Hong Kong’s Legendary ‘M at the Fringe’ to Move After 20 Successful Years

A New Era for Hong Kong’s Best Loved Dining Institution begins in 2010



(Hong Kong June 10, 2009) -- After 20 successful, multi-award winning years at the forefront of Hong Kong’s vibrant and ever evolving dining scene, the legendary M at the Fringe restaurant is to move from its current premises in the historic Hong Kong Fringe Club in Ice House Street at the end of this year and the owners are now seeking a new Hong Kong location.



This follows an announcement by the key tenant, The Fringe Club that the premises are scheduled to undergo lengthy and extensive renovation to comply with new Government regulations regarding public buildings. The Dairy Farm Building, which is its official name, dates back to 1913 and is one of the few historic landmarks left in Central, its role as a former ice storage depot giving its name to the street.



Created by Australian entrepreneur Michelle Garnaut, M at the Fringe opened its doors in November 1989. From the outset, Michelle was ahead of her time, blazing a culinary trail that has always been pioneering and adventurous. Her inventive style was not confined to the kitchen, however. She created a distinctive and artistic environment in which to present her modern European food, which both played with the classics and introduced new flavours and ideas to Hong Kong, and subsequently attracted a loyal and illustrious clientele including local and international celebrities such as Pierce Brosnan, Barry Humphries, Kate Moss, Chow Yun-fat and Hong Kong’s last Governor, Chris Patten which has made this one of the places to be seen dining in Hong Kong.



Opened at a time when independent European restaurants were few and far between on Hong Kong’s dining scene, Michelle says, “We did not want to reproduce another hotel-style restaurant, but rather create something individual and with character. We wanted an interesting, good, down-to-earth restaurant that served excellent European food in atmospheric surroundings.”



Twenty years on, having survived and flourished through the exciting pre-Handover and the challenges of the past decade, Michelle adds, “We’ve seen it all, we’ve partied like it was 1997, gone through the turbulent years which followed the crash of summer 1997, bird flu, SARS and whatever else Hong Kong has thrown at us, and we’re still here and as strong as ever.”



“Of course it’s sad for all of us, our staff and our loyal patrons, the prospect of leaving our original Hong Kong home, but we look at this as an opportunity and not the end of our story,” added Michelle.



M at the Fringe is part of the M Restaurant Group, which similarly pioneered the renaissance of elegant European dining and entertaining in Shanghai with the opening of M on the Bund in 1999 and subsequently the highly successful Glamour Bar in the same historic building at No. 5 The Bund.



The company is now poised to unveil its second restaurant in China ‘Capital M’ which will open its doors this September in Beijing, overlooking the city’s famous Tiananmen Square.



“These are exciting times for our company,” said Michelle, “and we will be looking around for another special location to take M into a new era, and hopefully find our new home for another 20 years. In the meantime, our loyal supporters who have made us what we are today, have until December 31st 2009 to enjoy M at the Fringe before we move on to a new location.”



“Watch this space…” she added.