Passages of Spring: Four Seasons Chinese Chefs Across Asia Pacific Celebrates Seasonality, Craft and the Art of Timing

As spring unfolds across Asia, Four Seasons invites diners to experience Chinese cuisine through a more nuanced lens — not as showmanship, but as seasonal interpretation.

Passages of Spring is an eight-week culinary expression presented across 14 Four Seasons Chinese restaurants in Asia Pacific, honouring the technical mastery of Chinese chefs and the defining philosophy of the cuisine itself: in Chinese gastronomy, knowing when is as important as knowing how.

“In Chinese culinary tradition, spring is a season of restraint, clarity and renewal,” says Rami Sayess, President, Hotel Operations — Asia Pacific, Four Seasons. “It’s a time when ingredients are at their most expressive, and where technique must be guided by intuition and timing. Our chefs reflect the season not only through flavour, but through understanding its fleeting nature.”

In a dining landscape increasingly shaped by promotions and theatricality, Passages of Spring shifts the focus back to the discipline behind the cuisine — the judgement required to select ingredients at their precise moment, the technical control to preserve their integrity, and the cultural understanding that some flavours exist only briefly in the calendar.

Across the region, chefs present seasonal dishes that reflect the quiet precision of spring: refined broths, tender greens, early-harvest produce, delicately treated seafood and ingredients that express freshness and balance. Rather than a uniform menu, each restaurant expresses the season through its own culinary identity, shaped by regional traditions, personal memory and local sourcing.

“Our chefs don’t simply cook dishes — they translate seasons, ingredients and moments,” adds Sayess. “This is where Chinese cuisine reveals its true depth: mastery conveyed through subtlety.”

A Season of Culinary Dialogue: Four-Hands Collaborations Across Asia

A defining feature of Passages of Spring is a series of cross-regional chef collaborations, bringing together masters of Chinese gastronomy in intimate, limited-time exchanges that explore seasonality from multiple culinary perspectives.

These four-hands menus are less about display and more about exchange — chefs interpreting spring through their own regional lenses, sharing technique, memory, and philosophy across kitchens.

Selected highlights include:

• Lung King Heen, Hong Kong (two Michelin stars) and Jiang-Nan Chun, Singapore (Michelin-recommended) — an exchange between two celebrated Cantonese kitchens exploring precision, balance and spring seafood at its most expressive
• Cai Yi Xuan, Beijing (one Michelin star) and Yu Ting Yuan, Bangkok (Michelin-recommended) — a meeting of northern Chinese technique and contemporary interpretation, centred on seasonal delicacy and restraint
• Yu Yuan, Seoul (one Michelin star) and Saai Yue Heen, Dalian — a cross-border exchange reflecting coastal influences, spring produce and precision-led craftsmanship
• Jin Jing Ge, Suzhou (Michelin-recommended) and Lung King Heen, Hong Kong — a continuation of culinary exchange between two cities where Cantonese and Jiangzhe cuisine intersect with seasonal expression
• Zi Yat Heen, Macao (one Michelin star; one Diamond Black Pearl) and Jin House, Tianjin — a collaboration celebrating contemporary Chinese gastronomy shaped by regional heritage
• Jin Sha, Hangzhou (one Michelin star; three Diamonds Black Pearl) and Jiang-Nan Chun, Osaka — a spring-focused exchange highlighting refined Cantonese and Jiangnan flavours with the elegance of seasonal sourcing
• Yu Yue Heen, Guangzhou (one Michelin star) and Jiang-Nan Chun, Singapore —a seasonal Cantonese exchange, exploring clarity of flavour, precision technique and the expressive delicacy of spring seafood

These collaborations form part of a broader eight-week series of seasonal exchanges across Four Seasons Chinese restaurants throughout Asia Pacific. A full calendar of events is available here.

Spring Signatures Across The Region

Selected Four Seasons Chinese restaurants across Asia Pacific present distinctive expressions of spring, where seasonality, technique and regional culinary memory come together on the plate.

