Celebrity Life

Sustainability has become a particularly popular and talked-about topic in recent years.

Prominent names in the fashion, beauty and F&B industries have jumped on the green bandwagon with everything from vegan leather to biodegradable packaging and plant-based foods. Hospitality group Ovolo Hotels is taking this a step further by pledging to go vegetarian in all restaurants, bars and in-room dining services across its properties, for an entire year.

This initiative is titled “Year of the Veg” and kicked off on October 1 in conjunction with World Vegetarian Day. According to Ovolo Hotels — which operates establishments in Hong Kong and Australia — it was “inspired to act on climate change and environmental conservation.” Its new vegetarian menus will showcase meat-free, plant-based dishes incorporated with locally and ethically-sourced produce.

[caption id="attachment_211247" align="alignnone" width="8688"] Corn kichdi at Veda. (Image: Ovolo Hotels)[/caption]

This isn’t the first time that Ovolo Hotels is offering fully green repertoires in its restaurants. Its Veda eatery at Ovolo Central became Hong Kong’s first vegetarian hotel restaurant when it opened early last year, and serves up healthy but tasty concoctions such as aloo gobi (baked cauliflower) and corn kichdi (spiced mushroom curry and sweet corn porridge). Over in Sydney, Alibi Bar & Kitchen at Ovolo Woolloomooloo specialises in vegan cuisine the likes of kimchi dumplings and pan-fried marinated tempeh.

Next in line to go plant-based are all-day dining spot Komune at Hong Kong’s Ovolo Southside, Monster Kitchen & Bar at Ovolo Nishi in Canberra, Za Za Ta at Ovolo The Valley in Brisbane, and Mr Percy at Ovolo 1888 at Sydney’s Darling Harbour. Room service menus in all Ovolo hotels will also be completely vegetarian.

[caption id="attachment_211245" align="aligncenter" width="672"] Spiced purple cauliflower at Komune. (Image: Ovolo Hotels)[/caption]

Ovolo Hotels has been ramping up its sustainability efforts over the past year by phasing out single-use plastic bathroom amenities, and switching out plastic straws with environmentally-friendly alternatives.

“Dining out – enjoying quality food and wine with good company – is one of life’s greatest pleasures. We want to be conscious about what we’re consuming and practice sustainability as much as we can because we believe this can have an enormous impact on the environment and humanity at large. To that end, we’re evolving our food offerings so that our guests can continue enjoying great dining experiences in a more sustainable manner,” said Girish Jhunjhnuwala, Ovolo Group’s founder and CEO. More details here.

This story first appeared on Prestige Singapore

(All images: Ovolo Hotels)

The post Ovolo Hotels is Going Vegetarian Across its Hong Kong and Australia Properties for a Whole Year appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

This Halloween’s terrifying and terrific themed menus to end off October.

The post Halloween 2020: Dining, drinks and everything else (but spooky) appeared first on The Peak Magazine.

This Halloween’s terrifying and terrific themed menus to end off October.

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Chef Angelo Agliano hits his stride with the bright flavours of Italy's Mezzogiorno and other worldly influences, at Tosca Di Angelo.

Operating in fits and starts during Hong Kong’s lengthy pandemic restrictions and navigating diner-number fluctuations during 2019 were just some of the challenges for Angelo Agliano, director of Tosca di Angelo, who took the helm of the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong’s Italian restaurant last January.

“I brought six of my previous team to work with me,” recalls the Sicilian. “I knew I was going to make a lot of changes and for those staff who are already there, it’s always hard when a new chef comes in and does things differently. I wanted to have the support of those who knew my way of cooking.” Challenges were duly met, according to the Michelin inspectors: the restaurant was awarded one star for the 2020 guide for Hong Kong and Macau.

[caption id="attachment_211209" align="aligncenter" width="766"] Chef Angelo Agliano. (Image: Tosca di Angelo)[/caption]

Adding Agliano’s name to that of the restaurant makes it quite clear to diners that the restaurant has morphed into something significantly different from previous incarnations under other chefs. The menu’s transformation was inevitable: Not only does Agliano have Mediterranean culinary experience that started at the age of 14 but, for more than two decades, he’s also worked in top-tier restaurant kitchens across Europe, and – in recent years – in Hong Kong and Taiwan, developing a deep understanding of local preferences in the world of elevated dining.

Agliano’s skillset includes pointers from Japanese sushi chefs for preparing seafood. “My parents and grandparents went fishing in Sicily and cooked with seafood, but when I studied how Japanese chefs use their knives to slice tuna, I knew I had start again.”

[caption id="attachment_211214" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Tosca di Angelo's interior. (Image: Tosca di Angelo)[/caption]

Working for the late Joël Robuchon in France, Agliano helped lead the launch of L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon dining rooms in Hong Kong and Taiwan. In 2016, after seven years with Robuchon, Agliano deemed it time to launch his own restaurants, first in Taipei then here in Happy Valley. The local dining room Locanda dell’Angelo was, he says, “cosy, with my original Sicilian recipes that were quite traditional in style. When I started at Ritz-Carlton, I was still going there once a week for a while before friends of mine took it over.”

