Food Space: cooking studio and organic grocery in Tai Po has put down roots fast
Food Space is an interloper in the line of stalls selling daily necessities at Tai Po's Tai Yuen market. With a focus on healthy eating, the shop, private kitchen and cooking demonstration venture is the brainchild of two long-time F&B professionals, Frenchman Thierry Lanoe and Argentinian Francisco Barria.
Food Space is an interloper in the line of stalls selling daily necessities at Tai Po's Tai Yuen market. With a focus on healthy eating, the shop, private kitchen and cooking demonstration venture is the brainchild of two long-time F&B professionals, Frenchman Thierry Lanoe and Argentinian Francisco Barria.
A gleaming stainless steel kitchen is fronted by shelves of mainly organic food from five continents. Biscuits and honey-flavoured gingerbread, cereals and flour, gluten- and dairy-free items jostle for space with pulses and spices, diabetic jams, fruit juices and organic snacks and top-of-the-range kitchen appliances. Daily cooking demonstrations with free tastings draw a growing number of people from nearby residential blocks and further.
Health-conscious residents of Hong Lok Yuen have discovered Food Space and its potential as a venue for private dining and special events. Ana Shu, for instance, took advantage of the presence of David Jean Marteau, an award-winning visiting French-Canadian chef from Shanghai, to invite 14 family members for a Lunar New Year dinner.
"I was not sure how it would turn out, so I experimented on my family. Hong Kong has so many private kitchens, and most of them are very similar. I am happy to have found something different."
Innovative promotion is the key to success. Products are displayed so they provoke questions from browsers, says Barria, who is fluent in Putonghua and picking up colloquial Cantonese.
We really enjoy the way we have been almost adopted by other market vendors
"The experience of a product is all-important, tastings are essential.
