AT THE ROOT OF IT ALL

As Tatler Dining’s Sustainability Champion for 2023, Ashley Salmon has left an indelible mark on Roganic, the forward-thinking restaurant founded by Simon Rogan. We get to know Salmon a little better

- Gavin Yeung

Sustainability has a new look, and it can be found at the apogee of the tasting menu at modern British restaurant Roganic, in the form of a perfect slice of local duck breast from the Hop Wo Ho poultry farm, aged in-house for 14 days and glazed in local hundred-flower honey, with skin so crispy and glistening as to defy conventional wisdom.

The duck wings, necks and carcasses are transformed into a terrine to accompany the breast, as well as cooked into a rich duck sauce. Smoked beetroot trimmings, aromatic herbs and elderflower vinegar add the finishing touches to a dish that is British upon first glance, but fully local in composition—and wholly, lip-smackingly delicious to boot.

The duck, like the restaurant it is served in, is a medley of disparate parts that, through some act of culinary alchemy and a liberal dash of imagination, becomes a greater sum altogether. “You’ve got to respect the produce,” says Roganic’s 32-year-old head chef Ashley Salmon, on the secret to conceptualising this signature poultry dish. “Without trying to sound corny, I’m a big believer that you’ve got to put love into the food. You’ve got to do it with love and with passion, and then that really speaks volumes on the plate.”

Arriving in Hong Kong at the end of 2018 to open two of acclaimed British chef Simon Rogan’s signature concepts—Roganic, and restaurant-within-a-restaurant Aulis—Salmon has been a fixture at the Causeway Bay venue throughout some of the toughest years for F&B in recent memory, while also becoming the driving force behind Roganic’s sustainability credentials locally.