Black Pearl Chef Club Holds Culinary Exchange at Adelson Advanced Education Centre

Prestigious Chinese restaurant guide event brings together regional culinary
experts – part of Sands China’s talent development efforts

(Macao, January 20, 2020) – Sands China Ltd. hosted the Black Pearl Chef Club Event – a cross-regional, multi-style exchange of culinary experience and development – Jan. 8 at the Adelson Advanced Education Centre at The Venetian^® Macao.

Sands China hosted the event in an effort to support the development of culinary talent at Sands China, in Macao, and in the wider region.

Organised by the dianping.com Black Pearl Restaurant Guide Chef Club, the event provided an opportunity for a comprehensive interactive exchange of culinary concepts, ideas and skills between Black Pearl restaurant chefs. The Black Pearl Restaurant Guide Chef Club organises communication between chefs of restaurants listed in the Black Pearl Restaurant Guide – a list of quality restaurants selected by a team of master chefs, culinary experts and renowned gourmets in the Chinese dining industry. Its Chef Club helps its chefs develop skills to expand their horizons, promotes their work, and further strengthens the quality and influence of Black Pearl restaurants.

Besides inviting chefs and proprietors of Black Pearl restaurants, the Jan. 8 event provided an opportunity for 20 Sands China food and beverage team members to attend as guest observers, giving them a chance to learn from some of the top talents in China’s dining industry.

The Black Pearl Chef Club Event was hosted at The Venetian Macao as part of the efforts of the Sands China Academy – a programme focused on the career development of both Sands China team members and local Macao talent.

“Sands China is very pleased to have hosted the Black Pearl Restaurant Guide Chef Club for this culinary exchange event,” said Dr. Wilfred Wong, president of Sands China Ltd. “And we are especially pleased that it gave Sands China team members the valuable opportunity to benefit from the region’s rich pool of culinary talent – something that can boost their professional skills and help further enhance the outstanding experience of our guests and visitors.”

Participants in the Black Pearl Chef Club Event – around 100 in total from Macao, mainland China and beyond – had a choice of attending one of two concurrently held events: a Chef Development Camp and a Skills Exchange Camp.

The Chef Development Camp offered a lesson and Q&A session on the topic of food and appetising colours, led by two instructors: Yang Hongwei and Dong Zhenxiang. Yang is a university professor specialising in colour, and is the deputy director of the printmaking department and doctoral advisor at China’s Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA). Dong is a renowned Black Pearl restaurant chef and is a prodigy in the Beijing catering industry with an excellent reputation in the culinary sector.

The Skills Exchange Camp lesson and Q&A focused on the use of premium dry foods in Chinese gastronomy, and was led by Zhang Xinmin and Philip Ho. A renowned Black Pearl restaurant chef, Zhang is chairman of the Chaoshan Cuisine Research Society of Shantou. Ho is a veteran catering consultant, independent food critic, travel expert and columnist.

Sands China’s hosting of the Black Pearl Chef Club Event also featured a Black Pearl Restaurant Lunch and Dinner Exchange, featuring two of Sands China’s 2020 Black Pearl restaurants. Senior Chef Justin Paul of The Venetian Macao’s The Golden Peacock and Executive Chinese Chef Chung Kuy Fai of The Parisian Macao’s La Chine invited chefs and proprietors of Black Pearl restaurants from across the region for a culinary exchange – visiting Sands China’s restaurants and food and beverage operations, and experiencing the food.

In hosting the Black Pearl Chef Club Event at The Venetian Macao, the Sands China Academy hopes to bolster the development of food and beverage talent in Macao. Besides having the Adelson Advanced Education Centre at The Venetian Macao as one of its major training venues, the academy has established a Food and Beverage Talent Cultivation Base at Sands Cotai Central (to be reintroduced as The Londoner Macao) to further promote the development of local food and beverage talent in support of Macao’s position as a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy.

Sands China created the academy as a platform to give team members the training for their career development, and to help foster professional talent in the wider Macao community. The academy works in concert with the Macao SAR government’s efforts to raise Macao’s profile as a world centre of tourism and leisure.

Photo caption: Participants in the Black Pearl Chef Club Event attend the Chef Development Camp featuring university professor Yang Hongwei (left) Jan. 8 at The Venetian Macao. Hosted by Sands China at the Adelson Advanced Education Centre, the cross-regional, multi-style exchange of culinary experience and development is part of the company’s efforts to support the development of culinary talent at Sands China, in Macao, and in the wider region.

Photo caption: Participants in the Black Pearl Chef Club Event attend the Chef Development Camp featuring renowned Black Pearl restaurant chef Dong Zhenxiang (left) Jan. 8 at The Venetian Macao’s Adelson Advanced Education Centre.

Photo caption: Participants in the Black Pearl Chef Club Event attend the Skills Exchange Camp Jan. 8 at The Venetian Macao’s Adelson Advanced Education Centre.

Photo caption: Participants in the Black Pearl Chef Club Event attend the Black Pearl Restaurant Lunch Exchange Jan. 8 at The Venetian Macao’s Black Pearl restaurant The Golden Peacock, hosted by its Senior Chef Justin Paul.

Photo caption: Participants in the Black Pearl Chef Club Event attend the Black Pearl Restaurant Dinner Exchange Jan. 8 at The Parisian Macao’s Black Pearl restaurant La Chine, hosted by its Executive Chinese Chef Chung Kuy Fai.