Howard's way

Howard's Gourmet doesn't offer a menu, so it requires a high degree of trust between Cai and the diners. Cai feels it is both an honor and a responsibility to serve his diners as they are willing to give up three to four hours of their day to enjoy a meal at his restaurant.

"For me, to eat in my restaurant is like buying a ticket to a concert. You only come because you like my dishes, so you don't need to order-just follow my way of serving," Cai says.

"Forty percent of our dishes are classic ones and the other 60 percent are based on local ingredients. Hong Kong has high-quality seafood and Guangzhou is famous for fowl, while Beijing's popularity lies in the quality of its meat, such as its lamb and pork."

Cai designed a standard cooking method for each dish, so that all his chefs are able to make the same dish again with exactly the same flavor. "It's not a traditional way of cooking Chinese cuisine that relies on the skill of the chefs. I break down the cooking process into different steps, where each chef handles one step," Cai says.

"One dish needs at least two or three chefs to complete, and the process allows them to supervise each other's work to control the quality of the dish.

"And I don't do plating. The ingredients are just served on a plate the way they look. They are natural art forms, and the taste is all that matters."