Sustainability expert and food futurist Sonalie Figueiras is the founder of the media platform Green Queen. She spoke to Andrew Sun. These days I am plant-based, but I grew up an omnivore and was always excited by food.
My parents (a Punjabi mum, a French-Italian dad) were foodies who frequently took me to restaurants and cooked from scratch at home; for sure, our family’s passion is cooking and eating. I started cooking early, too. I remember making my first pesto pasta with sun-dried tomatoes when I was eight or nine.
My on-the-go lunch fave is the made-to-order flats at Treehouse (Shop 1, G/F, H Code, 45 Pottinger Street, Central. Tel: 6022 3262). For a more budget-friendly and delicious meal, the masala dosas at Sangeetha Vegetarian Restaurant (Wing On Plaza, UF1-4 & 31, 62 Mody Road, Tsim Sha Tsui.
Tel: 2640 2123) are it. When I need to take someone out for lunch, Mak Mak (Shop 217A, Landmark Atrium, 15 Queen’s Road Central. Tel: 2983 1003) has reliably good veggie Thai food that always impresses.
Also, I would take visitors to Arcane (3/F, 18 On Lan Street, Central. Tel: 2728 0178) for Michelin-star quality cuisine, followed by some vegan gelato at Messina (37-43 Pottinger Street, Central). Outside Hong Kong, I love the street food in Vietnam, the ramen in Japan and I have a special love for the dishes of Santiago, Chile.
In Italy, Sosta del Pio (Localita Sosta del Papa 6. 50021 Barberino Val d’Elsa, Italy. Tel: +39 055 807 5923) is a back-roadside spot in Tuscany where I had probably the best ravioli I have ever had with a beetroot pasta wrapper and a squash and walnut filling.
I also have fond memories of Mughlai food stalwarts in Delhi, like the dal makhani at Bukhara (ITC Maurya, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Diplomatic Enclave, Sardar Patel Marg, New Delhi. Tel: +91 11 2622 2233), which I now veganise at home. But, for me the best food city in the world in terms of produce, chef quality and variety of cuisine is probably London.
I still love Ottolenghi (various locations including 50 Artillery Lane, London. Tel: +44 020 7247 1999). My mum took me there 20 years ago to its first small deli in Notting Hill.
Los Angeles is another city that is at the top of its game food-wise. I am partial to Gjelina (1429 Abbot Kinney Boulevard, Venice, California. Tel: +1 310 450 1429), which I first went to almost a decade ago and is still excellent.
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