World’s first Hello Kitty Chinese restaurant to open in Hong Kong with incredible dishes that look exactly like the cartoon cat

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World’s first Hello Kitty Chinese restaurant to open in Hong Kong with incredible dishes that look exactly like the cartoon cat
http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/peoplesdaily/article-3078128/Worlds-Hello-Kitty-Chinese-restaurant-open-Hong-Kong-37-dishes-look-exactly-like-cartoon-cat.html

By IMOGEN CALDERWOOD and EDWARD CHOW FOR MAILONLINE    PUBLISHED: 09:11 GMT, 13 May 2015 | UPDATED: 11:05 GMT, 13 May 2015

[size=1.4em]The owner says Hello Kitty is much more popular in China than in Japan[size=1.4em]An amazing 37 dishes feature on the menu, all intricately created[size=1.4em]The interior is also inspired by the cartoon cat with Hello Kitty tableware

[size=1.4em]Crowds are already flocking to the restaurant following its soft opening

[size=1.2em]Brace yourself, Hello Kitty fans, the world is about to welcome its first ever Chinese restaurant entirely inspired by the celebrity cartoon cat.  

[size=1.2em]The feline-featured restaurant, which is set to open in Hong Kong in June, will feature an incredible 37 dishes, about half of which will be in the shape of the cartoon cat.

[size=1.2em]And the media storm in China is so intense that the restaurant owner has to use a pseudonym for media appearances, reports the People's Daily Online.

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[size=1.2em]A selection of the Hello Kitty themed food that will be served at the world's first Chinese restaurant inspired by the cartoon cat

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[size=1.2em]According to the owner, who goes by the nickname Wan Guang, Hello Kitty is much more popular in Hong Kong than it is in Japan.

[size=1.2em]And Wan is taking the responsibility seriously.

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[size=1.2em]He has already experimented with hundreds of different dim sum dishes, and there's still weeks to go before the official opening.

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[size=1.2em]Steamed Hello Kitty buns with egg custard inside. The owner, who goes by the pseudonym Wan Guang, has already experimented with hundreds of recipes in preparation for the opening

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[size=1.2em]The menu features a total of 37 dishes, about half of which will be in the shape of the cartoon cat

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[size=1.2em]But as the publisher of a health magazine, Wan hopes the all the food served in the restaurant - his first foray into the industry - is naturally-produced and healthy.

[size=1.2em]The menu - along with the cat's famous bows and whiskers - will include prawn dumplings and steamed buns, along with sponge cakes and lotus paste buns.

[size=1.2em]But it is rumoured in the business that the specially-made dim sum dishes are extremely complicated to create, with one requiring an intimidating 17 different steps.

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[size=1.2em]But despite the intricate preparation process, Hello Kitty fans will be pleased to know that lunch will only set them back between £6 and £12, while dinner will cost between £8 and £16.

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[size=1.2em]A sneak preview of the menu. Many of the dishes will be the exact image of the cat, while others are inspired by its accessories, such as the bow

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[size=1.2em]And all of the recipes needed the authorisation of Sanrio - the Japanese company with the Hello Kitty copyright - before they could make it onto the final menu.

[size=1.2em]But the Hello Kitty theme doesn't stop with the food.

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[size=1.2em]The restaurant's interior design will also be heavily influenced by the cartoon cat, along with the teapots, cups, chopsticks and tableware.

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[size=1.2em]Steamed shrip dumplings with added whiskers. Some of the recipes are incredibly intricate, with one of the dim sum designs taking 17 steps to create

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[size=1.2em]The interior of the restaurant is also inspired by the feline, with a traditional Chinese twist, with Hello Kitty tableware and art on the walls

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Wan approached Sanrio with his ambitious idea at the end of 2013 and by April 2014 he had received authorisation to go ahead with the scheme.

The restaurant opened unofficially to the public on April 16th, as a trial run, and has proved to be a big hit with the residents of Hong Kong.

The June opening is expected to draw hundreds of the world's biggest Hello Kitty fans to Hong Kong's busy Canton Road, where it will be located.

Other Hello Kitty-themed restaurants have already found success around the world, although this is the first that will feature Chinese food on the menu.  

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Cafes inspired by the cat are already doing a roaring trade in Adelaide, Australia, and in Orange County, California, serving up everything from birthday cakes to high teas.   

