Celebrity Life

It’s not often that you find a gem like Castellana, at least not in Causeway Bay. Offering a start contrast to the flood of traffic and people, this new fine-dining Italian restaurant sits on the 10th floor of Cubus and feels like a retreat from the chaos on the streets below. The interiors are attractive with dark wood, plush leather seats, white table linens and floor-to-ceiling windows allowing natural light to flood in. Elsewhere, the dividers between the semi-private room are cleverly designed to double up as wine racks with glass panels that also let light in, making the main dining area feel airy and spacious. It all takes you away from the city -- while still being in the city.

Marco Sacco, of two Michelin-starred restaurant Piccolo Lago in Italy, is Castellana’s chief menu consultant. He brings international culinary experience paired with love for his native regional cuisine to offer a unique taste of Piedmont in Hong Kong. Often referred to as the most progressive culinary region in Italy, Piedmont not only holds classics that are influenced by neighbouring France and Switzerland, but it's also a prime location -- what with its perfect climate and conditions -- for wine and truffles.

[caption id="attachment_148938" align="alignnone" width="6720"] Piedmont black truffles[/caption]

According to the menu, “Because Piedmont is considered the birthplace of truffles, all dishes on the menu can be enhanced with shaved truffles upon request”. That explains the table side truffle accompanied by a grater. Guests are welcomed and encouraged to slice fresh truffles to their heart’s content over the top of the dishes to come.

[caption id="attachment_148933" align="alignnone" width="5661"] Smoked lake trout[/caption]

Starting the meal off is the Lingotto di Mergozzi (smoked lake trout). Restaurant manager and Piedmont native Matteo Morello explains the origin of the fish -- from the shores of tiny Lake Mergozzo -- and how rare it is to find it on this side of the world. The trout is smoked for hours before being set in humidity for its natural flavours to marinate. The cured fish is then decorated with a line of balsamic vinegar dotted along the meat. We’re advised to cut along the dots so each bite holds the right proportion of fish to sauce.

[caption id="attachment_148936" align="alignnone" width="6720"] Veal with tuna[/caption]

Up next is a classic that we’re all too familiar with, the Vitello Tonnato (veal with tuna). This rendition of the Italian favourite is similar to what you’d be served elsewhere, with the exception of its presentation. Instead of thin cuts of cold veal fanned onto a plate and drenched in gloopy tuna sauce, our version was a pretty pink pouch pocketing the tuna sauce with dried and re-humidified red bell pepper sponges and a sprinkling of caper dust. Though the flavours were not particularly surprising, we appreciated the artful delivery of an old favourite.

[caption id="attachment_148848" align="alignnone" width="5751"] Carbonara "Au Koque"[/caption]

The only carb-heavy dish on the menu, and maybe the most important dish of the meal, is Carbonara “Au Koque”. The menu translates in English as homemade tagliolini, “Au Koque” carbonara sauce and Vigezzo Valley cured ham. To be completely honest, we were a bit thrown off by the words “sauce” and "carbonara" in the same sentence. Luckily, our skepticism was quickly reversed and confidence quickly restored. A twirl of noodles sits in the centre of this dish, and resting on it is a crisp of cured ham in place of bacon.

This is the moment to grab your phone if you want to capture that sauce pour for social media: A generous river of liquid gold floods the void between the tagliolini and edge of the bowl, isolating it to allow for a first taste without the decadent sauce of egg yolk and gin. The au koque cooking method is a painstaking one that requires the sauce to be heated at low temperatures until the gin evaporates, so as to maintain the egg’s runny goodness without compromising the flavours of a true carbonara. Each forkful can be slathered in sauce which is velvety but not too creamy, leaving you feeling satisfied but not bloated, guilty but deserving.

[caption id="attachment_148847" align="alignnone" width="6720"] Custard with plums and zabaione[/caption]

Our bellies are filled up and it’s time for dessert. It’s not until our meal comes close to the end that we remember the lonely lump of Piedmont’s finest truffles untouched at our table. So to allow for us the experience, the restaurant kindly accommodated and changed our last course into a truffle-able one. The zabaione di spumante e torta di prugna (custard with plums and zabaione) is a plum cake that takes sweetness to the next level with Champagne and egg yolk zabaione, or Italian custard, topped with biscotti. Finally, the time had come for the shave. We blanketed our entire dessert with a thick covering.

Would I have still enjoyed it being less greedy? Absolutely. Did I get carried away? Guilty again. The interactive experience the restaurant intends for its customers is definitely a profitable one. There isn’t anything quite like the satisfaction of slicing your own, deliciously smelling fresh summer truffles. So go ahead, make it rain!

Perfect for: Special occasions and intimate group gatherings

Hours: Tuesdays to Sundays 11:45am to 3pm; 6pm to 10:30pm

The post Castellana Brings Northern Italian Flavours and Piedmont’s Best Truffles to Hong Kong appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Is it a showcase of the best restaurants or the most popular, and what does it take to get into one of the world's top restaurant guides?

The post How accurate is the World’s 50 Best Restaurants guide? Singapore industry insiders weigh in. appeared first on The Peak Magazine.

Is it a showcase of the best restaurants or the most popular, and what does it take to get into one of the world's top restaurant guides?

For more stories like this, visit www.thepeakmagazine.com.sg.

Formerly a chef at Noma chef and Tom Aikens’ protégé, James Sharman started a culinary pop-up project called One Star House Party that took him and his team around the world. During the global tour, the British chef cooked in as many as 20 different countries -- including some rather obscure locations -- racking up interesting experiences along the way.

