THE ANSWERS WITH...MICHAEL CHOW

The legend behind the restaurateur and what still inspires him after 85 years.

- Justin Fenner

“I HATE PEOPLE who drop names—and Lady Gaga agrees with me!” says Michael Chow, better known as Mr. Chow, the name of his global network of fine-dining temples. Joking aside, memories involving A-listers are always within reach for the restaurateur.

Chow was just 12 when he left his native Shanghai to attend boarding school in England. Both his mother and his father, a leading Beijing opera performer, fell victim to China’s Cultural Revolution. He wanted to be an artist but was told that Chinese men in the West faced a stark choice, “restaurant or laundry,” as he put it in last year’s HBO documentary aka Mr. Chow. He turned to acting, scoring roles in films including You Only Live Twice, before his entertainment-world contacts helped finance his first restaurant in London in 1968, when he set out to prove that Chinese cuisine could be as chic as anything found in Europe.

Soon, regulars included the likes of the Beatles and Jerry Hall, and within a decade the hot spot had outposts in New York—where Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat often dined—and Los Angeles (Jane Fonda and Marlon Brando were fans). The seventh Mr. Chow outlet opened in Riyadh late last year, and another is just about to open in Dubai. Now, at 85, M—as he is referred to in art circles—has returned to his original calling and believes waiting a lifetime to pursue his artistic dreams has made his work stronger. “To be a great painter, you need soul,” he says. “Otherwise, the painting is meaningless.”

What’s the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?