Cafes inspired by the cat are already doing a roaring trade, but this will be the first Hello Kitty Chinese restaurant

Iam_zhcn

全球首间Hello Kitty中菜馆落户香港 下月开业http://hm.people.com.cn/n/2015/0511/c230533-26981814.html

据香港《明报》网站援引《时代》杂志报道，全球首间Hello Kitty中菜馆上月开始在香港试业，立即受到国际传媒关注，《时代》杂志刊出专文介绍。

　　Hello Kitty中菜轩店主以笔名万光接受《时代》杂志访问时说，Hello Kitty在香港比在日本更受欢迎。这间食肆的食物，如虾饺、包子等都以Hello Kitty为造型。但是万光说，他们希望坚持全天然食材，他自已是一本健康杂志的创办人，吃得健康对他来说很重要。

　　万光是第一次经营酒楼，他在2013年底开始接洽拥有Hello Kitty版权的日本公司Sanrio，最终在去年4月获得Sanrio授权。

　　万光在筹备开业期间，尝试制作数百种点心，每一款都要经Sanrio管理层首肯，才能纳入最终菜单。目前这间坐落于广东道的酒楼提供37款点心，由虾饺、马拉糕、叉烧酥奶皇包、炸两，到干炒牛河、糯米饭，都和Hello Kitty有关。

　　例如，虾饺的上面有Hello Kitty的蝴蝶结，流沙包、马拉糕就更加是以整个Hello Kitty猫猫头的样子呈现在食客眼前。据说，制作这些特别点心程序繁复，一个包就有17道步骤。

　　该店的室内设计当然也是别树一格，无论屏风、茶壶、茶杯、筷子、汤匙等器具，都是一副“猫样”。更特别的是，墙上挂了中国四大美人的国画，但却换成Hello Kitty的样子，西施、王昭君、貂蝉、杨贵妃在这只Kitty猫面前，完全无立足之地。

　　该店下月1日正式开业，相信到时会吸引不少粉丝前往“朝圣”，而社交网站上涌现各款Hello Kitty食物照片的洗版潮指日可待。

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Review from a Kitty-phile: World's first Hello Kitty dim sum restauranthttp://edition.cnn.com/2015/05/08/travel/hello-kitty-dim-sum-culinary-journeys/index.html


Updated 0445 GMT (1145 HKT) May 15, 2015  By Sophia Yan, CNN


Editor‘s Note:This story complements the Culinary Journeys TV series, airing monthly on CNN International. See more of the show here: www.cnn.com/journeys. Share photos of your own Culinary Journeys on Instagram with the hashtag#CNNFood for a chance to be featured on CNN.

Hello Kitty dim sum: Food that is too cute to eat  13 photos (图片保存不了/喜欢的请打开网址)

[size=1.125](CNN)Some disclaimers and warnings up-front: 1. I love Hello Kitty. 2. I love dim sum. 3. You're about to see Hello Kitty mentioned about 39 times in this story.

So here we go.

When the world's first Hello Kitty dim sum restaurant was opening in Hong Kong, I knew immediately I had a duty to investigate on behalf of fellow Hello Kitty fans and dim sum aficionados.

Hong Kong, like many Asian cities, is already chock full of Hello Kitty.

Hello Kitty frying pan (yes, I own one).

Hello Kitty calculator (on my desk).

Hello Kitty bandage (wearing it).

There's even a Hello Kitty panini maker where you can burn her face into your sandwich (I want one).

So who would've thought such a genius idea like Hello Kitty dim sum would take until today to happen?

The entrance

The new restaurant, Hello Kitty Chinese Cuisine, offers about 40 choices ranging from HK$42 to HK$238 (US$5 to $30), half of which are Hello Kitty-inspired dishes.

The cuteness starts outside: Hello Kitty signs in red and gold -- two lucky colors in Chinese tradition -- adorn the front of the restaurant, along with Chinese-style latticed windows that feature the shape of her bow.

Chinese-style decor and Hello Kitty explosions continue on the inside -- in the best possible way.

She's on chopsticks, chopsticks holders, plates, bowls, spoons, teapots, ceiling lanterns, wall decor, wine glasses, wine bottles, and chairs.

Hello Kitty is even etched into the dining tables -- a Kitty-phile-friendly feature that allows diners to gaze at Hello Kitty while eating Hello Kitty food.

