Exploring Food from Boston to Hong Kong and Beyond
Ahhh, pasta. Pasta is probably one of Bryan's favorite foods in the world, no matter where in the world he is. Not surprisingly, we discovered the much loved Pasta Divina when we were in Brussels. It soon became one of our favorite places in Brussels.
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This is a 3-part series where I look back at the past 3 years (coming out of the pandemic) that just somehow seemed to whiz by.
Happy New Year!
As my sense of time goes haywire due to the pandemic (I think we all feel this way?), I feel much more of need to document time as it whizzes by a bit too quickly for my comfort. Where has all the time gone? And how is it that I've been in Hong Kong for 7 years already??!
I used to be really disciplined about reflecting back upon the year. I took a brief look back, and noticed I was quite consistent, publishing virtually annual, even publishing a series of reflections during my "peak" years of 2014 and 2015 (2010, 2011, 2013, 2014-1 2014-2, 2015-1 2015-2 2015-3, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021-1 2021-2).
What happened? Perhaps whirlwind multi-week (sometimes multi-month!) trips we did during the quarantine-era had something to do with it.
I kept wondering . . . what did I do in 2022 and 2023 that made me fall so far behind in blogging? And could it be that 2024 is almost over as well????
Then it hit me . . .
In 2022, I left Hong Kong in April and didn't return until July. Yes, I took a 4-month extended trip outside of Hong Kong. And then, after spending a summer in Hong Kong, I did it again, taking yet another (shorter) extended trip.
It was a weird period in the world. While many parts of the world (including the US), opened their doors wide open after vaccines became available in 2021, other places (Mainland China, Hong Kong) remained pretty closed, still requiring quarantines, PCR test results, and vaccine passes to get around. As a result, many expat families left Hong Kong, some permanently, others at least for a season.
I’ve since largely caught up, and hope to be completely on top of my blogging backlog by the end of this month!
As part of this greater catch up project, I've decided to write annual summaries for 2022, 2023, and 2024 in these first few days of 2025. (Phew!!)
We came into 2022 after having spent 3 weeks in quarantine the previous month of December (and before that, several months outside of Hong Kong). Needless to say, we were restless to enjoy Hong Kong for a bit. "The Covid" was still going around. Even though a large portion of the rest of the world had opened up, we were still required to wear masks outside, scan health codes to enter restaurants, and take Covid tests.
Despite all that, we managed to enjoy Hong Kong in a lot of ways. Bryan and I went on so many hikes during this time, including visiting Hong Kong’s amazing UNESCO Geopark, Dragon’s Back Trail, Lion Rock, hiking to Victoria Peak from our house, Lamma Island, Peng Chau Island, Sharp Island, and many, many others.
We also embraced the local holidays.
For Chinese New Year, we decked out our house in decorations, and tried to enjoy many traditional expressions of the holiday.
We still ate a lot of take-out, since it wasn't always that easy to go out to eat, depending on the number of active cases, and whether restaurants were allowed to open at night. I personally didn't travel at all for months after our 3-week quarantine in December.
Bryan, on the other hand, traveled to Spain for one week, and then proceeded to quarantine for two additional weeks in Hong Kong after the week long trip. Crazy times. During that time, we ate dinner "together" each night over Zoom.
In April, we traveled to California to finally attend Bryan's sister's wedding. She had postoned it twice. They were supposed to get married in 2020, but alas Covid-19 hit the world, and they ended up having a basic Zoom wedding inside their apartment. They postponed it to September 2021, thinking that surely the pandemic would be over by then. Tahoe wildfires became the next culprit, causing their wedding venue to close right around the time of the wedding.
Fast forward to April 2022 . . . we flew to the US to attend this long awaited wedding. I cannot even express how special it was to see so many relatives after 3 years. It was an emotional time, with very special and cherished memories.
We continued on this 3-month journey, from San Francisco to Los Angeles, and then to Boston, Paris, Brussels, Valencia, Brussels, London, Brussels, Berlin, London, Brussels, and Dublin in June!
Phew!
It was crazy. We found out that a really old friend whom we hadn't seen in years was going to be in Paris the same time as we were! In fact, she was going to be Versailles. Bryan and I hadn't been to Versailles since 2005 (!!). We ended up visiting the hotel where we had stayed oh-so-long ago (Trianon Palace) and took "then & now" photos for fun. What was once a Westin (which we could book with points) had now been converted to a Waldorf Astoria. It still felt very familiar, though.
Food in Paris was amazing. For this trip, instead of dining at 3 Michelin star restaurants like earlier trips (e.g., Arpege, Ambroisie), we focused more on 1 Michelin star restaurants. NE/SO (farm to table) and La Condesa (Mexican) were probably my favorites, though Mavronmatis (Greek) and Helene Darroz (2 stars) were also excellent.
