… [It has all the same qualities of what a crown is meant to embody regal, refined, stunning and desired, something meant to be presented for a special occasion] .

Shortly after our move, thanks in part to our connections from our friends back home & my husband’s job, we settled into the Hong Kong social scene quickly. Being a very metropolitan city, Hong Kong celebrates the finer things in life. There was something that felt very “New York” to us with the work-hard-play-hard mentality, the buzzing culinary and social see-and-be-seen scene, and the thrill of getting your hands on the next best thing.

It was when my husband and I attended a dinner party that a newly acquainted friend threw us that we first came across the then Caviar pie (the name “Crown” came later).  Our friend is a very chic and in-the-know woman who “has a guy” for everything.  She had the most gorgeous apartment in the heart of Hong Kong and the dinner party complimented her taste to say the least.  

As soon as we sat down for cocktails and hor d’oeuvres, my eyes set on the most decadent dish I’ve ever seen, the caviar pie!  I’ve never seen a dish like this before. I thought to myself, “what is this caviar dream in front of me?  I need to know more, how do I get more of this?”) It not only looked beautiful, but it tasted heavenly too!  Our friend smiled with delight and trusted us enough to give us the highly coveted number of “the caviar pie guy”.  

For our remaining time in Hong Kong we attended, more often than not due to the pandemic, brunch and dinner parties at friend’s homes.  My husband and I would bring the caviar pie to these parties and it soon became the talk of the town!  Everyone was asking us to bring it to their parties, which was wonderful, but it never felt like it was truly ours unless we made it ourselves... and thus the caviar crown was born!

When my husband was at work, I took on a career as a running coach leading both private sessions and groups, but had the fortunate schedule that I wasn’t tied to an office everyday. So one day I decided I would try to make this famous pie on my own.  One problem: I didn’t even have a kitchen to make this in.  We lived in a hotel, which was a really fun experience, but I didn’t have any kitchen supplies or space to make it in.  This wouldn’t stop me from giving it the old college try, though.   I’m not sure the first pie was the prettiest pie I have seen, but it was made with all my love.  I surprised my husband that night with it and he was beyond impressed, which was enough to get me thinking maybe I could make this into something of my own!

Flash Forward 6 months later, my husband and I starting our next chapter together back in NYC again.  We were visiting our friend out in the Hamptons and popped by our favorite winery for a mid-afternoon glass of wine.  As one does over wine, we discussed life, what’s next, dream jobs etc. and caviar pies were top of mind (or tongue) as something I could bring back from our past lives in Hong Kong to our new ones here!  

The thing we both knew that needed to be changed was the name.  We loved pies, but it really is more than just a pie (I mean it’s made with caviar for God’s sake!)  So, we brainstormed some days later and with the help of my mother-in-law, we landed on a more appropriate name, the caviar crown!  It has all the same qualities of what a crown is meant to embody regal, refined, stunning and desired, something meant to be presented for a special occasion.  And if I was going to really make a proper business out of it, I needed a name for that too.  Luckily my nickname growing up was Shark (because it rhymed with Mark) which made for a simple but striking name for the brand, The Caviar Shark.   So, with a little practice in the kitchen and decorative tweaking here and there the caviar crown came to fruition and was perfected!  I hope you and your loved ones enjoy the caviar crown at any celebration, always knowing The Caviar Shark made it with lots of love till the very last bite! 

-  Mark the Caviar Shark