Richard Ekkebus, culinary director, Landmark Mandarin Oriental

"The time growing up in the countryside set my 'hard disk' for how food should taste," he told Four magazine in 2015. "What is the flavor of exceptionally fresh fish? How does a strawberry or tomato taste, picked straight from the vine? I say that kids that grew up with fish sticks and instant mashed potato cannot create any benchmarks for themselves."

Ekkebus spent his teen years peeling potatoes and cleaning mussels in his grandparents' restaurant, he said in that interview. Though his father initially discouraged him from entering the business, he soon found himself on track to be a chef.

Unlike in traditional French cuisine, Ekkebus keeps dishes light, fresh and innovative, and he draws on premium ingredients from all over the world.

But he's no snob in that regard.

On a recent visit to Shanghai, he tells China Daily: "Sometimes I find the ingredients here are better than what I source from Europe or Japan. The quality of the ingredients has considerably improved over the four years since I was here the first time."

Ekkebus concedes that you need to adapt: "You are not sitting on the farm or owning a restaurant in the farm. But I don't think there is much of a problem."