--- title: World’s First Hello Kitty Chinese Restaurant Opens in Hong Kong description: Never mind stationery or fashion accessories. Hello Kitty’s cute face now stares back at you from the bottom of your dim sum bowl canonical: https://time.com/3850034/hello-kitty-chinese-restaurant-cuisine-hong-kong/ author: Sabrina Toppa article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-11T03:02:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:48:02.993Z og:title: Hello Kitty Now Has Her Own Dim Sum Restaurant in Hong Kong og:description: These meals are just screaming to be Instagrammed. og:url: https://time.com/3850034/hello-kitty-chinese-restaurant-cuisine-hong-kong/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt410d426725b51dde/6987eebb524fc0669ddf099d/img_5926aa.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1926 og:image:height: 1083 og:image:alt: Hello Kitty Chinese Restaurant og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Hello Kitty Now Has Her Own Dim Sum Restaurant in Hong Kong twitter:description: These meals are just screaming to be Instagrammed. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt410d426725b51dde/6987eebb524fc0669ddf099d/img_5926aa.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The World’s First Hello Kitty Chinese Restaurant Has Opened in Hong Kong > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. ## Video: Inside Dominique Ansel's New 'Impossible' Bakery [Watch (HLS stream): Inside Dominique Ansel's New 'Impossible' Bakery](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/dDkk2rPV.m3u8) (4:56)  _Published 2015-04-28. An exclusive look inside the cronut inventor's new bakery, Dominique Ansel Kitchen, which will offer made-to-order pastries_ by [Sabrina Toppa / Hong Kong](https://time.com/author/sabrina-toppa/) ## Sabrina Toppa / Hong Kong May 11, 2015 3:02 AM UTC  Hello Kitty Chinese Restaurant by [Sabrina Toppa / Hong Kong](https://time.com/author/sabrina-toppa/) ## Sabrina Toppa / Hong Kong May 11, 2015 3:02 AM UTC Never mind stationery or fashion accessories. Hello Kitty’s cute face now stares back at you from the bottom of your bowl, in the form of dumplings and other kinds of dim sum in the world’s [first Chinese restaurant](http://www.hellokittychinesecuisine.com.hk/) inspired by the cartoon character. “Hello Kitty is more popular in Hong Kong than in \[her native\] Japan,” restaurant owner Man Kwong tells TIME. This may be true — the city, after all, is even home to its own Hello Kitty [organic farm](http://www.treehugger.com/culture/hello-kitty-organic-farm-obviously-super-cute.html). Fans will squeal when looking at the Hello Kitty–shaped dim sum platters: her flour bow is colored with beetroot, her eyes dotted with squid ink, and her soft skin is made with high-quality flour. Man Kwong, who goes by his pen name, wanted to stick to all-natural ingredients because, as the founder of a Chinese-language health magazine, clean eating is important to him. He sees the restaurant as a healthy, family-friendly space.  Sabrina Toppa—TIME Sabrina Toppa—TIME  Hello Kitty Chinese Restaurant Hello Kitty Chinese Restaurant Opening the diner, wedged into the traditional Yau Ma Tei neighborhood on the Kowloon peninsula, was an onerous process. Man Kwong, a first-time restaurateur, started negotiations with Sanrio, the company that owns Hello Kitty, in late 2013\. He finally got Sanrio on board in April 2014. Man Kwong experimented with hundreds of different iterations of dim sum and Sanrio executives had to approve each dish before the final menu was drawn up. It now consists of 37 items ranging from fresh shrimp buns to stir-fried beef and noodles. Making the items can be laborious: there are 17 different steps in creating the buns alone. Sanrio [launched](http://hello-kitty.sanriotown.com) Hello Kitty in 1974 as a female character living, perhaps implausibly, in England — then the romanticized travel destination of many young Japanese schoolgirls. Forty years later, the Hello Kitty brand has blossomed into a $7 billion-plus franchise, licensed to everything from [commercial airliners](http://www.usatoday.com/story/todayinthesky/2015/02/05/onboard-a-hello-kitty-jet-at-40000-feet/22827407/) to Italian [wines](http://www.ew.com/article/2010/03/26/please-pass-the-bubbly-hello-kitty). Now, the pink-bowed fur ball is emblazoned on Chinese restaurant mirrors, faux wood screens, teapots and chopstick holders, while pictures of her as the Four Beauties of ancient China adorn the walls. The official launch will be on June 1\. Expect lots of shrieking young girls taking photos of their dinners. ## Transcript [00:00] [ MUSIC ] [00:07] Having a dessert that is symbol when you order it, it's, [00:10] there is nothing better than that. Of course, finishing [00:14] desserts to order is not something easy, of course it's [00:17] very challenging A lot of people told me it was not [00:20] possible, hard, too hard to do. [ LAUGH ] And it [00:23] requires to change the entire organization of the [00:26] business. But I believe it's possible. I think [00:30] it's something that's never been explored when it [00:32] comes to pastry. There's a lot to do and who doesn't [00:34] want a fresh made pastry? [ MUSIC ] My [00:40] name is X. I'm the chef- owner of Dominique Ansel [00:42] Bakery and soon Dominique Ansel Kitchen. [ MUSIC ] [00:46] Right now we're sitting in my new shop that will be [00:48] opening in a few weeks. And we're in the middle of [00:51] construction. [ MUSIC ] Before I [01:03] opened the bakery on Spring Street, I didn't have [01:06] much, had, only had all of my savings and I decided to [01:08] invest everything I had. People were telling me to do [01:13] cupcakes. People were telling me that French pastry [01:15] would not be working in New York City. People were [01:18] not ready for it, and I told myself that I [01:22] will not listen to them because everyone wants to give [01:23] you advice, everyone wants to tell you what they think. [01:27] So many instances in my career, people told me that it [01:30] was not possible to do certain things, and I Always [01:34] prove them wrong by showing them that I could do it. [01:36] Baking offers a lot more possibilities when [01:40] it comes to creativity to [01:44] really showcase what you style is or to really give you [01:48] the freedom when it comes to art. Inside or neither. [01:50] [ INAUDIBLE ] The frame first. [01:57] And then put the glaze inside. A lot of pastry chefs [01:57] are, a little bit more artistic than regular chefs. It's [02:02] a lot more technical. A lot more, scientific and it those [02:04] aspect about cooking which is baking and that I love. [02:08] [ MUSIC ] My [02:13] first job in the kitchen, I was actually 16 years old. My [02:17] parents didn't have much money to send me to school, [02:19] so early on I decided on to take a job, and I found a [02:22] job in a, in a restaurant. I was cleaning dishes, [02:25] sweeping the floor, and eventually helping a little bit in [02:28] the kitchen. After year and a half I [02:32] took over the sous chef position in the kitchen. I [02:35] remember being 21 years old at [ INAUDIBLE ] in Paris, [02:38] which is one of the best pastry shop. I was in charge of [02:41] six people. When I was 24 years old, still [02:45] [ INAUDIBLE ], I was in charge of a team of over 100 [02:48] people. And I was traveling the world for them to open [02:51] shops in different countries. When you have people [02:54] older than you working under you, you have to be very [02:57] professional, very careful very disciplined. You [03:02] have no room for mistakes. You have to be the best. [03:04] How they will describe me personally? I will say I'm [03:07] disciplined. I I'm very [03:14] strict and I know what I want. Vegan olive oil, and it's [03:15] just finished with a little bit of cracked black pepper [03:19] and shaved parmesan cheese. [ INAUDIBLE ] Is that [03:19] correct, what he said? It's perfect. When [03:24] you think of pastry, it's still a world that hasn't been [03:27] explored as much, it takes a lot to change people's [03:31] habits when it comes to food. We're a new generation [03:34] where we have a chance to express ourself and do [03:37] something new. Oh, chef, how you doing, Wylie? [03:40] Congrats. Thank you. Thanks for inviting the whole [03:44] family. Of course, hello. This is the chef. I think it's [03:48] gonna be the first bakery of, of this diner, you're [03:50] gonna be able to order Desserts, and we're gonna [03:53] finish it when you're ready. So we'll give ourself a time [03:56] frame of, between a minute and a half to two minutes [03:59] to finish each desert. [ MUSIC ] I always [04:04] believe that I should do the right thing for my [04:06] customers. I always believe that I should give them the [04:09] best, the best quality product, the best customer [04:12] service. And the best experience possible. So many [04:16] companies have reached out to me and ask me about [04:18] my mocking strategy, and I told them, there's none. [04:21] There's, it's just one person that believes that you can [04:25] do something good for, for the people like, that come [04:27] and care for you. This is the brand, this this is who [04:31] I am and this is what I do. [ MUSIC ] [04:37] Food is kind of art that doesn't live forever. When you [04:40] create something great, it's amazing but we should [04:44] always move on to something else. It's like if Picasso [04:48] only had one painting. 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