Tate Dining HK reopens as Tate in Sheung Wan

• Tate's new, two-storey restaurant is located on Lok Ku Road in the city's trendy Shueng Wan district

• The sophistacted space has been created by New York and Shanghai-based designer Chris Shao

• Kitchen updates include a lobster tank, wok station, charcoal grill and a dedicated fermentation corner

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Tate Dining has reopened as Tate on Lok Ku Road

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It’s third time lucky, or ‘third time the charm’, for Tate Dining HK which reopens this month as 'Tate' in a new space in Sheung Wan district. The two-Michelin-starred fine dining restaurant is the creation of owner and chef, Vicky Lau, and is famous for its innovative menus that blend French cooking techniques with Chinese ingredients and concepts.

Tate first opened as a small dining concept on Elgin Street in Hong Kong’s Central district, moving to a larger space on Hollywood Road in 2016 after receiving its first Michelin-star in 2013. A second star was awarded in 2021. Tate Dining closed earlier this year and is now reopening at a new, two-storey space on Lok Ku Road in Sheung Wan, its grandest evolution to date.

Lau, who has a background in design, is renowned for creating a multi-course menu based as much on the visual experience as on taste. At this new, permanent home, she unveils a fresh identity for what is Tate’s third iteration. Now known simply as ‘Tate’, the dining space is shifting to a philosophy of quiet luxury and deep artistry to counter, as Lau explains, a global fine dining scene that has become increasingly "cookie cutter". 

“What has sustained Tate over the past 14 years is a relentless dedication to detail and continuous evolution,” she says. “Our guests return because they can feel the constant creativity. We are returning to a genuinely artisanal approach where every element is intentional, crafted, and built to endure.”

The restaurant's grand new home is the work of New York and Shanghai-based designer Chris Shao, his first restaurant project in Hong Kong. Shao says he wanted to celebrate Lau’s perspective as a female chef with the design a balance of softness, precision and beauty.

Tate chef and founder Vicky Lau with managing director Romain Herbetreau

“Fine china felt like the perfect symbol of that feminine balance and became the inspiration for the design,” says Shao. “You’ll see it in the flooring patterns inspired by ceramic motifs, the ceramic lighting installations in the main dining room and the furniture forms that reference the curves of ceramic vessels.”

Each piece of furniture has been custom-designed with a view to enhancing the flow of service. The ceramic table settings have been commissioned from more than 20 ceramicists with an impressive attention to detail; pieces have been thoughtfully designed and created using materials like Lau Fau Shan clay and cuttlefish bone, for example, as a nod to the geography of Hong Kong. 

Additions to the kitchen include a wok station, a charcoal grill for larger cuts and a dedicated fermentation corner. Signature dishes like Ode to Lobster, Ode to Crab, Ode to Scallop and Ode to Pigeon make a return, but with updates. Lobsters are sourced from a freshly installed tank to showcase varieties like French blue lobster and local green lobster. Ode to Scallop has been reinvented as a soufflé and Ode to Pigeon, a longstanding Tate recipe, has become a homage to the ancient craft of clay-baked chicken; the breast is wrapped in red clay and slow-baked to seal in succulence and served with a spiced poultry jus.

The new space allows for a 1,200 bottle cellar containing “exceptional” French wines selected to match the menu rather than for any particular estate or label. Chinese tea is served with the same reverence afforded to the wines.

Reservations for Tate open on August 14.

Tate, G/F, Evora Building, 68 Lok Ku Road, Sheung Wan; tate.com.hk.