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.
Dinner, weekday: With your family.
Dinner, weekend: With your friends and family.
Disguise: I have no idea what I look like.
Dress: Only for sheltering from the weather.
Drive: Better than walking.
Enemy: Keep them close.
Escape: From the despicable people.
Excuse: Never practice with it.
Family: Keep it close, but I failed miserably.
First Lady/First Man:
I prefer last man and last woman.
Fit: Start from within.
Flaw: I have so many.
Friend: The older you get, the fewer you have.
Good-bye: Same as hello, very important.
Hideaway: I have so many; make sure to keep a record.
Hotel: Modern luxury.
Indulgence: Live it up.
Insult: Make sure you serve it cold.
Jacket: It’s in the stitching.
Lunch, weekday: Wonderful.
Lunch, weekend: Late.
Match: My favorite is a pissing competition.
Movie: They don’t make them anymore, except for one streaming on HBO from October 22 (AKA Mr. Chow).
Name: A.k.a. Mr. Chow.
Neighbor: Beware.
Nonfiction book: Never read.
Novel: Magnificent Obsession, by Lloyd C. Douglas, and Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell.
Pair of pants: The shorter the better.
Pair of shoes: Bespoke, made to measure.
Pen or Pencil: Pencil, every time.
Pet: Dog.
Piece of advice: “Don’t do it.”
Podcast: Encourage the imagination.
President: Where the buck stops.
Restaurant: Musical.
Ride: Into eternity.
Saying: “He who knows most wins.”
Second spouse: I prefer the fourth.
Singer: Privilege.
Spouse: Completes you.
Street: Prefer “boulevards.”
Storm: Looking forward to the calm.
Television series: Too long.
Theme song: Still composing.
Time of day: Before the day breaks.
Toast: Always look into the eyes of the recipient.
Vacation: All the time.
Victim: All the time.
View beyond: What you can see from the mind’s eye.
Wake-up Time: When nature calls.
Weekend bag: Same as the one during the week.
Work of art: Extremely rare.
Michael’s Essentials
