SMALL EATS HKG STYLE

Joe Spitzer is my brother-in-law who hails from New York City more than 25 years ago. We became 'blood brothers' not only via marriage, but in our preferences in food, and in eating. Like me he is a big fan of small, local eateries ie our answer to Taipei's 'Small Eats'. We recently decided to rediscover this particular universe in Hong Kong and conducted our first 'recce'. It was essentially a trial run of logistics on what might become an extremely interesting project.

Today our target neigborhood is at the intersection of Leighton & Caroline Hill Road in CWB, directly across the street from the fancy Agnis B restaurant. (1) Danish Bakery at #106 Leighton is right at that busy corner with Caroline Hill. It carries with pride a 42 year pedigree! One cannot miss it as the original decoration, though dusty and fading, is still intact. While they still sell bread and cakes the key products these days are snack foods like hot dogs, hamburgers, grilled chicken legs, pork chop buns ie all time favorites of students from nearby schools such as St Paul's Convent where our eldest daughter attended. A Hot Dog is $7, a Hamburger also $7 (!!!) and a Coffee $9 .... We had a ball, snacking while chatting up the owners on what must be a glorious history. Behind 'the grill' is the walking definition of a short order cook, flipping burgers and poaching weiners. This chef has style, so much so he can be beamed to Manhatten by Scottie and no one will notice the difference. To put things in perspective, imagine the generations of students in unform he must have met and served? (2) Paris & Taipei Cafe at #13 Caroline Hill Road, a 2-minute walk from the Danish Bakery. Managed by Wing's Catering - shown in pamphlet - it belongs to a chain of 5 small eateries whose claim to fame is 'marinated & grilled cutlets of chicken'. We shared the House Special ie an afternoon tea set of a cutlet sandwich & a hot lemon tea, for $26 .... The cutlet is juicy, and the sauce flavorful. I toured the 300 sq ft premise, and found cutlets on every table, as everyone chewing away with vigor. What amazes us is how these venues are able to build a multi-faceted menu around one item. We will definitely revisit, with an empty stomach, in order to give it a fair hearing via a 'tasting menu'. BTW the place is well run, by young folks, with a single waitress who is every restaurant owner's dream. Go meet her at Paris & Taipei Cafe and while there please help us solve the mystery. We can undersatnd 'Taipei' from the menu, but where is 'Paris' in the equation?