Chef Bjoern Alexander joins Roland Schuller at Octavium
Dynamic new duo of Germans to lead new culinary direction
at one Michelin star Italian dining room
(Hong Kong) – Acclaimed creative chef Bjoern Alexander Panek has now joined the culinary team at Octavium as Chef de Cuisine to form a dream team with group executive chef Roland Schuller. The two will combine their skills, talents and innovation to lead the one Michelin star boutique restaurant to new plateaus in Italian cuisine.
The top chefs have much in common. Both are born in Germany. Both have years of experience in Michelin grade restaurants in Hong Kong and around the world. Both are also dedicated to pursuing new ideas and guiding Octavium in new and exciting modern European directions.
“It’s going to be a combination of Roland’s classic cooking with my more contemporary techniques,” Chef Bjoern Alexander explains. “We know each other and get along, plus we’re both Germans, so it’s going to be a good environment to create together. There will be a mix of old and new, traditional and modern, while working with the best of ingredients.”
Chef Bjoern Alexander arrives after working at Petrus and Restaurant Uwe with the renowned Uwe Opocensky. He was also executive chef at Restaurant Umi in Shanghai and the long popular private member’s venue, Kee Club. He has also lend his culinary talent to Twenty Six by Liberty, Whisk and French Window. Prior to Hong Kong, Chef Bjoern Alexander was Chef de Cuisine at Al Muntaha inside the Burj Al Arab Hotel in Dubai.
Chef Roland Schuller and Chef Bjoern Alexander’s collaborative efforts are evident in various new fall dishes such as beetroots are brined for up to three weeks changing its flavour and texture to resemble bresaola beef, and paired with buffalo ricotta and N25 caviar for a different kind of carpaccio.
A spectacular new creation is slow-cooked abalone with comté cheese, abalone liver, zucchini frittata and fried polenta strips. Asian meet Meditteranean inspirations in a pasta with grilld sardine and peppers. Smoked quail leg is recontextualised with a green olive reduction. For dessert, Chef Roland Schuller and Chef Bjoern Alexander reintroduce decadent black truffle with ultra smooth hazelnut ice cream for a simple but satisfying finish.
As normalcy returns to the city, Octavium’s kitchen designs to offer even more new gastronomic experiences expanding its repertoire from just classic Italian to modern European sensations.
About Octavium
Octavium is Maestro Chef Umberto Bombana’s boutique private dining concept in One Chinachem Central. The numerically themed restaurant has only 8 tables and is on the building’s 8th floor. In addition to being the chef’s laboratory to develop new culinary ideas, it will serve food close to his heart with seasonal ingredients and dishes he loves and would serve to his own family. As a cozy and warm home-like retreat for diners, the décor features birch tree bark on the walls, Cassina Cab Chairs by Italian renowned designer Mario Bellini, hand-blown water glass from Venice, German designer vases, and other elegant and stylish touches from Chef Bombana himself. The room will be frequently refreshed with new floral arrangements and a rotating selection of art, delivering a comfortable and tasteful Italian environment.
About Umberto Bombana
A native of Bergamo in Northern Italy, Chef Bombana trained at Centro di Formazione Alberghiera and apprenticed under acclaimed Chef Ezio Santin at Antica Osteria del Ponte, a Michelin-starred restaurant outside Milan. In 1993, he arrived in Hong Kong to manage Toscana at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Hong Kong, which quickly became an iconic destination of the fine dining scene. When Toscana and The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Hong Kong closed in 2008, Chef Bombana began his most personal and distinctive project — 8½ Otto e Mezzo BOMBANA. For seven consecutive years, it has been awarded 3 Michelin stars. In December 2013, he opened Hong Kong’s first refined Italian trattoria, CIAK – In The Kitchen located at the Landmark Atrium, Central. 2017 was a fruitful yet meaningful year for Chef Bombana. He was honored to be the winner of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants Diner’s Club® Lifetime Achievement Award 2017. In September, Chef Bombana was bestowed the Order of Merit from the Italian Republic (OMRI, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana). It is the country’s highest ranking award.
Business Hours:
Lunch：12nn – 3pm (Mondays to Saturdays)
Dinner：6:00pm – 12am (Mondays to Saturdays)
Reservation:
Tel：+852 2111 9395 (11am – 12am on Mondays to Saturdays)
WhatsApp Enquiry：+852 5189 7332
Email：bookings@octaviumhk.com
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