DINING WITH THE STARS
Dining with the stars - Luxury Travel Magazine
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Dining with the stars | |||||
| By: Michael Shaw, Issue 48 – Spring 2011 | |||||
| THE HONG KONG RESTAURANT SCENE TWINKLES WITH MICHELIN STARS. FOOD AND WINE WRITER MICHAEL SHAW TAKES A TOUR OF THREE OF THE CITY’S FINEST IN FINE DINING. | |||||
| The residents of Hong Kong are regular and discerning diners and as a result, the overall dining standards of the city are higher than most. A visitor to Hong Kong will easily stumble upon excellent fare all over town. And while seemingly without effort the city serves up impressive Chinese fare at all levels of dining, it also hosts an accomplished international food scene. Sitting at the centre of many important trade routes, the city’s best international restaurateurs take full advantage of the fact that the world’s finest produce passes through their shipping ports and airports. For decades now, some of that produce has been finding its way into the kitchens of the city’s great chefs. For fine dining there are few cities to match. Luxury Travel Magazine introduces you to three of the city’s Michelin star restaurants certain to stun you. | |||||
| Petrus | |||||
| Address Island Shangri-La hotel Level 56 Supreme Court Road Central, Hong Kong. Contact +852 2877 3838 Restaurant Petrus is perched 56 floors up in the Shangri-La hotel on the Hong Kong side. As the name implies it’s French to the bone and unashamedly opulent. Everything is elegant from the black marble columns, brocade chairs, chandeliers and domed ceilings and the view over Victoria Harbour is mesmerising. Our experience suggested more than the one Michelin star it has won. We don’t have a strong culture of hotel fine-dining in Australia but in Hong Kong it’s where some of the best food is served. After the inspection of a truffle under a glass cloche, our meal began. If beef tartare with shaved white truffle and evoo(extra virgin olive oil) could be called simple, it was simplicity itself. The flavours of the produce spoke, rather than the complexity of technique and the result was amazing. As were the oysters, French of course, and again simplicity the key with the condiments subtle and refined. The wines by the glass were very good. The Gruner Veltliner was tight and seductive suiting the oysters beautifully, and the burgundy a perfect foil for the tartare. For the mains, squab breast with duck liver au jus and braised cabbage was a perfect combination, rich and clean in taste and texture. The rack of baby lamb with spring vegetables also showcased the nature of the ingredients and was executed with credit. I think it was Stephanie Alexander who wondered: can sweets overtake and make you forget the savoury by the end of a meal? Often I would agree and go straight to the cheese as we did here at Petrus. We didn’t miss out. The cheese selection was excellent with marvellous sweet, smoky and salty Roquefort a standout. It is a great place for a romantic lunch or dinner. The view and the dramatic interior are completely seductive, and a perfect frame for such sumptuous food. | |||||
| Caprice | |||||
| Address Four Seasons Hotel, 8 Finance Street, Central Hong Kong. Contact +852 3196-8860 Caprice, on the sixth floor of the Four Seasons Hotel in Central, downtown Hong Kong is a three Michelin star restaurant overlooking Victoria Harbour and Kowloon. It can be daunting to review a three-star site. Will it overwhelm me or will I be let down? But there was no let-down here. Immediately upon entry, a sense of calm sophistication enveloped us. Everything was effortless. Warm staff introductions, prompt-almost intuitive attention and suggestions with respect to both diner and product make for an experience both personal and professional. The decor is chic and rich without over-embellishment, and though the chandeliers are grand, they tend to add to rather than dominate this modern interior. Everyone here loves their work, and it shows. The floor staff runs through your choices. “Which of the fine artisan butters would be best?” With no snootiness or showing off they gave details and advice. Recommendations of menu combinations and suggestions were handled with the same finesse. In the open kitchen chef Vincent Thierry combines the finest European and world produce with some unexpected touches to bring an occasionally exotic take on modern French haute cuisine. To start the amuse bouchè of velvety mushroom veloute and wild mushroom bruschetta was topped with exotic herbs. Next for our starters were Brittany oysters with apple tied together perfectly by the dressing and accompanied by a superb, tangy, refreshing Gruner Veltliner. The confit of duck was rolled with foie gras in nori and presented with beetroot and horseradish, paired with a riesling so typical of the Alsace; all citrus and mineralality. My main of garouper with pork belly and celeriac balls was executed, like everything else, to perfection. Descriptions like this hardly do justice to the dish on the plate. The recommended Mersault had long, dreamy honey and nut flavours. The ragout of wild boar with crispy pork belly and handmade noodles was rich but didn’t overwhelm the Rhone shiraz. The advice of sommelier Cedric Bilien contributed so much. Once again we skipped the dessert to go directly to the cheese cellar. Yes, the cheese cellar. Other restaurants might have a cheese trolley, but Caprice has a cheese cellarmaster. The produce is impeccably chosen and quite rare and his recommendations were superb. It’s this kind of detail that gets that extra star. We had four artisan cheeses including four-year-old Roquefort, 48 month Comte, brie aged in sherry and the Mont d’Or set off perfectly with a fortified shiraz. Faultless is a dangerous superlative to use for a restaurant but this must be close. Hong Kong has some fine competition and they must all compare themselves with Caprice. | |||||
| Bo Innovation | |||||
| Address Shop 13, Second floor residence 60 Johnston Road Wan Chai, Hong Kong Via private lift accessed at 18 Ship Street. Contact +852 2850 8371 Bo Innovation is the restaurant of Alvin Leung, the “Demon Chef”. There was nothing to fear until the liquid nitrogen came out in a silver bowl. Alvin has a distinct but radical culinary philosophy of re-working old, Chinese, haut cuisine and deconstructing it, making it ultra modern, but without losing the heart and soul. Alongside he brings his recusant slant to modern dishes with no particular lineage but with the same edginess. The setting is modern and fairly relaxed, with indoor-outdoor dining areas in Causeway Bay. We dined at the Chef’s table, a bar overlooking the finishing kitchen, and the degustation of 16 courses includes the...I really don’t want to spoil the surprises but I’ll have to give you some clues. One dish of smoked quail egg and crispy taro is topped by a smoky Chinese sourced caviar. It was superb and takes advantage of the top quality produce Alvin sources from all over China as well as the rest of the world. Hunan ham includes cod, peas and a unique Chinese honey. The wine list is excellent but equally unusual. I would suggest taking the staff recommendations as we started with sparkling sake that I would never have considered but was so in touch with the cuisine. Following that we had the Schlossgut Diel, Kabinett Riesling, bright with tangy fruit and a perfect complement to the robust flavours of the food. An extra dish for our visit was a just set, poached duck egg, shaved white truffle, and a havarti-like Yak cheese from Tibet that Alvin obtained from an aid project up there. A marvellous dish with all of the superlatives, rich lush everything and truly unique. Finally, dessert. Well sex on the beach as it is called, really is challenging. Let me just say that an edible gelatine condom, some custard, and, well, I’ll leave it to you. The meal is excellent value too and the chef’s table menu of 16 courses for HKD1,680 (about A$202) is a bargain. | |||||
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