Restaurant team lead’s signature smile an inspiration – shining lights on guests’ ups and downs and colleagues’ career path for 25 years

While driving revenues in a fast-paced food and beverage industry with quick table turnover, Lee Ka-yee, manager of upscale Western restaurant Cafe Landmark in Central, focuses on each diner’s experience.

Over the years, her radiant signature smile and meticulous service have offered not just delights for the palate but also “emotional value.” Lee has forged bonds with many regulars — she knows their tastes, cares about their health and will go to as far as personally delivering meals to an elderly patron who is unwell.

With nearly 25 years in the industry — from chain coffee shops and pastry stores to now helming a high‑end restaurant — Lee’s passion for service has never wavered.

She shares her expertise freely with colleagues, inspiring even part‑time staff to commit fully to the art of heartfelt hospitality, and hopes every visit leaves guests fully satisfied.

“If I only provided the most basic service, I wouldn’t feel such great satisfaction,” Lee says. Each day, what she most longs to see are contented faces of guests. She moves quickly between tables, attentively listening to every request, her face always lit with a smile.

“I really love to smile, because a smile is such a powerful force of influence,” Lee says.

The drive to let guests dine happily and leave fulfilled not only boosts business but is her greatest motivation.

As restaurant manager, she keeps a keen eye on the whole floor, anticipating needs. Sometimes she goes “one step ahead” to create small joys. When a regular who loved the restaurant’s bread rolls arrived one day to find them sold out, she imagined his disappointment and went out herself to find something similar for him.

“When you picture that satisfied look on a guest’s face, it’s worth it. Even though it wasn’t the exact same bread, that night he was even happier than usual.”

Another regular — an elderly lady — had come for breakfast almost every day for decades, rain or shine. When she stopped coming for a time, Lee was concerned, and discovered she had suffered a fall and could not go out. On her birthday, Lee contacted her family, brought her favorite breakfast to her home, and spent time catching up.

“That day she even asked me to stay for lunch before I left,” Lee smiles. “Now we sometimes meet for meals outside too. It feels like family — she’s like my own grandmother, whom I respect and care for dearly.”

With many senior regulars, Lee makes an extra effort to look after them. If she sees someone dining alone, she’ll strike up a conversation. “If a guest is willing to chat with me for even a sentence more, I think I should put in extra effort to understand and care for them. They’re always happy about it.” 
Looking back, she finds every job in the service industry deeply satisfying. “I truly enjoy serving others,” she says. Meeting people from different backgrounds and cultures has been her most treasured reward.

Lee believes there is no such thing as a “difficult customer."

“Just think about why a guest has made that request — if we can fulfill it, we'll feel their gratitude,” she says. 

Her sunny smile melts hearts of all ages. “When they see my smile from afar, they’ll smile back too.”

For her professionalism and sincerity, Lee received the Gold Award in the Hong Kong Tourism Board’s Quality Tourism Services Scheme “Outstanding QTS Merchant Service Staff Award (Supervisory)."

Her heartfelt hospitality adds a special flavor of happiness to every dish served.

Echoing the ‘New Outstanding Services Award Scheme’ jointly introduced by the Tourism Commission and the Hong Kong Tourism Board, the ‘Praise Quest – Hospitable Hong Kong’ series will share stories of frontline service practitioners in tourism-related sectors with the trade and the public to promote the spirit of hospitality by ‘going the extra mile’ together.