Where an Italy-trained Russian chef in Hong Kong goes for Italian, Korean BBQ and dessert
Coffeelin’s Johana Pulat reveals her favourite restaurants for Italian, Hong Kong street food, shaved ice, Korean barbecue and more
Russia-born Johana Pulat is the executive chef at Coffeelin, a Milanese-style cafe chain that is now offering dinner service from Thursday to Saturday at its Fortress Hill flagship location. She recently moved to Hong Kong after living and training in Italy. She spoke to Andrew Sun.
I grew up in Russia, but lived in Italy for 10 years. I went to culinary school in the Emilia-Romagna region. But even at home in Russia, we always ate different things. For example, one of my favourite breakfasts is Middle Eastern: eggs with za’atar.
I really love the vegetables in Italy. For me, a good tomato with just olive oil and a little salt is the best thing. Also, I only want seasonal food. If it is winter, I will never make Parmigiana di melanzane because there is no aubergine.
I am pretty new to Hong Kong, but I try to eat in different places. I have been to several Cantonese fine dining restaurants like Duddell’s (3/F & 4/F, 1 Duddell Street, Central. Tel: 2525 9191), which are good but I think I still prefer cha chaan teng and street food. At Duddell’s I had bird’s nest, and the signature char siu was very nice.