Spanning 30 years, TV show cooks up a feeling of nostalgia

Spanning more than 30 years, the tale, written by veteran scriptwriter Ella Chan Bo-wah, chronicles the ups and downs of a Hong Kong-style cafe, or tea restaurant, following the lives of the owners of the restaurant and their offspring, which intersect with momentous occasions, ranging from the signing of the Sino-British joint declaration in 1984 and the Asian financial crisis in 1997, to Beijing's successful bid for the 2008 Summer Olympics in 2001.

Societal changes of recent years, such as enhancing cooperation between Hong Kong and the mainland, as well as the construction of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, are also featured as backdrops to the series.

Huang stars as one of the restaurant's co-founders-with the other two played by Hong Kong actors Patrick Tam Yiuman and Tse Kwan-ho-a veteran chef who excels in cooking shaola, a traditional Cantonese cuisine that has a complex recipe, from marinating the meat, which is mainly goose or pork, to specially tailored sauces, all of which is then grilled or roasted.

One of the key steps to make a delicious roasted goose depends on whether or not the cook can successfully separate the skin completely from the meat by pumping air into a small cut on the goose's neck. A veteran cook also needs to get rid of extra fat, thus ensuring a crispy and juicy taste.