With one-of-a-kind goods on display in bright, sleek surroundings, the boutique part of Secret Location feels more like an art gallery than an upscale concept store, the kind of place you can imagine Gwyneth Paltrow frequenting. You’ll find exclusive items like glass-heeled footwear by Aperlaï Paris, the Italian Cor Sine Labe Doli label’s hand-painted ceramic bow ties, and designer Olympia Le-Tan’s storybook-inspired clutches. It’s been included in Vogue Paris’s top-10 list of concept stores, and there’s nothing like it in Vancouver.

With executive chef Montgomery Lau recently having come onboard, Secret Location’s tasting room is similarly distinctive.

Lau comes to the elegant restaurant following three years at MARKET by Jean-Georges, at the Shangri-La Hotel. Before that, the Hong Kong native who grew up in Vancouver worked at the Westin and Metropolitan hotels, having studied at Vancouver Community College and the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts. His passion for cooking goes way back to his childhood.

“I was very much involved in the kitchen with my grandma and my mom,” Lau says in an interview with the Georgia Straight. “I always helped out; I always liked to hang out in the kitchen and was curious about what was going on. As I grew older and started watching cooking shows on TV, I slowly found I had a natural sense for food. I might not have cooked or tasted something, but I could make sense of it in my head, so I started to think about it as a career.

“Cooking is science and art combined,” he adds. “I love trying to refine things over the course of time. You’re always reaching for perfection, but you’re never perfect; you’re always trying to get better, so you need that level of self-discipline.”

If Lau isn’t faultless, he’s certainly accomplished. In 2011, he represented B.C. at the Canadian Culinary Federation’s National Chefs Challenge and won. The year before, he earned gold at the B.C. Chefs’ Association’s Roasted competition, which involves a black box of mystery ingredients.

While he was working at MARKET, there was a possibility of transferring to a hotel in Asia, but Lau didn’t like the idea of moving away from family. And although he was proud to be part of the team there, he says he was ready for something different. At Secret Location, he’s unleashing his creativity.

Consider Food & Time, a series of themed six-course tasting menus now under way. Each commemorates a particular moment in time, telling stories through food and merging past and present. The event’s kickoff menu, La Belle Epoque, Paris, celebrated France’s joie de vivre through a dinner based on chef and restaurateur Auguste Escoffier’s five mother sauces. There was poached chicken in suprême sauce with “shattered” vol-au-vent, and sole terrine with black truffle in mousseline sauce.

Next up is Prohibition Americas (January 20 to February 2), whose featured dishes include Chicago steak with charred caesar salad, oysters Rockefeller, and red velvet cake. Lau will then celebrate Chinese New Year, putting his own spin on traditional Cantonese dishes; look for gently poached rockfish, typhoon-shelter lobster, and “vintage” braised duck with foie gras (February 3 to 11). Then the series turns to Greece for inspiration, with plates like butter-poached wild boar and venison stew for Dining With the Gods, Athens (February 12 to 14). Food & Time closes with Slow Food Italiana (February 17 to March 1), when osso buco and pizzoccheri will be on the menu.

Regardless of the theme, guests can expect dishes to be artfully presented and finely crafted, each one as exquisite as the gilded British teacups and saucers for sale in the adjoining boutique.

"These tasting menus allow us to be inventive while at the same time respecting traditions," Lau says. "I'm very picky when it comes to foundations of cooking and proper techniques. We respect where food comes from, its origins, but we like to be modern and put our own little twist on it.

“Food is nurture, food is necessity, and I want to respect that while doing something at the forefront creatively and having fun,” he adds. “You’ll see a lot of different approaches here, all using local products: Chinese techniques, Japanese techniques, French techniques. Each dish is unique in and of itself.”

Aside from themed tasting menus ($95), Secret Location offers a seasonally changing à la carte menu. (Mains run $38 to $48.) One of Lau’s signature dishes is a chilled, poached scallop that’s been cured with konbu, an edible kelp. He uses tofu as an emulsifier, incorporates black garlic, and infuses the dressing with kasu, the pressed rice solids that are left over when sake is separated from the main mash after brewing. “It’s Japanese-influenced, but it’s also different; it’s oceany and has that fermented flavour.

“Our style here is very Vancouver,” he adds. “It’s a combination of different cuisines using local produce and the highest-quality ingredients. The whole team is encouraged to be creative and innovative, and to have fun. It’s all about the product, the taste, and the experience.”