It is not unusual to feel homesick while working abroad but when Jér?me Spitzer began to pine for the classic bistro fare he loved as a boy in Paris, he resisted hopping on to the next flight to Charles de Gaulle airport and took action.
The 25-year-old, who had arrived in Hong Kong 18 months earlier to work for a Spanish importer, found a kindred spirit in another French expatriate. Undaunted by the unfolding global financial crisis, the pair trawled the streets of Central, Hong Kong’s glitzy entertainment district, searching for small premises suitable for a traditional French-style bistro.
The result was Pastis, which opened in 2009.