It took Syed Asim Hussain less than a decade to build Hong Kong’s most vibrant restaurant group. Renowned for its focus on detail, immersive theming and dedication to personalised service, Black Sheep Restaurants now has nearly 40 restaurants around Hong Kong, including Belon, New Punjab Club, Crown Super Deluxe and Magistracy Dining Room; the first two both have Michelin stars, with New Punjab Club becoming the world’s first Punjabi restaurant to gain one.

The founder of Black Sheep Restaurants set the standard for staff care during the pandemic: in 2021, as well as refusing to make any of the company’s 1,000 staff members redundant, the group funded employees’ trips to their home country, plus quarantine and the requisite tests upon their return to Hong Kong, in exchange for a year of service. Hussain also launched a fund for employees to apply for interest-free loans to better themselves, and created a playbook to help other restaurants navigate the pandemic, detailing everything from hygiene to readjusting economics.

Hussain was born in Hong Kong, attended boarding school in Pakistan, then moved to the US to study finance and worked in the industry before coming back to Hong Kong in 2011. He set up Black Sheep in 2012 with business partner Christopher Mark, whom he met while working at a prominent restaurant group at the time.