Christofer Belloni, head chef at Crowne Plaza Zhuhai City Center in Jida, said he has an inexhaustible passion for cooking in this city.  

He spoke of his passion during an interview with Guanhai App of Zhuhai Media Group on May 20, in which 520 is a Chinese homophone of "I love you."

Belloni followed his father from Italy to China after graduating from college. In a posting, he lists under Education: Harvard University, Sun Yat-sen University, and IPSAR Pellegrino Artusi. Then, in October 2015, he joined the Holiday Inn, and in February 2018 Crowne Plaza as Italian head chef. The hotel is at 188 Jingshan Road on the same side as the nearby Zhuhai Duty Free Emporium.

Over the years, he has assimilated the tastes of numerous gourmets to master skills in molecular cuisine, classic pizza, and hand-made pasta and cheese.

Christofer Belloni with Italian delicacies to live for [Photo by Liu Jiacheng / Guanhai App]

Christofer always carries two pens so that he can write down product details in notebooks and a thermometer to meticulously control the temperature of each dish: hot ones at 70 Celsius and cold dishes at 10 Celsius.

Even during the COVID-19 outbreak, Chris strictly controls food hygiene and safety at the hotel. He and his team delivered packaged food to each guestroom when dine-in was prohibited in the early stages of the epidemic. Boiled, fried, no salt, oil-free, poached -- Chris made careful notes note on every request so that his meals would ease their troubles and bring reminders of carefree days. 

Over eight years in Zhuhai, Chris has made friends with many clients. He teaches them how to prepare DIY pasta and has tailored his cooking to their tastes.

Furthermore, although he has visited other Chinese cities, he prefers Zhuhai for its beauty and relaxed comfort. 

The dream of any chef is to have their own restaurant and Belloni is determined to realize that for himself in Zhuhai, the city of many dreams come true.