Hong Kong Locals on Where to Eat, Drink and Play During Art Basel

HONG KONG — It’s hungry business, walking around art fairs and gallery hopping. But the locals know where to find the tastiest morsels and where to kick back and relax. The chef Olivier Elzer, the Young Soy Gallery founder Shivang Jhunjhnuwala and the artist Tang Kwok Hin are all longtime Hong Kongers; here are their top spots for R and R.

The Chef

Olivier Elzer, the St. Regis Hong Kong

In 14 years of living in Hong Kong, Olivier Elzer, the 43-year-old culinary director of the two-Michelin star French restaurant L’Envol, has yet to run out of new places to try, but there are a tried-and-tested few that he keeps going back to and would recommend. There’s Yat Lok on Stanley Street. The family-run restaurant has been serving chargrilled roast goose — a Cantonese specialty — since 1957. “It’s so nicely done. The skin is crispy, the sweetness of the sauce, you know, the rice with the sweet sauce on top, it’s soaking together, and the goose is so juicy. I mean, I just love it,” the chef said in an interview.

His other go-to places for roast meat, and for Hong Kong’s favorite pastime — dim sum — are Dynasty, West Villa Restaurant in Causeway Bay and Lei Garden I.F.C. He especially loves Dynasty’s abalone fried rice and crispy whole chicken (zaa zi gai), while barbecue pork (char siu), shrimp dumplings (har gow), and pork and shrimp dumplings (siu mai) are must-haves at all three.

For Sunday Funday, Mr. Elzer and his family often find themselves at Nan Tei in Happy Valley for yakitori; he said Chachawan was a must for Isaan-style Thai food, a pungent, spicy northeastern fare that’s heavy on the chargrilled meats and dips made from pounded herbs.

“The mango sticky rice is just bananas,” he said, adding that it has the perfect balance of salty and sweet. For northern Indian food, it’s the New Punjab Club, and for Indian street food with a dash of southern Indian flavors, Chaat at the Rosewood.

If he wants a taste of home, it’s the Parisian bistro Bouillon, and while fine dining is his trade, he said he’s been known to crave more “robust” hearty fare. He’s a fan of the Danish Bakery’s cheap and cheerful hot dogs, and the Hokkaido-milk soft-serve ice cream at Via Tokyo down the block.

“What I really love here is that when you have cravings, you know you have so many choices,” Mr. Elzer said. “Do I want to go for Shanghainese, do I want to go to yum cha [dim sum], do I want to go for Vietnamese, for Thai food, French,…