Aria is one of the rare new restaurant openings in this rather tricky time, but I think there’s always room for another Italian restaurant if it’s done right. And I was there earlier this week in one evening to try the dishes prepared for us by their chef Andrea Zamboni.
The restaurant sat on the higher floor on California Tower in Lan Kwai Fong, so you could expect a nice view of the city if you happened to sit at one of the tables by the window, which we did. Love the simple décor with the open kitchen behind the counter on one corner with Chef Andrea easily moving around supervising his team, putting finishing touch to the dishes or greeting customers.
We had quite a feast in the evening with a few off-menu items based on seasonal ingredients, drawing upon ideas from traditional Northern Italian cooking but in a contemporary presentation.
I thought it’s just a regular burrata dish when our first course arrived, but in fact it was the airy cauliflower espuma wrapped in milk skin with a quenelle of caviar on top. The “T” word came to mind when Chef Andrea dropped by to explain his love of having seasonal ingredients from Italy readily available here in Hong Kong – after all October marked the beginning of white truffle season. And glad to have my first truffle dish of the season at the restaurant, with layers of scrambled egg and potato mousseline served in a stemmed glass, mixed with ikura inside, topped with caviar and voila, truffles shaved by the chef at the table. Still early in the season so the aroma was subtle, but you can’t go wrong with the egg and truffles combination and it was smooth and creamy. “Tribute to Life”, as chef named the dish with three different kinds of “eggs” involved.
Two “East meets West” dishes were next – first the risotto with Jerusalem artichokes with picked Shanghainese hairy crab meat on top. Love the combination of local seasonal delicacy with a classic Italian dish and more white truffles on top didn’t hurt either. “It’s my version of Xiao Long Bao”, quipped the chef in perfect Mandarin as he presented yet another pasta dish to us. They did look like the Chinese-style dumpling but they were by all means traditional ravioli with turbot tartare filling with dough infused in red (beetroot) and black (squid ink) colors, topped with a small piece of red crayfish and a splash of basil sauce added to the flavor and the colorful presentation.
After the lobster tagliatelle – another lovely pasta dish that I enjoyed much with bagna cauda sauce spooned on top – two main courses were served. The scampi and foie gras was the one I like more – both perfectly cooked and I love the slightly sweet pumpkin puree which balanced well with the duck foie gras which was pan-seared to the right soft and smooth texture. The other courses were the veal Milanese served in tasting portion, with the thin, crispy crust and pickled celery, tomato confit and olive relish plus lemon chutney on the side. Simple dish but nicely done.
Our dessert course of tiramisu must have been one of the smoothest one I have tasted, reminded me more of Zabaione in terms of texture and prepared a la minute and without alcohol. So it’s all about the creaminess with the touch of cocoa powder sprinkled on top. Could manage only a few sips of the wines that were paired with the course because I was driving (among them the dry Langhe riesling was the particularly interesting one), but we did finish with a glass of Barolo Chinato as digestif, in true Piedmontese style.
When? September 6 2020
Where? Aria, Level 24, California Tower, 30-26 D’Aguilar Street, Central
Menu Highlights? Italian “Xiao Long Bao” – Ravioli with turbot tartare, crayfish and basil
Drinks?
2017 Ettore Germano, Herzu, Riesling Langhe DOC
2018 Chiaro Pinot Grigrio
2017 Scarbolo Ribolla Gialla
2017 Ca’Rugate “Campo Bastiglia” Valpolicella Rippasso
2010 Giovanni Sordo “Rapuje” Langhe Rosso
2013 Pordenuovo a Palazzone “Therra” Toscana Rosso IGT
Pio Cesare Barolo Chinato
Web: ariaitalian.com
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