's Own Words
“If you cannot serve a single ingredient eight different ways, you do not know it.”
— Asia's 50 Best Restaurants interview (2015)
“Chinese ingredients with French logic. That is my entire menu.”
— Tate Dining Room press kit
Career Timeline
Graduates from New York University in graphic design and works in branding agencies in New York.
Returns to Asia and enrols at Le Cordon Bleu in Bangkok.
Receives the Grand Diplôme from Le Cordon Bleu Bangkok; stages in Hong Kong at the one-Michelin-star Cépage under chef Sébastien Lepinoy.
Opens the first iteration of Tate Dining Room on Hollywood Road, Sheung Wan, with 18 seats.
Tate Dining Room awarded its first Michelin star.
Named Asia's Best Female Chef by Asia's 50 Best Restaurants.
Moves Tate Dining Room to a larger location on Hollywood Road and introduces the 'Ode to' menu format.
Tate Dining Room awarded a second Michelin star — the first restaurant run by a female chef in Asia ever to receive two.
Opens Mora in Sheung Wan, a fine-dining restaurant focused on soy in its many fermented Chinese forms.
Mora awarded its first Michelin star in the Hong Kong & Macau guide.
Mentors & Influences
Frequently Asked Questions about Vicky Lau
Is Vicky Lau really the first female chef in Asia to win two Michelin stars?
Yes. In the 2021 Michelin Guide Hong Kong & Macau, Tate Dining Room was upgraded from one to two Michelin stars — making Vicky Lau the first female chef anywhere in Asia to hold two Michelin stars at a restaurant she owns and runs as head chef.
What is an 'Ode to' menu?
Each Tate tasting menu is built as an extended exploration of a single ingredient — Ode to Cucumber, Ode to Egg, Ode to Tomato, Ode to Jasmine, and so on — across eight to ten courses. The ingredient appears in different forms and roles in every dish, with French technique used to show the breadth of a single Chinese flavour.
Did Vicky Lau really train as a graphic designer?
Yes. She graduated from New York University in graphic design and worked in branding agencies in New York for several years before returning to Asia and enrolling at Le Cordon Bleu in Bangkok in 2008. She received the school's Grand Diplôme in 2010 and only then began her culinary career.
What is Mora?
Mora is a fine-dining restaurant Lau opened in Sheung Wan in 2022, focused entirely on soy in its many fermented Chinese forms — fresh tofu, aged tofu, tofu skin, fermented black bean, soy sauce, doubanjiang, miso. It is the world's first contemporary fine-dining restaurant built around soy as its single organising ingredient, and earned its own Michelin star in 2023.
Where is Tate Dining Room?
Tate is on Hollywood Road in the Sheung Wan district of Hong Kong, on Hong Kong Island. The current room seats around 32 guests across two services per evening, with one extended 'Ode to' tasting menu changing roughly every three months.
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