One bright lunchtime this September, the day before Hong Kong’s Covid dining restrictions were relaxed from two diners per table to four, the amuse-bouche of ricotta mousse, topped with Sicilian tomato gazpacho, paired beautifully with a deep gold-hued, bone-dry Vigne Olcru Veuve 2014 pinot noir blanc de noirs. This wine also holds up well against two of this restaurant’s starters with some robust elements: blue lobster – slightly poached with Sicilian peach, cherry-tomato confit and Kaluga Caviar; and the chef’s signature lean delicately-flavoured Fassona beef carpaccio with light mustard, 24-month-aged Parmesan cheese, artichoke and arugula.

[caption id="attachment_211208" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Risotto with sea urchin. (Image: Tosca di Angelo)[/caption]

One of Agliano’s most-talked-about signatures is his risotto with Hokkaido sea urchin. Although the Mediterranean species of this shellfish is occasionally used in pasta dishes, Tosca di Angelo’s version is something completely different. For a start, the Japanese variety is far plumper, sweeter and creamier, with less zinging minerality than its European cousins.

“This dish, for me, is the best that I have made from a combination of ingredients from Italy and Asia,” he enthuses. Agliano concocted its first prototype in Hong Kong while at L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon. “When Robuchon tasted it, he told me that we must have this on the menu.”

Agliano uses a touch of fresh wasabi, and a garnish of either local choy sum or gai lan green vegetables for some bitterness in the flavour balance. “Rice, though, must be from Italy,” he adds, with a smile. “I’ve tried Japanese rice and all other kinds, but it’s just not the same – what can I say? I’m Italian.”

The most unadulterated Sicilian dish on the menu is Mediterranean red-star grouper in Matalotta fish soup with olives, capers and cherry tomatoes. “It comes from memories of my grandmother making this on Sundays for our family,” says Agliano. “But first, I cook it in a Japanese way – with a bamboo steamer over jasmine tea and spices like cloves, star anise and cardamom. In the soup, my ingredients are all from Sicily: Green olives, capers, the tomatoes; the stock comes from the head and bones of the fish.”

[caption id="attachment_211210" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Matalotta fish soup with Mediterranean red-star grouper, olives, capers and cherry tomatoes. (Image: Tosca di Angelo)[/caption]

Dessert-minded folk: If you’re not excited by the prospect of tiramisu, challenge yourselves – you’ll be rewarded. The contrast of texture within the layered glass bowl is enjoyable, as crunchy biscuit plays against decadent creaminess. And instead of a big kick of fortified Marsala wine, the alcohol content is subtle. The biscuit crunch and a super-light mascarpone top layer, dusted with hand-grated chocolate (rather than powder) are all down to this being an à-la-minute dessert, rather than pre-made. It’s served with an espresso granita. For a much lighter sweet finish, consider the mixed fruit salad with yuzu sorbet and blood-orange coulis.

The cheese trolley also deserves a mention, laden with both cow’s- and sheep’s-milk varieties; from creamy to hard and blue, at least half are Italian and the rest are French.

So how does Agliano sum up his cuisine now and in the future? “I always see French cuisine as ‘square’ – Japanese cooking is like that, too: very ordered and careful,” he reflects. “Italian chefs are more like a circle – we don’t like to measure quantities or look at timings too much. I’ve worked in French and Italian restaurants and in Asia, so I have a mixed way of thinking in my kitchen. I don’t want people I work with to feel like machines; I want them to be creative and feel part of the team – and make everything as if they’re serving it for their family. That’s one of the things I took from my time with Robouchon.

[caption id="attachment_211212" align="aligncenter" width="783"] To-die-for tiramisu. (Image: Tosca di Angelo)[/caption]

“I want people to have a dynamic experience here,” he says. “It took us a year to really find our way with our menu. We had to open and close a few times since the beginning of the year. But from April when we re-opened we’ve been full and had very positive feedback from customers who hadn’t been here for a few years.”

Other pandemic responses included re-jigging a substantial take-away menu as demand increased; and launching a Cook at Home programme – to send chefs from the restaurant to prepare and serve a Tosca di Angelo-level meal at a requested residence – which has proved so popular it’s set to continue.

“I really want to transmit something exciting to those who eat my food,” says Chef Angelo of his wider aspirations for this restaurant, “and also to the chefs in my kitchen.”

The post Chef Angelo Agliano Serves Up Bold, Beautiful Italian Flavours at Tosca Di Angelo appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

New Yorkers love their restaurants, especially the fine dining establishments that allow for a full evening of culinary leisure. Reimagining such experiences during a time of COVID takes ingenuity and creativity, and Resident rises to the gastronomic challenge. Known as a bespoke, ‘supper club’ style foodie experience, Resident takes underutilized, luxury real-estate throughout NYC and […]

The post Resident Elevates the New York City Dining Experience appeared first on Upscale Living Magazine.

Three years of breaking rules on Carpenter Street.

The post Wine Rvlt presents its most exciting menu yet appeared first on The Peak Magazine.