Honored with the prestigious accolade of three Michelin stars in 2025 and recognized with a Michelin Green Star since 2022, Chef Richard Ekkebus is redefining the modern French fine-dining scene. As the Culinary Director of The Landmark Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong and overseeing Amber, he is passionately exploring new ingredients, addressing diners’ evolving needs, and crafting a bold new culinary philosophy.
Since its opening in 2005, Amber has been at the forefront of culinary exploration and creativity, and well-recognised with a two-Michelin-star status for consecutive 16 years. Continuing this pioneering spirit, chef Richard Ekkebus took an innovative approach to fine dining to address diners’ changing expectations and health concerns. In a radical departure, the new menu dispenses with dairy products, minimises refined sugar and reduces salt, inviting diners to appreciate flavours in their purest form. Amber’s new philosophy also speaks to the rising number of lactose-intolerant diners and allergy-prone guests. Through his dedicated research and ongoing experimentation, Chef Ekkebus is able to offer all Amber guests – including those with special dietary needs – a consistent, seamless dining experience.
Replacing cream, milk and butter, ubiquitous ingredients in French kitchens, chef Ekkebus pushes creative boundaries to capture these flavours using soy, rice, cereal and nut milk. Where salt is needed, umami is amplified through fermentation processes and the natural sodium in ingredients such as seaweed. To elicit fatty flavours, chef Ekkebus has over 40 non-saturated plant-based oils at his disposal. Sugar is replicated through natural ingredients such as agave, maple, honey and raw sugars. As sustainable dining as the central tenant of the restaurant, Chef Ekkebus is constantly in search for the ultimate ethical and sustainable ingredients, minimising carbon footprint and pressure on natural resources at all cost, as well as reduce food waste and focus on social inclusion.
Drawing on his years of experience working across four continents, and driven by his innate sense of curiosity, Richard Ekkebus has reexamined how to best express taste. Through this considered approach, the star chef’s creations are finely constructed to showcase the clean flavours of the natural ingredients and prepared through a foundation of French techniques.
