Grace Choy enjoyed cooking so much she opened a restaurant, wrote an award-winning cookbook, then left Hong Kong for Japan

The family business is still going and is now 70 years old. These days, we just sell the sets; the rental business ended 30 years ago, and the tiles are mostly made by machine now.

One of Hong Kong’s last mahjong craftsmen facing eviction from stairwell store

Easily distracted

It was a simple life growing up. When I was five, I remember asking my mother if I should go to school. So she sent me to kindergarten and then primary school.

As children, we played in the street, marking out games in chalk on the pavement. We were very close to some of the neighbours. We often ate dinner at each other’s houses and watched television.

When I was young, I wasn’t as talkative as I am now. Perhaps that was because I had older siblings to speak for me. I’m a sociable person and I liked going to school, but I was a bit of a daydreamer. I’d easily get distracted in class and found it hard to focus.

Landing in London

After secondary school in Lam Tei, I went to the Hong Kong School of Commerce in Tsim Sha Tsui, in Kowloon. I didn’t enjoy it and left after a few months.

Luckily I got a job at the Miramar Hotel and worked in the back office. After a year, I quit. I’d saved some money and went to Europe with a friend.

We ended up in London. I didn’t want to come back, so I persuaded my mum and sister to let me stay on and go to Cavendish College.

You’re fired

A former neighbour from Yuen Long had moved to London and opened a fish and chip shop in North Harrow. They had a good connection with my mother and extended that kindness to me and let me stay at their place, which helped me save some money.

I moved back to Hong Kong after a year, in 1992, and got a job as a secretary in a law firm. I didn’t get along too well with the boss and left after a couple of years.

After that, I briefly went back to the legal company, but I was fired. I’ve been fired three times. I think that speaks to the fact that I wasn’t in the right job, I wasn’t cut out to work in an office.

Finding Kenneth

My sister ran a glove business and owned a factory in mainland China. At Chinese New Year they had a big dinner for the staff and business contacts.

In 1993, she took me along to the gala dinner, in a five-star hotel in Guangzhou. It was there that I met my husband, Kenneth. His father had taken him along.

Kenneth and I got married in 1998. In the early years of our marriage, we lived with his parents in Discovery Bay, on Lantau Island. My mother-in-law treated me really well and was a very good cook, she inspired me.

I worked with Kenneth’s family and spent 10 years in mainland China in the glove business.

Taking the leap

When I was 39, I left the glove business to work for the German brand Miele as an administrator.

I wasn’t brave enough to quit my job, so I started cooking on the weekends. In 2011, I quit to cook full time and that was when my whole life changed.

Business wasn’t good to begin with. I kept questioning whether I’d done the right thing, but Kenneth suggested I keep at it another six months to see if it picked up.

It did and I started getting good reviews in the media.

Getting creative

I started off making typical Hong Kong home-made food – a lot of steamed fish, minced pork with preserved vegetables – but I also had spaghetti and soup on the menu.

After a couple of years, I started running a private kitchen in the evening and by 2014 I had stopped doing the walk-in restaurant to focus on that.

Big in Japan

After seven years, everything was very stable, and I started to get itchy feet.

In 2018, I published a cookbook, Grace’s 60 Recipes. That was fun but still I wanted to get out of my comfort zone, so Kenneth and I decided to move to Tokyo.

Like a lot of people in Hong Kong, we love Japan. I wanted to do Hong Kong-style cooking but with Japanese ingredients.

In 2019, we opened our own restaurant in Aobadai, Meguro-ku, with the support of Japanese investors. Kenneth does the marketing and social media and I’m the chef and front person.

To Kenneth’s disappointment, I don’t cook that much at home, unless I’m doing R&D to try out new ingredients and recipes.

Cantonese queen

In 2019, I got an email telling me I’d won an award for the World’s Best Female Chef Cookbook at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards. I thought it was a fake, but it turned out to be true. I went to Macau to accept the award.

Part of my role is to educate them about Hong Kong-style Cantonese food. I explain how we use seasoning and that it’s mostly steamed. It is healthy and nutritious.

I’ve also been taking up guest chef posts in hotels around Asia, which has boosted my reputation. I’m toying with the idea of opening a ChoyChoy Kitchen in mainland China.

I don’t want to stop cooking, but at some time in the future I’d like to take things more slowly.