With a bandana for a chef's hat and a wicked sense of humour, chef Sonny Huh is a South Korean Captain Jack Sparrow, and his Black Pearl is the popular restaurant franchise School Food.
His zany brand of modern Korean comfort and street food shot to fame when it featured on a popular Korean drama. Hong Kong's K-pop fans queued up to click-and-post the colourful interiors with feel-good mottos such as "dreamy taste in your mouth".
They also liked the signature dishes such as blooming (mini kimbap arranged like the petals on a flower), (a braised rice cake street dish), bibimbap and near-luminous soft drinks.
The School Food opening in Kowloon Bay's Telford Plaza next Friday will take the number of branches across Asia to more than 90.
To keep the brand fresh, Huh introduced several new dishes after a recent trip to South Korea. These include tuna mari, his smaller take on a Japanese maki roll, and chicken curry mari, whose white and yellow bite-sized rolls contrast with the pink beetroot and crab mari.
He's also introducing a dish from north of the border. Buckwheat is a Pyongyang-influenced noodle dish that includes crunchy kimchi and pickles along with a beef broth and spicy sauce.
