In 2009, Christophe Younes left Paris for Hong Kong at the age of 17 to finish high school. Fresh-faced and eager, and having never lived abroad, he was going to join his father in the city.
He had not even moved on to university when his father first suggested opening a patisserie. That planted a seed that would see the family opening the first Paul Lafayet in 2010, transforming patisserie in Hong Kong from a rarefied luxury mostly confined to hotel lobbies into an accessible street-level pleasure for all.
Now, after opening 12 branches in the city and three more in Shanghai, Younes is boldly striking out with a new concept.
Social Goods, a bakery and cafe in Central on Hong Kong Island, represents his biggest life passions: it is a space where the ethos of the gym meets the warmth of a kitchen that smells like home.
“For me, food has always been two things: fuel and comfort,” he says. “My life is split between the discipline of fitness and the joy of cooking. This place is where they finally meet.”

Growing up in a culinary household, he was always surrounded by a deep love of cooking from an early age.