Returning to Hong Kong, Sharman recently launched a new British restaurant and comfort food concept in Causeway Bay's Lee Garden Two. It's situated inside the family members' club Maggie & Rose which closes in the evening and transforms into The Leah. With the kids gone for the day, the restaurant is open to the public and accessible through a dedicated entrance that leads to an expansive terrace and outdoor bar. We took the chance to meet the man himself to learn more about the new restaurant and his culinary adventures.

[caption id="attachment_149336" align="alignnone" width="2000"] James Sharman makes his return to Hong Kong as the Creative Director at The Leah.[/caption]

Can you tell us a bit more about The Leah?

It’s something that isn’t already here: super hearty, unfussy British food. It’s good food, done right.

How did you come up with this concept?

The premise of the restaurant is the house that I used to live in: a 9-bedroom house in Battersea, where most of us worked at different Michelin-star restaurants. [The restaurants] would close on Sundays, so we’d have days off and on Saturday night. We’d finish work and have ingredients from our sections left over, things you can’t really get at a supermarket, like bits of bone marrow or foie gras. We would put together the bits and cook our own version of comfort food. We came up with things that are simple and not technically challenging, but really nice. I mean, no other scenario would force you to create things like bone marrow gnocchi.

Why comforting pub-style food over fine dining?

I’ve done a lot of fine dining, but I don’t think my skillset is that fine dining anymore. I would say that 90% of my repertoire has nothing to do with all the restaurants that I worked and trained in. I’ve just found more satisfaction elsewhere. Saddled up on a Vietnamese fishing boat with 30 blokes picking up little fishes to steam, which we eat with rice and everybody’s wives had made them their own bottle of fish sauce. I remember stuff like that way more than a 20-course tasting menu. That’s the kind of stuff that hits home and affects my cooking.

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How would you describe your own cuisine then?

I try not to be known for a type of cuisine. I don’t want to commit to one and then you’re in a cage you can’t break out of. It’d be sad If I said “OK, I do British food”, and then lose the ability to roast spices in ghee. You lose so much like that. I’d say it’s based more on my experiences.

So what did you learn from your experiences with One Star House Party?

All sorts. When we were planning to open a restaurant in Beijing, we really needed to discover as much as we could about China. We really wanted to get to grips with Sichuan [peppers]. We didn’t get why there was so much energy around this ingredient. So, we looked into the area where Sichuan peppers grow, which is huge but incredibly remote. Then we figured out that a really good way to meet people in advance was to use [the popular dating app] Tinder. We were all trying to find people within the location that we found Sichuan was growing. So one of the chefs met a girl and asked if we could come visit. So we rocked up -- it’s a five-hour drive from Chengdu and then a 45-minute hike up to the house.

But when we got up there, the girl’s dad was absolutely furious. In the end, he let us stay (for nearly 2 weeks) and allowed us to sleep with the staff on the condition that we worked with them. It was harvest season so we were picking peppers for days and days, but this is where we really fell in love with the whole plant and tree. The dishes that we put together used the wood, the leaves, and the berries. You may think of Sichuan pepper as a spice or a sensation, but it’s much more. The fresh berry, for example, is a fruit!

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I heard that you also cooked on Mount Everest, what was that like?

There’re only a few thousand people that live above the 4,000-metre threshold (base camp is a little higher than 5,000 metres). You can’t take water buffalo or donkeys up there, so that really changes the cuisine. They can grow some vegetation, but the real struggle was getting fuel up there, so cooking was challenging.
We met a family of four there. And it’s funny because they had everyday parent struggles too because they couldn’t get their kids to eat vegetables. The dad would bury lots of little pumpkins in the snow. Then he would get it, thaw it out by the fireplace and cut it open. He’d add a bit of salt and sugar, give the kids a spoon and they loved it! And all without fuel. That’s such a useful technique where you can flash freeze your vegetables and effectively cook it.

When did you know that you wanted to be a chef?

I moved out when I was 15, but continued school until I was 18. So I was doing my A-Levels during the day and working at restaurants in the evenings and on weekends. It was weird because I would be in the kitchen worrying about coursework, and then in the classroom worrying about if I had enough prep on my section.
But the first restaurant I worked in, I just needed a job. Then I went to London and worked for [Tom] Aikens. Stepping into that kitchen was the most wild and ruthless environment that I’ve ever been in -- far crazier than any kitchen I’ve ever heard of. It was a good year or two of suffering. But once you got through that, it became rewarding and that’s when I fell in love. Not just for the food, but the way it makes you feel. The subculture of being in the kitchen -- that lifestyle is what you fall in love with first.

So, what’s your relationship with Tom Aikens like now?

I went to his wedding (which was fantastic!) and I speak to him most days still. He’s been a massive part of my life: a supportive and also quite ruthless figure, which is what I needed back then. He’s a really great guy and I think his technique surpasses any other chef I’ve seen. He’s just genetically born to do this.

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I read that you even slept in his kitchen!

Yes, when I moved to London, I was working for free in the beginning, which you had to do until you could got the job. So you’d clean down and keep yourself to yourself and then hide. You could get a night’s kip and then the next day it looks like you’re the first one in!

Any plans for more culinary adventures in the future?

We’re going to travel a bit. We’re looking to do another project actually -- an ambitious one. The idea is to sail from Hong Kong to London, but we’ll let you know more when the time comes!

The post Chef James Sharman on his Crazy Culinary Adventures and New Restaurant The Leah appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

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