In April 2023, Tony Truong was appointed as the head chef of the Chinese Cricket Club, the sleekly-designed, buzzy Chinese restaurant at Hyatt Regency London Blackfriars, serving classic Chinese cuisine.
Born and raised in Vietnam with a Chinese heritage, Tony was fully immersed in traditional Chinese cuisine from a young age, as his family mainly cooked Chinese dishes at home.
At 16 years old, Tony started his culinary career in Guangzhou, China, initially as a host on the dining floor. He later discovered that his true passion was in fact for the kitchen, and he was particularly inspired by live actions in the kitchen, as well as the comprehensive food knowledge the Chinese chef possesses.
He relocated to London at the tender age of 20 and worked at various different traditional Chinese restaurants in Chinatown. Over the decades, he has gathered extensive knowledge of local ingredients and seasonality, as well as coming to understand local guest preferences in London.
Prior to joining the Chinese Cricket Club, Tony opened another Chinese restaurant at a five-star hotel in London in 2017.
At the Chinese Cricket Club, Tony aspires to bring authentic Chinese cuisine, with a creative flair and healthy focus, to his guests. He also enjoys celebrating different Chinese festivals at the restaurant, by periodically adding special festive delicacies to his menus.
Chef Tony is a passionate traveller and foodie, and he likes learning about different cultures, about their ingredients and their history, which inspires his own culinary creativity. In his leisure time, he spends countless hours in his backyard gardening, growing different ingredients, herbs and botanics.
The Chinese Cricket Club is named in honour of the story of the captain of the Shanghai XI cricket team, Feng, who travelled to England in 1857 with his bride Xiu. Arriving in Blackfriars docks, the couple made their way to Limehouse, where Xiu opened the first traditional Chinese restaurant in London. Their legacy lives on in the inviting backdrop of the Chinese Cricket Club and it’s rich and diverse menu of homemade dim sum and signature specialties.
We sat down with Tony to find out a little more.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself, including your where you are today, professionally, and what got you here?
I was born in Vietnam with a Chinese heritage. I started my culinary career in Guangzhou, China when I was 16 years old, before relocating to the United Kingdom at the age of 20. I was then working at different traditional Chinese restaurants in Chinatown to gain experience and learn about the UK market for decades.
Before I started as the head chef of the Chinese Cricket Club in 2023, I spent around six years in another Chinese restaurant in another five-star hotel in London.
What or who inspired you to become a chef?
I first started my career on the guest floors as host, and later discovered my interest was in fact in the kitchen. I was particularly inspired by the live actions in the kitchen, as well as the comprehensive food knowledge.
Who has been your biggest influence to get you to where you are today?
I am a foodie and very keen to learn and incorporate what I see from other chefs, other cuisines, in terms of food presentation, cooking methods, food ingredients, and incorporate these elements into my dish creations.
What’s your signature dish?
Apart from the restaurant’s signature smoked Peking duck, I would say creamy prawn is also very popular among our guests and has been since the restaurant’s opening. Butter is used for stir-frying, which makes it taste rich and luscious.
What are the most important considerations when crafting your menu?
One of the most important considerations is about ingredients seasonality, based on the UK seasonality, e.g. venison for Sep-Oct, turkey for Christmas. Seasonal produce will always play an important part in enriching the food flavours, especially for Chinese cuisine.
Another consideration is a diversified menu in terms of ingredients, e.g. seafood, chicken, beef, pork options to be available. There is a diverse cultural background and preferences in the UK market, it is important for a restaurant to cater to different guests with different options.
Guest feedback on each dish is also important as we can understand the market preferences and trends, so as to fine tune the menu continuously.
Do your personal preferences influence the menu at all?
Definitely. I love travelling to different countries, too. My personal experiences, what I see in my journeys, will also inspire me when creating recipes.
How would you describe your cooking style?
Creative, with a healthy focus.
Do you have a favourite time of year or set of ingredients that you look forward to working with?
I like celebrating traditional Chinese festivals with my guests and colleagues in the restaurant. There are several special festivities in a year I’m planning to implement special dishes to celebrate with, such as Chinese New Year, celebrated with different delicacies like lo hei, with a symbolic meaning of blessings and fortunes for the year. Other festivities to celebrate include Valentine’s Day, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival.
What is your favourite ingredient to create with?
Abalone, sea cucumber, fish maw are considered the most important treasures from the ocean in traditional Chinese cuisine. Mastering the cooking techniques of these ingredients are crucial to becoming a successful Chinese chef. These are also my favourite ingredients to cook with as they are tasty and healthy.
What would you be doing if you weren’t a chef?
A tour guide most probably. I always love travelling and I like learning histories and being inspired by different cultures in different countries.
What is your favourite dish to cook at home?
I love enjoying dinner with my kids and grandchildren over the weekends. Apart from all sorts of Chinese soups, another dish favoured by them is Tamago tofu casserole with XO Sauce, a simple dish with heaps of flavours.
When are you happiest?
Spending time and dining with my family every weekend.
What is your favourite piece of kitchen equipment?
I have a professional knife set at home, extensively comprised of different Chinese, Japanese and Western knives.
When you’re not in the kitchen where can you be found?
In the hotel, I probably spend most of my time in the kitchen or otherwise in meetings.
At home, I spent a lot of time at my backyard doing gardening. I have planted a lot of different ingredients, spices and flowers in there, e.g. goji berries, tangerines, pansies etc.
What’s your favourite takeaway or comfort food?
Traditional Chinese dishes such as char siu (Chinese barbeque pork) and crispy pork belly.
Where is your favourite place to dine?
At Chinatown, with traditional Chinese cuisine.
What differences do you find working with local produce as opposed to non-local produce in terms of what you can create and flavour?
Chinese cuisine is all about the freshness and seasonality of the ingredients used, as the cooking is to accentuate the original flavours of the ingredients. Therefore we always use local produce in our dishes.
How do you go about menu planning? What’s the process from picking the ingredients to getting them fresh into the kitchen and into dishes?
During menu creation, I always try to consider the origin of the main ingredients and then pair with ingredients from the same origin, to create an authentic flavour.
How would you describe the food you create at the Chinese Cricket Club to someone who’s never experienced your kind of food?
The Chinese Cricket Club offers authentic and healthy Chinese cuisine.
What’s your favourite flavour combination?
I always try to accentuate the original flavour of the ingredients, such as the umami in fish and seafood, the freshness and light sweetness in vegetables etc.
What is the USP of your restaurant?
Authentic, classic, healthy.
What do your future plans entail?
Vegan a la carte menu to suit the increasing demand from vegan guests.
Factbox
Address: 19 New Bridge St, London EC4V 6DB
Phone: 020 7438 8053
Website: hyattrestaurants.com/en/
