Pierre Gagnaire, 64, has three Michelin stars for his restaurants in Paris and Hong Kong. He has been in a kitchen for nearly 50 years. [Photo provided to China Daily]

It's no accident that he's comparing food and art. Gagnaire is in town to present special menus inspired by an exhibition mounted in the restaurant by the UBS Art Collection, a treasure trove amassed by the Swiss bank, during the ongoing Art Basel events. The Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong, atop which Pierre restaurant is perched, offering a 25-floor view of the city, is host hotel for the art event.

"Painting fascinates me, and I always let myself go wherever it takes me," he says. "The painter takes his own personal language and uses that to express things which seemed inexpressible."

He writes about painting and his fascination with jazz on his website but doesn't paint himself.

"No, no. I once tried, but it was not a success," he says with a shrug. "I am a chef, obsessed with the visual detail of my plates."

The results are as pretty as any picture, such as the "veil" of red pepper that shrouds shrimp and "dominoes" of red mullet with spices. His specialty dessert, meanwhile, is a tiny lemony castle of meringue swirls.

But he's quick to say that the visual cannot be a dish's defining quality.

"Today, so many people focus on presentation, but in the mouth they may have nothing," he says. "The 'wow' must be in the taste. Beautiful is not enough."

One thing that has made presentation king today is the steady stream of TV chefs and cooking competitions. That's not all bad, says Gagnaire, who has taken his chef's knives to broadcast studios more than once, including as France's representative in a top international contest.

But in the end it's not what he's about. "It takes too much time, too much preparation," he says. "Plus there is the danger of becoming another person, an actor, instead of being yourself."