Pomelo cocktail with prawn, baby cress and avocado dressing.[Photo provided to China Daily]

What's the story behind the dish from that era that you now serve at the all-day lobby restaurant, Victor's?

We serve our famous Sir Victor's Sassoon Curry, which is a hotel signature. Sir Victor Sassoon was a businessman in present-day Mumbai, so his preference for curry obviously came from his experience in India. It is still a popular dish today in Victor's.

Will any dishes you created for the art deco-conference menu be appearing on the regular hotel menu?

I will not incorporate any of these dishes into the menus here in the hotel. However, in the Cathay Room, which is our fine-dining restaurant, we put heavy influence on classic preparations. We do a lot of dishes with confit style (salted and cooked in fat at a low temperature), and also dishes that are classic in nature but present them in a more contemporary style. A great example is our Duck Confit in Phyllo, and also our Salmon Rillettes.