Chef Graham Hornigold with Black Forest at Yauatcha, BKC. Pics/Suresh Karkera

With over 20 years of experience in whipping up exceptional desserts across the world, you'd expect British pastry chef Graham Hornigold to step out of the kitchen laden with macarons and gateaux. But the first item he brings to our table at Yauatcha is a bowl of chilli sauce. "Dessert trials at all our restaurants are conducted with the sauce because it's Chinese cuisine. If the spice still lingers in your mouth after a spoonful of the dessert, it's out of the menu," says the London-based executive pastry chef, who works with Yauatcha Soho, and oversees dessert preparations in all restaurants part of the Hakkasan Group.3