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Andrew Sun

Tiffany Lo is still heartbroken. Starting in 2020, the chef poured herself – emotionally, mentally and physically – into running Jean May, her beloved little French bistro in Wan Chai on Hong Kong Island.
In 2026, after years of trying to keep the business afloat, Lo finally decided it was time to say goodbye. On March 22, she and her team held their final service.
The closing still weighs on her, but the chef knows it is time to move on. Soon after Jean May closed, a friend introduced her to Rajeev Bhasin, managing director of the Silver Spoon Restaurants group. Now, they have partnered to open a casual Parisian eatery, Bistrot’s Suzette, in Kai Tak’s Cullinan Sky Mall.
The two were aligned over the idea of doing a traditional French restaurant, says Lo, who has taken up the role of consulting chef.
“There are no surprises, just standard dishes that you would get in any Parisian bistro,” she says.
That means French onion soup, duck confit, beef bourguignon, salade Nicoise, steak frites and more. For variety, she also included some interesting Mediterranean-inspired entrées such as warm zucchini, feta and mint tart, and aubergine and couscous.
For Lo, who loves making classic charcuterie, highlights include the house-made chicken liver pâté and pâté de campagne.


While the dishes are traditional, she still includes little twists. “One dish not many people order but I really love is panisse,” she says, referring to the classic dish of fried chickpea flour fritters. Hers are made with the addition of briny black olives.
“Also, we do a lighter version of the beef bourguignon,” she adds. “Actually, overall we use very little butter in the whole menu.”
The restaurant is also named for the signature French dessert, crêpes Suzette; Lo’s version is more of a crêpes soufflé Suzette, where the egg whites are whipped up to give the pancakes more height and lightness.
Bhasin reveals that Lo would often show up in the kitchen hours before she was required to help prep dishes and ingredients, and make sure the line cooks could replicate the dishes properly.
“After I decided to close Jean May, in my mind I thought I was going to take a rest, but I haven’t,” Lo says. “I have actually been doing collaborations and events, offering classes, workshops and consultancy work. I realise that I really am a bit of a workaholic. And probably I have been avoiding thinking about Jean May.”


For now, Lo is keeping the relationship casual. Her role is only as consulting chef, but the experience has been positive – so who knows if this will be more of a lasting relationship than just a short fling?
“As consultant, my scope of work is to come up with the menu, the recipes and to pass on their execution to the team,” she says. “But when I am in the kitchen, I am working like it is my own place. I still try to put as much care and commitment into it.”
That includes organising the kitchen to make sure processes run smoothly, and to minimise errors. She is doing a bit of training for the staff, mainly suggesting how to keep on top of the prep.
I still hope to have my own place again, although I’m very scared
Chef Tiffany Lo
Working within an operation where commercial consideration takes as much precedence as culinary choices has been a learning curve for Lo. Instead of a seasonally driven menu and kitchen like at Jean May, the process is now about smoothing out routines so efficiency and consistency can be maintained year-round.
“At Jean May, I actually discouraged my team from looking at recipes,” Lo says. “I wanted them to cook instinctively. But with the number of people in this kitchen here, I felt I could not do that. As a consultant, I want to make sure everything is as straightforward as possible, so there is a guideline to follow for recipes.
“Personally, I do prefer cooking intuitively, but I do realise that for a busy operation, and to ensure the success of such a restaurant as this, it is important to take away as much uncertainty and have as much control as possible.”

Jean May, named for her maternal grandmother, was always a heartfelt and sentimental affair. A health scare earlier in her working life was what made her switch careers from investment banking to something she loved – cooking. But the challenge of maintaining a struggling restaurant in Wan Chai proved insurmountable.
Still, surviving six years in a difficult economy – and a pandemic – is hardly an utter failure. But Lo is now gun-shy about starting again on her own.
“I still hope to have my own place again, although I’m very scared,” Lo says. “A part of me wants to do it, but another part of my brain is saying, ‘It’s going to fail again.’
“A lot of people say, ‘Find someone to do the accounts and bookkeeping.’ Although I would really appreciate it if someone could help, I still prefer to do it on my own.
“One of my biggest struggles was social media, and then having to cook, deal with human resources, call people to fix the toilet, fix the phone line. I was doing everything, which meant other things fell behind and I had already spent 20 hours in the kitchen. If I do it the same way, what is going to prevent me from failing again?”
Part of Lo’s issue is that she is painfully shy, she admits; she is far happier staying in the kitchen, unlike some big-ego chefs who crave adoration and validation.
“Many times, I wanted to come out of Jean May’s kitchen after cooking and cross into the dining room, say hello and talk to guests,” she says. “But eight times out of 10, I just turned back because I was so scared.”

With Bistrot’s Suzette, Lo only has to worry about what is happening in the kitchen. Everything else is handled by the Silver Spoon Restaurants team. In a way, being a culinary hired gun seems an ideal role for Lo.
The thing is, it is not her own personal restaurant, so she is not cooking nightly at Bistrot’s Suzette. But it just might be the rebound gig she needed.
“It is nice to work with other people who have been in the industry for so long and have their own take on how to sustain a good restaurant,” she says. “Working in this new way, I have learned that every single person, from manager to chef, has to be on the same page. Because even if one person does not pull their weight, it is really tough.
“No one person can do everything alone. That is one of my biggest lessons.”


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Food and Drinks

How Hong Kong chef Tiffany Lo picked herself up after closing her beloved French bistro

Tiffany Lo at Bistrot’s Suzette at Cullinan Sky Mall in Hong Kong’s Kai Tak neighbourhood. Photo: Jonathan Wong

The rustic pâté de campagne is one of Lo’s favourite dishes. Photo: Bistrot’s Suzette

The beef Bourguignon at Bistrot’s Suzette is lighter than the typical French version, with minimal use of butter. Photo: Bistrot’s Suzette

Bistrot’s Suzette at Cullinan Sky Mall in Kai Tak. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Bistrot’s Suzette features classic Parisian fare, from steak frites to duck confit. Photo: Bistrot’s Suzette

Oeuf mimosa with smoked salmon at Bistrot’s Suzette. Photo: Bistrot’s Suzette

Lo at Bistrot’s Suzette. Photo: Jonathan Wong

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Lifestyle

Food & Drink

Following Jean May’s closure, Tiffany Lo is back as a consulting chef in a new kitchen – but still dreams of opening a restaurant of her own


Following Jean May’s closure, Tiffany Lo is back as a consulting chef in a new kitchen – but still dreams of opening a restaurant of her own.


How Hong Kong chef Tiffany Lo picked herself up after closing her beloved French bistro

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Following Jean May’s closure, Tiffany Lo is back as a consulting chef in a new kitchen – but still dreams of opening a restaurant of her own

Following Jean May’s closure, Tiffany Lo is back as a consulting chef in a new kitchen – but still dreams of opening a restaurant of her own