Highlights include:

• Jin Jing Ge, Suzhou (Michelin-recommended): Steamed Duck with Fish Maw, Conpoy, Shepherd’s Purse and Bamboo Shoots — Inspired by a Qing Dynasty classic, this dish applies refined Jiangnan techniques to premium ingredients, delicately accented with spring shepherd’s purse to evoke elegance and seasonal renewal.
• Song, Hangzhou (one Michelin star): Steamed Leopard Coral Grouper with Homemade Pickle — A prized seasonal catch steamed to preserve its pristine texture, gently lifted by house-made pickle whose subtle tang enhances the fish’s natural sweetness, expressing coastal freshness and spring vitality with restraint.
• Jiang-Nan Chun, Singapore (Michelin-recommended): Double-Boiled Chicken Soup with Sea Whelk and Morel Mushrooms Served in Whole Coconut — Simmered over many hours using a time-honoured Cantonese technique, the broth gently draws out the natural sweetness of coconut while sea whelk, dried scallops and morels lend layered depth, offering a restorative and quietly invigorating expression of the season’s transition.
• Yu Yuan, Seoul (one Michelin star): Steamed Sawedged Perch with Black Garlic Sauce — Prepared to retain its natural moisture, the perch is paired with aged black garlic sauce and scallion oil, revealing layered sweetness and umami through balance rather than intensity, reflecting a spring that unfolds gradually.
• Zi Yat Heen, Macao (one Michelin star; one Diamond Black Pearl): Braised Shredded Fish Maw with Garoupa in Fish Broth — A light yet refined composition where delicate strands of fish maw and tender garoupa are gently braised in a slow-strained broth, expressing clarity, restraint and the quiet renewal associated with spring.
• Jin Sha, Hangzhou (one Michelin star; three Diamonds Black Pearl): Mashed Broad Bean with Xiangchun, Soft-Boiled Egg and Sea Urchin — Sweet spring broad beans form a silken base scented with xiangchun, whose herbal aroma signals the season’s arrival. Crisp elements add texture, while soft-boiled egg brings warmth and depth. Finished with fresh sea urchin, the dish balances verdant freshness with oceanic richness, reflecting contemporary Chinese technique guided by precision and restraint.
• Cai Yi Xuan, Beijing (one Michelin star): Crispy Fried Bombay Fish with Sichuan Pepper Marinade — Marinated with Sichuan pepper and green peppercorn sauce before being crisped to a delicate exterior, the fish balances numbing aromatics with tenderness within, capturing spring’s brightness through contrast of texture and spice.
• Saai Yue Heen, Dalian: Wok-Fried Lobster Balls with Black Truffle Sauce — Hand-shaped lobster is lightly crisped before being glazed in a silky truffle sauce, where earthiness meets delicate sweetness in a dish that bridges seasonal brightness with refined richness.
• Yu Ting Yuan, Bangkok (Michelin-recommended): Steamed Thai Sand-Goby with Tangerine Peel — Gently steamed to reveal natural sweetness, the fish is complemented by yellow fungus and aromatic fish soy sauce, with aged tangerine peel lending warmth and depth to a dish rooted in balance and seasonal clarity.
• Yun House, Kuala Lumpur (Michelin-recommended): Pan-Seared Scallops with Fresh Asparagus in Spicy Scallop Sauce — Sea scallops are delicately seared to a golden finish, preserving their natural sweetness and tender bite. Paired with crisp asparagus and a fragrant house-made scallop sauce, the dish mirrors spring’s renewal through balance of sweetness, heat and green freshness.
• Jin House, Tianjin: Baked Giant River Prawns with Basil and Black Pepper — Seasoned with basil and cracked black pepper, then baked at high heat to seal in their juices, the prawns deliver crisp shells and tender flesh, offering warmth balanced by herbaceous freshness suited to the season.

Presented from March 15 to May 15, 2026, Passages of Spring invites guests to experience Chinese gastronomy through the lens of season, timing and culinary discipline — a celebration of renewal expressed not through abundance, but through precision. To explore more world-class dining experiences at Four Seasons, visit fourseasons.com/dining and follow #TasteofFS on Instagram.

About Four Seasons Chinese Restaurants

Four Seasons Chinese restaurants across Asia Pacific represent a collection of distinctive culinary destinations, each shaped by chefs who honour tradition while embracing modern refinement. With an unwavering commitment to craftsmanship and culinary excellence, these restaurants celebrate the evolving artistry of Chinese gastronomy, expressed with the warm and intuitive hospitality that defines Four Seasons.