Chef
Cary Docherty
- Discipline
- Chef
- Based in
- Hong Kong, Hong Kong
i. Biography
From The Art Institute of New York City to London and then Hong Kong, Cary Docherty’s route has been built through kitchens that demand control, pace, and consistency. The Canadian chef is now based at Lobster Bar & Grill at Shangri-La in Hong Kong, with Salisterra added to his remit in 2022, a dual role that reflects the scale of his current scope.
The Path
Training at The Art Institute of New York City gave Cary Docherty a starting point before the work of kitchen repetition, hierarchy, and service pressure took over. The next stages came through London, where his time at Maze in London, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in London, Foxtrot Oscar in London, and Little Social in London placed him in rooms known for exacting standards. He then moved to Hong Kong as chef at Gough on Gough in Hong Kong, carrying that experience into a different market and pace. Read as a whole, those appointments show a career built by accumulation rather than reinvention: New York for formal training, London for extended exposure to demanding service, and Hong Kong for the transfer of that discipline into a new city. Today, Cary is chef of Lobster Bar & Grill at Shangri-La and executive chef of Salisterra, roles that sit on top of that progression.
The Work Today
At Lobster Bar & Grill at Shangri-La in Hong Kong, Docherty works from within an existing house rather than a blank slate. The position places him inside the daily mechanics of service, with his earlier head-chef responsibility at the same venue now expanded into a broader remit. The value here is continuity: the same kitchen, with more responsibility attached to the name. At Salisterra in Hong Kong, he serves as executive chef. The cooking is described as refined but relaxed gastronomy, with Contemporary Mediterranean cuisine and Japanese influences. That combination sets the terms plainly: Mediterranean in its direction, Japanese in its restraint, and careful in how it balances brightness with precision. Seen together, the two roles show a chef working across distinct but related rooms in Hong Kong. The through-line is not drama; it is consistency, adaptation, and the ability to carry a trained style from one service environment to another.
Signature
Cary's signature dishes include Sunday roast and Seafood Tower.
Acclaim
The key markers in Docherty’s career are the shifts in title and scope that connect one kitchen to the next. Little Social marked a London head-chef role; Gough on Gough carried that leadership into Hong Kong; Lobster Bar & Grill extended it inside Shangri-la; and Salisterra added an executive-chef title in 2022. Taken together, those roles describe a professional path with a clear shape. The sequence runs from education at The Art Institute of New York City to London experience and then to Hong Kong, where his current work is split across two addresses. The measure of the career is in that progression: each kitchen adds responsibility, and each step leaves the outline of the one before it.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Cary
Where did Cary Docherty train or study?
Cary Docherty trained at The Art Institute of New York City.
What is Cary Docherty known for?
Contemporary Mediterranean cuisine with Japanese influences.
