Turning a new page

What was usually a relatively quiet day at Caprice during the Chinese New Year weekend has turned into a near full-house this year. We knew because we have been doing the same thing for the past few years, coming to the restaurant for start our new year with a sumptuous lunch. That has become our little holiday tradition of sorts.

We were here last time only less than a month ago in the beginning of January, but we already saw the menu slightly changed this time around with a few new dishes being introduced in their weekend lunch menu. My favorite dish of the afternoon was the escargot pithivier, which came highly recommended by Sebastien as he dropped by to say hi while we were studying the menu. It’s a timeless classic with escargots stewed in butter and wine before baked in a flaky shortcrust pastry, and served with a caramelized shallot and red wine sauce. It has a super-rich flavor yet balanced, and with a good bite from the filling.

I felt I made the right decision of picking a "lighter" dish as my main course, especially after the delicious (and generously-portioned) risotto with black truffles sent from the kitchen as a comp dish in between our two savory courses. Again, here’s another no-fuss classic dish with monkfish blanquette served with wild rice. Chunks of monkfish retained their firm and almost bouncy texture yet well-seasoned, and the wild rice gave the dish some additional bites, served in the classic creamy white sauce with mushrooms. Perfect for the cold season with its hearty flavor.

Torn between the choices for desserts, at the end both of us went for the citrusy glass of yuzu sorbet with lime and yuzu cream and basil espuma. It has a tarty and refreshing flavor, more from the lime than yuzu, with a somewhat subdued basil taste in the background from the espuma covering the yuzu sorbet. Chef Nicolas was so nice to send us an extra dessert to share, and turned out that’s the one I liked even more, with the meringue "cup" filled with bits of pears and topped with pear sorbet and chocolate sauce. The pear was super sweet (I wonder whether it’s been candied in syrup) and matched well with the chocolate sauce drizzled on top of the meringue. Even the petit fours treats at the end of the meal were given a colorful face-lift this time - I particularly loved the chocolate with yuzu glaze in the shape of gianduiotto!

In the month of January we have seen unexpected change at the restaurant, and it will be interesting to see how things pan out in the months to come as they turned a new page. In the meantime, we were grateful for yet another lovely lunch to "open our new season" (and a new year) of fine eating and drinking, so to speak, and continued with our tradition.

More pictures at https://www.flickr.com/photos/g4gary/albums/72157677990059261

When? January 30 2017
Where? Caprice, Four Seasons Hong Kong, 8 Finance Street, Central
Menu Highlights? Snail Pie, Young Spinach Leaves, Shallot Confit in Red Wine
Drinks? 2009 Domaine de St Just Coulee de Saint-Cyr Saumur Blanc
Web: www.fourseasons.com/hongkong/dining/restaurants/caprice

You can follow me on Instagram too! https://www.instagram.com/g4gary/