Of course I had to visit my favorite galette shop, Breizh Cafe, as well as spend time walking around all my favorite neighborhoods in Paris.
I had never been to Valencia, Spain before, so I was really excited to tag along on one of Bryan's business trips there.
It was so cool to explore a brand new city, especially to try the local specialties. Paellas and agua de Valencia on the beach at Casa Ripoll and La Pepica, wonderfully creative and innovative dishes from well-known chefs like Ricard Camarena and Quique Dacosta . . . the list goes on.
The city itself has so much history and culture as well. Definitely worth a visit!
Tiny Urban Kitchen: Full Valencia trip report
After having spent 6 weeks in Brussels right at the beginning of the pandemic, the city felt like an old friend in a lot of ways. We came back and visited "old haunts", including Bryan's favorite restaurant in Brussels, Bozar, as well as our favorite pasta place, Pasta Divina. We even met up with some of Bryan's colleagues and ex-colleagues, who had now become our friends.
Of course, I had to enjoy my own Brussels favorites, such as a Brussels waffle with whipped cream at Maison Dandoy, a chocolate truffle at Pierre Marcolini, sour beer from Cantillon, and a vegetarian healthy bowl from Yummy Bowl (my lunch spot of choice during the pandemic).
Our time in London was not long, but it was special to be here during the Queen's Jubilee. The city was decked out in celebration. I was thrilled to try the new Elizabeth Line, which really reminds me of Hong Kong subways! We attended a formal event with a Scottish theme at the House of Commons, which was really interesting. Haha, we even checked out the new (very beautiful) Din Tai Fung right in the heart of the city at Covent Garden.
For full details of that trip (including some recommended restaurants), please check out the full London Trip Report.
For years I've had an internal goal of going to at least one new country or jurisdiction each year. For 2022, that new country was Ireland. Dublin was amazing. In a lot of ways it actually reminded me of Boston, maybe because Boston has so many people of Irish heritage.
It was really cool to visit two 1000+ year old churches (St. Patrick and Christchurch) plus the stunning Trinity College Library. We took a short excursion to the countryside (gorgeous!!), and just soak in the history and culture of this special city.
Memorable foods include Guinness beer and Murphy's Ice Cream from Dingle!
For more details of this trip, check out the Dublin Trip Report.
I stayed put in Hong Kong during the rest of the summer, though Bryan did make yet another Europe trip (and ANOTHER week long quarantine). I ended up going to his hotel to drop off a ton of stuff so that he could enjoy his time in quarantine just a bit more. Haha, we had dinner “together” via Zoom each night.
Hong Kong lifted its strict quarantine requirements to *just* “0+3”, meaning 3 days at home and no days in a quarantine hotel, so I finished writing my quarantine song and published it soon thereafter.
In October, I flew to Boston and also to Ohio, my first time back in my hometown since the pandemic began! It was such a special time to see family and friends again, especially my relatives in Ohio. Special memories included tasting my mom’s homemade daikon meat pies 蘿蔔絲餅, which were amazing.
We even visited the Neil Armstrong Museum in Ohio, meeting up with some friends in Columbus at a convenient and fun halfway point.
In Boston, I did work meetings, attended a conference, and caught up with family and friends.
Because Hong Kong was still requiring quarantines and testing to re-enter, Bryan planned another long multi-European country trip in the fall. Since we weren’t really back in the office fully yet in Hong Kong, I worked remotely and came along for the extended Europe trip.
And YES, Paris twice in one year! What a treat.
I celebrated my birthday in Paris, with back to back dinners at Table by Bruno Verjus and Epicure). Other highlights included dining outdoors at Frenchie Wine Bar and the fantastic sandwiches at chez Alain Miam Miam.
The next several cities were all new to me: Bergamo and Bolzano (Italy), Berlin (Germany), and Warsaw (Poland).
Bergamo is a beautiful and fascinating 2-level city that was a joy to explore. One of the coolest things to do in Bergamo is to walk along the Venetian Wall through Porta San Giacomo, which is a big white marble gate, sort of like a doorway into the upper part of the city. We only had a couple days there (mostly the weekend), but we thoroughly enjoyed exploring it!
I first got introduced to Bolzano during our incredible trip to Solda in 2021 (my first ski resort trip ever!). This time, Bryan had a conference in Bolzano, probably the closest town to Solda. We did a magical hike during sunset close to the vineyards of Bolzano (where they grow grapes for making their local wine, Lagrein). I loved the small town feel, and it was really nice just to soak in the vibe of the Italian countryside.
Sadly, Warsaw was mostly destroyed in 1944 by Nazi Germany after the Warsaw Uprising. The Polish rebuilt the city between 1950 - 1970 based on old drawings, photos, etc., painstakingly trying to rebuild to restore the former beauty and glory of the city. The Old Town is now completely restored and is also a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is really, really beautiful.
