Let's do launch(1)
It was a weekday lunchtime when the four smartly dressed Chinese businessmen walked into Pearl on the Peak, Geoff Lindsay's stunning restaurant perched at the top of Hong Kong island.
As they sank into the soft white leather chairs and took in the 180-degree views of the city skyline through floor-to-ceiling windows, they waved away the menu.
Instead of ordering one of Lindsay's signature dishes - the coconut-braised duck legs with red curry, perhaps - the group asked for four grilled lobsters with melted cheese on top.
It's not exactly what Lindsay envisaged when he opened Pearl on the Peak 12 months ago but then the whole year has been a learning curve.
"The market in Hong Kong requires constant change and growth," he says, "but it has been incredibly exciting."
From the start, Lindsay's aim was to provide a similar menu to the original Pearl, executed with the same creativity that has consistently earned him two chef's hats in The Age Good Food Guide.
What he didn't count on was that having one of the most stunning views in the world would be both a blessing and a curse.
"One of the things we had to work on was the way people wanted to drop in for a twilight dinner, sunset drinks or a quick lunch," he says.
Then there was the diversity of the customers. At first Pearl on the Peak's target market was cashed-up Western expats and international travellers.
"Now Chinese mainlanders are the market we are trying to develop," Lindsay says.
"They account for a large proportion of visitors to the Peak, so we have added items to the menu that are more obvious - pasta dishes, for example.
''The core of the menu is the same as Melbourne and 25 per cent is more celebration items - a seafood platter, a big chicken tagine for two to share, truffles, foie gras and caviar - we wouldn't do those things in Melbourne."
