Quotes from Alvin Leung

By the time I was in high school, I was big enough to beat the hell out of everybody who said anything to me. And I learned how to blend in. All of that made me a very confident man. A very aggressive man. I developed it to survive.

I like using Pat Chun in several ways but the most common one is to pair with tomatoes and Chinese preserved olives because of its sweet taste. I turn it into a sort of Chinese balsamic.

It's good to go down because then you know you have to climb back to your old spot. And you can't be on top and not know that you can only go down.

Engineers don't have that sixth sense where we can just toss in things here and there like many chefs.

I want to explore the borders between being a genius and being an idiot.

When I first got two stars, I didn't think I deserved it. Now I have three I think I am worthy.

I may seem a tough guy, but I'm also very sentimental.

I've ruined a lot of hotel towels. I did a shoot in San Francisco and stayed at the Mandarin Oriental. I must have ruined thousands of dollars worth of towels. I dye my hair once a week. The dye is not temporary. It stains everything. It stains tiles, that's how powerful it is.

Part of my trademark is my blue sunglasses and cross earrings, which I always have.

I like comfort and I like simplicity.

If you only use rich and luxurious ingredients, you end up with excess.

Just because it tastes good in Hong Kong, it doesn't necessarily translate elsewhere.

For me, cooking is practical. That's the core of an engineer. Engineers are very practical designers and creative people. Every single thing I create has to have a purpose.

Talent in cooking can be described as skill, creativity, your instincts, how do you approach a problem.

I will be doing a bit more television, but, you know, aside from 'MasterChef' which is judging, I really want to do some travel with something that can really show up my creativity or something I can be creative on.

One of the reasons I'm called 'Demon Chef' is because in Hong Kong, people were calling me God chef, and I right away took away that term because calling yourself God is blasphemous.

In London, the food critics are harsher, the clients milder; in Hong Kong, the clients are harsher, the critics milder.

Bo Innovation is there for anyone who comes to Hong Kong and wants to learn about Hong Kong in the shortest amount of time.

I don't like being labelled so I decided to label myself.

Those who come into my restaurants expect something more, expect my 'fingerprint,' and trust me to give them a different experience.

I said I want to get outside the box, but what can I change? I don't want my cookies to reek of ammonia, so we used baking soda instead of lye. We added ground almonds, which is expensive. We used butter, which is expensive. And we didn't want any food coloring.

You have to be confident to be successful... I am somewhat confident.

With caviar, you place a blob of it on sour cream or on a lettuce leaf and everyone is happy. I'm trying to get away from that.

I honestly feel the term 'molecular gastronomy' is mostly misunderstood. It is not a style of cooking. Rather, it is a philosophy which encourages chefs to be more creative.