“I’m making a difficult decision to close Chubby’s after 2 years,” the post read. “This started out as a dream to build something of my own and share with you hearty food and tastes from back home. Unfortunately the current business environment is not conducive for me to continue.”
The deli’s last day of operation will be April 28.
“It’s just one of those things,” Loyd says. “The financials are not working out. The returns are not what I expected, so I am going to regroup, figure out what my next move is.”
Why restaurants making it to their first anniversary is news in Hong Kong
Why restaurants making it to their first anniversary is news in Hong Kong
Indeed, Chubby Papa’s qualifies as a best-kept secret. Sadly, perhaps it was too much of a secret.
“Hong Kong is a big meat city. People love meat,” Loyd says. “With the Philly cheese steak, I thought people would love this. I feel like I’ve been here long enough that I kind of know what Hong Kong people like and what the expat community is missing.
“There are so many amazing burger restaurants already so I didn’t want to go into that space and compete. I thought, ‘OK, what is something that not many people are doing? Philly cheesesteak! Why not give it a try.’”
Loyd, who has a degree from the Culinary Institute of America and is from the US state of Connecticut, came to Hong Kong in 2011. He had browsed the institute’s website for job openings and saw an international listing for a chef in Hong Kong. He sent a résumé and landed a six-month contract. “I thought, ‘Why not?’”
Hong Kong has been quite good for him, he says. “It’s a very unique city in the way business is conducted. It has a good food scene, with all different cuisines. Also, I met my wife here. Now, closing Chubby Papa’s means I have more time to spend with my kid.”
“Given my age – I am turning 40 this year – and the experience that I feel I’ve gathered, I thought I needed to take a leap of faith and see if I can do something on my own,” Loyd explains.
“We opened during Covid so I didn’t want to do anything that was more upscale. I wanted something that was easy-going, that could be streamlined fast and, given the current market trends for casual dining, that’s why I decided to do sandwiches.
“I am an independent operator. I don’t have outside investment or partners. I would love to be Wan Chai or Central, but I have to work within my budget. That’s why I ended up in Kennedy Town. But I’ve been surprised. In the beginning, the idea was to focus more on takeaway. But I get more walk-in business than I do on the online platforms.”
“I try to stick to the foundation of what I think a Philly cheesesteak is because we also had them in Connecticut. Things like the bread: you don’t want a hard bread like a baguette, you need something that’s a little bit soft. Then you need thin-sliced meat. I use grass-fed ribeye, which makes a difference. It should have texture but a nice taste.
“Some people like just onions, but I’ve always had it with onions, mushrooms and bell peppers, all sauteed and mixed with the beef. I also add in a little garlic confit purée, in place of garlic bread, plus some mayo and cheese.”
Loyd offers a choice of American, provolone, Emmenthal or cheddar cheese.
“We’ve had some customers from Philadelphia and, you know, they have their pride so they’ll never give you all the props,” he says with a chuckle. “They’ll just say, ‘It’s close but it’s not [as good as home].’”
Despite Chubby Papa’s closing, Loyd has no plans to vacate Hong Kong to return to the US. His wife’s work is in the city and he is committed to staying long term. The chef is just not sure at the moment if he will go back to working for someone else, or launch another venture, perhaps bringing another aspect of his culinary background to the city.
Since his family migrated from the American South to Connecticut in the country’s northeast – Loyd’s mother was born in Alabama – he also finds himself missing outdoor, cooking-with-fire concepts in the US.
“My cousins have Caribbean roots too, so there’s a lot of different cuisine there. As a chef, you do think about creating food that can be more or less in your image.
“That’s why sometimes the quality of a place goes down. It’s not because the restaurant wants to serve bad food, but they may have to make choices, like trying to get more margins out of the food to survive.
“I’m still optimistic, but I’m a realist now.”
get more margins out of the food to survive.
“I’m still optimistic, but I’m a realist now.”
