Born in Normandy in 1973, Frank Lebiez became a head chef in London in 2003 and is now proprietor, partner and chief executive of Metropolitain in Hong Kong.
My name is Frank Lebiez. I’m the proprietor, partner and chief executive of Metropolitain, Hong Kong. I was born on August 15, 1973, in Normandy, in northwestern France, which is famous for its apple orchards, farms and Camembert cheese.
Mine was the childhood of a happy boy in a traditional French family. I grew up with memories of big tables where friends and family gathered to enjoy the many delicacies our region and country offer. Even as a child, I loved cooking with my mom and learning the family recipes from her, and they inspire my own recipes today.
I was 16 the first time I stepped into a professional kitchen... just a few years ago, in the previous century.
Besides opening Metropolitan, one of the most interesting experiences was my first job as head chef, in London in 2003. My English was far from good; there was a lot of pressure, stress and tension, and a country, people and habits I didn’t know. A Frenchman and an Englishman: oh yes, that’s a real topic for jokes! It was so exciting and compelling.
It all starts, first of all, with my family and discovering the taste and flavor of each ingredient. But my first real memories are tied to my first job. Early in my career I was lucky to find a very good chef, who taught me respect for the product and showed me that you can create something astonishing with simple things.
He was a mentor to me. I think few people in life really make you; some people simply change your life and your destiny. He was one of them.
My family and my experiences have inspired my creations. Normandy is a region full of authentic French products: cheeses like Camembert or Pont-l’Évêque, butter, cream, lots of seafood like oysters, scallops, mussels, turbot or lobster, and drinks like calvados or cider.
The years I spent in the South of France gave my cooking a Provençal touch, full of flavor. I like to create lively dishes with sunny vegetables such as eggplant, zucchini, tomato and bell pepper, and of course extra virgin olive oil. I want them colorful, like the restaurant’s soul.
Besides cooking, I’m always curious to try and discover new places, new restaurants and new concepts. In Hong Kong things move and change so fast: you can eat anything, and restaurants open and change very quickly. But it’s very important to see what’s happening in your city to understand the trends and the customers’ tastes.
Being based in Hong Kong also lets me travel easily. I love discovering new countries and cultures, and above all their cuisine and the way they work with vegetables, fish and spices, to find new products and new tastes.
I love sharing time with people, especially my friends and my family; that’s the French style. I wish your readers would buy plane tickets, take a vacation and come to my restaurant in Hong Kong to discover my creations and share their feelings with me!
The dish in the picture is pan-fried Atlantic cod fillet with ratatouille. I chose this dish because it’s just me: my soul, my cuisine, my entire being. It sums up my whole career, my whole life, my identity.
The cod comes from the Atlantic, very near where I’m from, and the ratatouille is how I discovered the cuisine of the South of France 15 years ago.