We met a local person who took us around. He shared about how the past several months have been crazy, with so many Ukrainian refugees streaming into Poland. Even his own family was lending a hand, taking in certain refugees for the night. To read the whole trip report: Warsaw, Poland
Although I’d visited Munich before, this was my first time visiting Berlin.
Wow, what a fascinating city with tons of history. I was quite moved by the various museums and tributes relating to Berlin’s complicated history. It’s tough to decide how to tell the story about something as traumatizing as World War II from Berlin’s perspective, but I thought they did a really good job. It was quite sobering, reflective, and meaningful to visit the Berlin Wall, see tributes to the Jews who died during the war, and learn more about East and West Germany during that time in history.
We flew to San Francisco to visit Bryan's sister and her husband's new home. We had a chance to see so many old friends from the SF, which was a tremendous blessing.
It was also fun to try all sorts of great food, such as Detroit style pizza (at Tony’s Pizza in North Beach, SF!), 1-Michelin star Angler, and crazy popular (huge) galbi with cheese from Korean restaurant Daego Kalbijjim.
We also stopped by Los Angeles, where we enjoyed many favorite “family tradition” meals in quick succession (e.g., Thanksgiving turkey, Christmas hot pot, Che family pumpkin cakes, Brodard’s Vietnamese spring rolls, and more!). So thankful to Bryan's mom for taking such efforts to allow us to enjoy so many sentimental memories.
What a year! It was indeed a whirlwind of travel and seeing many, many friends and family after such a long pandemic-driven separation. Looking back I am extremely thankful for such an enriching and full, full year.
Next up: Reflections on 2023 and 2024
As soon as we knew we would be in Brussels for a slightly extended amount of time, Bryan asked if we could go back to “that pithivier place”. He still had fond memories of our last meal there, back in early 2020, when we experienced Chef Karen’s stunning works of art for the first time.
It’s been two years, and a lot last happened. As you may recall, Brussels went into lockdown in early March, the DAY we left Brussels to take one of the last direct flights back to Hong Kong. Who would have guessed that 2 years later, that direct flight is still not flying . . .
It hasn’t been easy. We talked to area restauranteurs. The family that owns Pasta Divina told us they were closed for 8 months, and many other businesses did not survive the pandemic at all.
Nevertheless, Brussels is coming back to life. As the days become longer and the sun sets later and later, people are reveling in the freedom of a society that is opening back up. We hardly saw masks anywhere (except perhaps inside trains, cars, and airplanes). There’s also no more need to show the digital “Green Pass” to enter restaurants.
This trip (Spring 2022) we mostly revisited our favorites from past trips. We were thrilled to see that our favorite pasta place, Pasta Divina, was still going strong, fully booked every single evening. In the fall of 2021, it was still relatively easy to get a last minute booking or walk into a popular restaurant. No more. Brussels is back, including the tourists, and restaurants are packed.
This was our first time in Brussels during the spring, so we were surprised to learn that mussels are not in season between March and July. Alas, no fresh moules frites this trip. We made sure to taste our favorite beers, such as the wild fermented lambics from Cantillon, “best beer in the world” brown beer from Westleveteren, Triple Karmeliet, Orval, Rochefort, and many many more.
Similarly, public areas such as The Grand Place and St. Catherine were teeming with life, filled with crowds that acted like it was 2019, i.e. “the Before Times.”
Despite all the tourists, thankfully I was able to secure a reservation at Restaurant Bozar again. It had been two years since we were last there, and we were looking forward to trying Chef Karan's signature pithivier again.
We had already pre-ordered the pithivier a few days before (must order 48 hours in advance!), and thus we were all set for our main course. We just had to choose a few appetizers. If you don't pre-order, you can still enjoy his "croutes" (meat filled pastry creations) by ordering the croute tasting (195 EUROS per person, minimum 2ppl), which includes trying four different ones, including a dessert croute!
I must say the attention to detail and the pure artistry of the food at Bozar never cease to amaze me.
It's not merely artistry, of course. Each course is elegantly composed, with balanced flavor combinations that are just a delight to eat.
The fresh, handmade ravioli was beautifully al dente, and the consomme together with the lobster (from Brittany) and sweet peas was just perfect.
There are several different types of croutes, filled with different types of meat such as Basque pork, pigeon, or duck. We (again) ordered the duck pithivier, which includes Dombes duck, goose foie gras, spinach, morel mushrooms, and root vegetables.
I really want to try the salmon one (which also has spinach, buckwheat, mushrooms, and a white butter sauce with caviar), but the menu says it is for 6-8 persons.
It takes so much precision to get all the layers to cook just right.
So amazing.
We finished with some light petit fours, including some freshly baked warm madeleines.
