Every year, Foodie Forks evolves and adapts to the changes happening within the restaurant industry so that these awards can continue to celebrate what the diners in this city find invaluable when eating out.
This year, we’re launching a new category, and we’re so excited about it! The Most Inspiring Initiative award is targeted at a community event, cool collaboration, philanthropic partnership or pop-up with an environmental element that has inspired you in the world of food.
When you head over to vote for your favourite restaurants, bars and food heroes in Hong Kong, you’ll find a drop-down box for this new category with some initial voting suggestions, but there is also space for adding your own nominee (if we agree with you, your vote will also be included in the drop-down menu).
Here are a few of the initiatives we’ve been inspired by over the past year:
Red Sauce Hospitality’s Melting Pot series
Owner of Posto Pubblico, Fini’s and newcomer Franks celebrated a rebranding of Stone Nullah Tavern by hosting a trio of pop-ups featuring comfort foods from Nepal, the Philippines and Pakistan, all prepared lovingly by the group’s culturally diverse team. Red Sauce founder Todd Darling said, “Our Red Sauce family is such a huge part of everything we do. The Melting Pot is an opportunity to show gratitude to those who show up and deliver to our customers every day.”
Feather & Bone’s free fruit for kids
It’s simple, it’s thoughtful and we really like that Feather & Bone have a basket full of fruit of which children are free to help themselves to when their parents are busy shopping and they’re feeling peckish. This promotes healthy eating choices for youngsters, who always seem to be hungry!
Black Sheep Restaurants’ partnership with Hong Kong Correctional Services
Black Sheep Restaurants, the group behind such eateries as Motorino, Maison Libanaise, La Vache!, Chôm Chôm, New Punjab Club and BELON, believe in second chances, partnering with Hong Kong Correctional Services to provide young offenders with work experience. This initiative helps youths who’ve had a difficult start in life to develop a work ethic and gain the skills and confidence needed to send them out into the working world.
Invisible Kitchen Serving Only Sustainable Seafood
In a city where we eat four times the global average of seafood, Chef Tom Burney at Invisible Kitchen is turning the tide with his long time commitment to serving 100% sustainable certified seafood. Invisible Kitchen works closely with the WWF and is the only caterer in Hong Kong to serve only sustainable seafood and to say ‘no’ to shark fin.
Here’s a recipe video by Tom Burney at Invisible Kitchen with WWF helping make sustainable seafood easy to choose at home
The Influencer Series by Maximal Concepts
Maximal Concepts (think Mott 32, Blue, Brickhouse and hot new John Anthony) have put together a sequence of discussions gathering together industry professionals who are making an impact in the hospitality industry. Discussions have included subjects like “From Trash to Treasure”, “#FoodPhenomenon” and “Back to the Source” and have delved into the responsibility of the F&B industry – one of the leading contributors to climate change – to implement eco-friendly practices to reduce waste and to find out what’s being done (and what can be done) to work towards a greener cityscape.
Pei Ho Barbecue Restaurant’s daily free rice boxes to the homeless
Owner Ming Gor has been distributing free rice boxes to the needy in Sham Shui Po – at least 100 meals each week – since 2011. His strong social conscious is inspiring to us every single day. He won our Food Hero award back in 2016, but we’d happily award him again and again for his neighbourly and compassionate ideology.
Eco-friendly bartending by the HK EnvironMentalists
Dedicated to exploring sustainable practices and environmentally friendly bartending, the HK EnvironMentalists are spearheading a movement within the mixology crowd in the 852, led by Potato Head Hong Kong Bar Operations Manager Tom Egerton. They’re all about creating conscious cocktails that maximise ingredients whilst minimising waste.
Paying it forward at Stazione Novella
Under the tag of “A Caffeine Fix and an Act of Kindness”, Stazione Novella, SoHo’s local coffee and wine bar, offers its customers this thought-provoking prod to partake in the Italian tradition of caffè sospeso, which refers to paying for a cup of coffee for the next guest who walks in as a surprise gift for the stranger, along with writing a little message on the cup. That’s just nice, right?
What has inspired you in the world of food this past year? Put your thoughts on our voting form so that those folk get the recognition they deserve.
