Chef-owner Alex Fargas of La Paloma is bringing his favourite dishes over 10 years to the internet to educate and satisfy hungry customers.
A decade into running La Paloma in Sai Ying Pun, chef-owner Alex Fargas is giving back to his loyal customers, teaching them how to cook his tapas, paella, and favourites from his Barcelona hometown.
“What can we give to the customers,” Alex asked as his restaurant was celebrating its tin anniversary. Three years ago, during Hong Kong’s pandemic shut-out, the chef ventured onto YouTube to present classic Spanish recipes to entertain customers when cooking at home.
“I wanted to teach Hong Kong [how to cook Spanish food] the way I was taught at school. The purpose was that if somebody has the time to cook it, we guide them through how to enjoy La Paloma at home.”
After uploading more than 18 recipe videos on YouTube since 2022, this year, he is restarting the project, broadcasting on Instagram a series of recipes coming straight out of his Spanish kitchen. For the Spaniard, it is a smart business decision to keep La Paloma’s brand high in many minds.
In early June, “Cook with Paloma” video series launched on Instagram, featuring a charismatic Alex guide online viewers how to make seafood paella, gambas al ajilo, and tortilla de patatas.
Each recipe is laid out straight with simple instructions on how to prepare each Spanish dish. Alex lists ingredients that can be commonly found in most food markets or Hong Kong supermarkets.
“At the end of the day, restaurants nowadays are not doing too good [in Hong Kong]. When people come to [La Paloma], they expect it to be not only good, but so many more things.”
“If you are able to give customers a recipe to do at home, they keep your restaurant in mind. Chances are that when they want to go enjoy Spanish food locally, they come back here.”
Just like La Paloma’s food menu, Alex prefers to keep things simple with a homely touch. His recipes will use typical ingredients from Spanish, chorizo, garlic, eggs, chilli, octopus, but also focus on dishes outside the comfort zone of a scene familiar with the basics.
“As a Spanish chef, I want to help the cuisine become more well known and introduce certain dishes to help customers explore what this food really means. Customers in Hong Kong, when they dine at Spanish restaurants, they have a perception of what they want to eat. Here, in my video series, I want to show them what the food can become.”
Up next in the series, expected to last into early 2026, Alex will be presenting octopus, spicy tapas, and seafood paella dishes, among others.
“It is correct that Spanish food can be a bit simple sometimes, but you also want to present more creative dishes to people. This is the start of that with this series.”
Since the summer launch of the online video recipe series, Alex has welcomed feedback for loyal customers replicating a piece of La Paloma at home. “That is the best achievement from these videos to have people creating what we make here at the restaurant.”
In October, La Paloma is marking its 10th anniversary with a series of parties and grand events. A new menu is set to launch featuring dishes from five different regions across Spain.
Their popular Hot Wednesdays, inviting restaurants to creatively combine cuisines into one large paella, will return alongside Flamenco and South American dance performances for a new Latino nights dinner-and-dance escapade.
Chef Willy ‘el Willy’ Trullàs Moreno, Alex’s mentor and partner of La Paloma, will make an arrival to La Paloma for their grand anniversary celebration with a two-night-only special menu.
Head to La Paloma’s Instagram page for a peek of how to create the restaurant’s favourite Spanish dishes.