More hits than misses

My first Hello Kitty dim sum experience starts with a soft, delicious custard bun (HK$42 for a basket), followed by shrimp dumplings (HK$48), and a traditional Cantonese sponge cake (HK$48).

It's so cute, I almost can't eat it -- but dim sum isn't good once it gets cold, so I apologize to Hello Kitty and chomp down.

The custard bun and shrimp dumplings are my favorites -- as tasty as any other dim sum spot in town.

It's a pleasant surprise. In the past, Hello Kitty food hasn't proven as great as Hello Kitty (Remember this? Hello Kitty restaurant is terribly cute and its food is just terrible)

As any Hello Kitty fan knows, her favorite food is her mom's homemade apple pie, she magically weighs the equivalent of three apples, and is the height of about five apples. So it's no surprise that apple is a recurring theme in some dishes.

The sweet and sour pork (HK$98) uses apple instead of the more traditional pineapple.

And there's the Hello Kitty apple chicken rice (HK$108), which I find light and healthy.

The rice comes molded in the shape of her head, with black beans for her eyes, green Chinese leeks tied together for her bow, red pepper for her nose, and then eggplant skin for her whiskers.

It's paired with strips of chicken and vegetables placed in an apple cup.

For dessert, I have a traditional Chinese almond dessert soup (HK$38), which is a little thinner than I personally would have liked.

But I feel less bummed when I spot one piece of red gelatin in the shape of Hello Kitty floating in my soup.

And while I've known this since I was six, I am again reminded: food just tastes better when you eat it with Hello Kitty chopsticks out of a Hello Kitty bowl.

Not like any ordinary Hello Kitty dining concept

As I am chewing, I think to myself that the concept of Hello Kitty dim sum couldn't possibly get any better.

But not only does it have an adorable gimmick, the restaurant uses locally-grown, organic ingredients for some of the dishes.

Man Kwong, the restaurant owner and a Hong Kong entrepreneur whose businesses promote clean living, is using the Hello Kitty restaurant as a platform to encourage healthier lifestyles in Hong Kong.

In the long run, he plans to swap out more ingredients for healthier options, like coconut oil. But for now, he's using organic whenever possible, natural dyes, less salt and less oil.

For example, for the custard bun and shrimp dumpling, Hello Kitty's bow is dyed pink with beetroot, her nose is turned light orange with carrot, and her whiskers and eyes are colored black with squid ink.

The immense effort to open a Hello Kitty restaurant

The attention to detail at this place is staggering. The restaurant has been in the works for a year and a half, and everything -- from the decor to the food -- had to be approved by Sanrio, the Japanese company that owns the Hello Kitty brand, Man says.

Hello Kitty's creator Sanrio even "provided us with a kind of character training -- told us about Hello Kitty, her preferences, her family tree," he adds.

Some dishes took as many as seven tries before Sanrio green-lighted the final recipe.

"The hardest part was getting the proportion of Hello Kitty's features right," says Chan Kwok-Tung, a dim sum chef for over three decades. "Otherwise, it'll easily look like a knockoff."

Because of all the steps involved, it takes twice as long to make Hello Kitty dim sum compared to regular dim sum. And a special set of measuring tools were developed to maintain the quality, he said.

So is Chan a Hello Kitty fan?

"Before I joined the company -- I knew nothing about Hello Kitty," he says. "I saw it as a challenge but as I spent more time working on it, I grew to like Hello Kitty. She's really cute."

The restaurant seats about 70 and some dishes are made in limited quantity daily.

Anyone with a large party should consider booking the VIP room (named Apple House), which features Hello Kitty as China's four ancient beauties in Chinese-style scroll paintings.

And you just might see me there.

I have yet to try the Hello Kitty barbecue pork bun and sticky rice, and I'm hoping the chefs figure out how to do Hello Kitty turnip cake, a dim sum staple.

Hello Kitty Chinese Cuisine, (Jordan MTR station exit C2), Shop A-C, G/F Lee Loy Mansion, 332-338 Canton Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong; +852 8202 8203; open daily for lunch and dinner from 11 a.m.-11 p.m.

http://www.hellokittychinesecuisine.com.hk/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hello-Kitty-Chinese-Cuisine/1563069353906504

穆萨

都很精美。