Michael Chow was born in Shanghai and moved to London in the 1950s, where he chose the restaurant business as his calling, in hopes of educating the West about the tastes and traditions of the East. He opened the first Mr. Chow in 1968 and now has seven dotted around the globe, including in Beverly Hills, New York, and Las Vegas. From the outset, his venues have attracted a dizzying intersection of aristocrats alongside titans of art, entertainment, fashion, and business. A talented painter—he studied at Central Saint Martins—an art collector, a philanthropist, a genius at interior design, and now the subject of a new documentary, AKA Mr. Chow, the relentlessly stylish 84-year-old shows no signs of slowing down. Herewith, he shares his key components to the good life. —Bridget Arsenault
Airline: Emirates, the only airline where you don’t want to leave the plane after arriving.
Airport: Beijing, the most advanced.
Alibi: To tell a lie, but appear to be telling the truth.
App: YouTube, because it’s all visual.
Bag: I like a very strong bag: able to carry the weight of platinum.
Bedtime: Always looking forward to a recurring nightmare.
Bike: Overrated.
Birthday: Comes twice a year.
Boyfriend/girlfriend: Girlfriend is for the week; boyfriend is for the weekend.
Breakfast, weekday: First meal of the day, I usually take it at 11 p.m.
Car: Obsolete for the future.
Child: Count your blessings if you have one or two. (And I do have two.)
Cocktail: That is what an atomic bomb is made out of.
Cocktail appetizer: They don’t go together.
Date: Always on time.
Diet: Nothing passes through the mouth; it always works.