Our first time here was in 2020, right when the pandemic began. It was a scary time, when masks were scarce, little was known about the disease, and it was unclear how long we'd be stuck in Brussels.
So much has changed in two years.
Back then we ate the 221st pithivier. Two years later, our new keychain told us we had just eaten the 319th pithivier. Wow, Chef has made close to 100 more pithiviers since then, which is impressive considering the pandemic was roaring during a lot of this time . . .
We were thrilled to be back this time, and hopefully won't wait another 2 years before we return.
Bozar Restaurant Brussels
Rue Baron Horta 3
1000 Bruxelles
Tel : 02 / 503.00.00
Mail : [email protected]
Dear Friends,
It has been so long!!!! I am so sorry for the extended silence here. I swear, in the 12 years since I started this blog, I have never had such a long silence before, and for that I sincerely apologize. After almost two years of being “stuck” in Hong Kong, Bryan and I finally flew back home to the US to see our family, friends, and business contacts.
It was a tough decision to stay away for so long, but we live in a very different world now. Hong Kong currently has one of the most stringent quarantine requirements on this planet. We knew that by traveling to the US, we would have to quarantine for 3 weeks upon return. As such, we wanted to make the absolute most out of our time outside.
And thus we embarked upon a whirlwind trip that included multiple cities in the US and in Europe. We visited so many old friends, re-visited our old haunts, and also traveled to some brand new places.
Traveling during Covid is very, very different, but still doable. Different countries have different requirements for Covid tests, vaccinations, and (in the case of HK), quarantine bookings. It’s a maze to figure out, and all the more complicated because the situation changes sometimes daily. We ordered boxes of Covid tests that we kept in our suitcase and carried along with us just so we could self-monitor, and (at least for the US), even use those test results to comply with official requirements.
We wore KN95/KF94 masks on flights, but felt comfortable enough to take them off for short durations while we ate. If our travel time was longer than 12 hours, we would change out for fresh masks. We tried to keep a distance from people at airports, and most certainly kept our masks on at all times except while actively eating or drinking.
I have now finally returned to Hong Kong after 3 long months, and am currently serving out my 3-week quarantine. Not surprisingly, I took thousands of photos during my time away. I am methodically working through them, and hope to share with you all the things I experienced (and learned!) while traveling during this pandemic time.
For now, below is a snapshot of things to come. Happy Christmas, Merry New Year, and have a wonderful holiday!
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Who would have ever imagined that when Bryan left to go to Belgium for a 5-day business trip in late January 2020, he would end up getting "stuck" for seven weeks due to the coronavirus pandemic? I talked more about the details of our whole crazy pandemic travel story here.
Suffice it say, never would we have ever thought we would end up "living" in Brussels for almost two months. It was a rare, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to really get to know this city, something that's typically hard to do on a normal vacation where you only have a handful of days.
Our home base was the Marriott Grand Place Brussels, which has a great location in the center of the old city and is surrounded by a lot of restaurants. Because of that, we ended up not venturing far at all to eat, and ate almost all of our meals during those 6-7 weeks within walking distance of our hotel.
Below, I've tried my best to summarize our experiences dining in Brussels, especially around the Grand Place, and highlight some of our favorites. I will write in more detail about many of these places, but it's always nice to have an overview.
Presenting . . . my top places to eat around the Grand Place Brussels.
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We have nostalgic memories of Brussels.
After all, we were stuck here at the beginning of the pandemic for close to seven weeks. It became like a second home of sorts. We got to know neighborhood restaurants, and even be-friended some of the families running those restaurants.
Bozar was by far our most memorable meal during that period.
Bryan fell in love with the signature pithivier that Bozar makes, and I just loved Chef’s overall approach to food and his obsession with quality.
Since our first visit, Bozar has attained another Michelin star now holding two stars total.
To be honest, I’ve always thought it’s quality was excellent and fully deserving of two stars. So I’m really glad Chef Karen Torosyan is finally getting the recognition that he deserves.
The menu does not include Chef's classic, signature pithivier anymore (the one filled with duck, foie gras, and mirepoix). However, Bryan called in advance, and they confirmed that they could still make the classic version.
Yay! We decided to relive our memories from our previous visits once again during our visit to Brussels just this past March (2024).
We love this place. I highly recommend Bozar if you want to have a really thoughtfully designed and executed meal. Even if you don't get the classic, you can still enjoy a croute as part of the tasting menu.
The last two times we came, the restaurant gave us a keychain to commemorate the number of pithivier that we ate. We'd eaten 221 the first time and 319 the second time. Alas, they told us they don't give away key chains anymore.
I'll treasure the other two that I already have. At least they are still willing to make the pithivier! Thank you Chef Torosyan and the entire team!
Bozar Restaurant Brussels
Rue Baron Horta 3
1000 Bruxelles
