After honing his skills at Michelin-starred establishments in Europe, North America and Asia, Chef Fabiano Palombini aims to bring his own brand of Italian epicurean finesse to his new venture, Kontrasto. The new restaurant sits in a prime location opposite Tai Kwun in Central.
A Review of Kontrasto
Chef Fabiano Palombini will probably be a familiar face and name to fans of Castellana, during its earlier days. Kontrasto is his first foray into the world of owner-chefs and the location is certainly one to envy.
It was a quiet, stormy night when we popped in to try out Chef Palombini’s new seasonal eight-course degustation menu which started with a generous selection of creative amuse bouche. The meal properly commenced with the scampo, a perfectly cooked langoustine tail served with foamy brown butter cauliflower and zucchini.
The sweetbread with a spicy glaze, medlar and topped with a morel mushroom was served in a rich broccolini sauce. It was a filling dish but fortunately came in very restrained portions so we still had plenty of room for the homemade pastas, which were the real standouts on the menu.
The egg white fusilllone with carabineros in a delicious Cantabrico reserve anchovy and garlic sauce was delightfully al dente; it also started to hint at the chef’s penchant for crustaceans, albeit different species, in the predominantly seafood menu.
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Palombini’s signature dish, Virtu, is a culmination of this. The dish harks back to his hometown in Teramo where it is served on May 1 to workers. It comprises two parts: the first is a platter of small pieces of seafood and the latter is a mix of fusilli, rigatoni, ziti, pipe rigate, and mafalde in a single pasta dish.
I can’t say I am a fan of the presentation of the seafood (including the crustaceans) but mixed together, the hearty pasta dish was certainly the highlight of the night. It even beat out my favourite sea urchin served with more mafalde pasta.
By contrast, the two mains of Brittany turbot and Kuromame A5 Wagyu with red beet bull leaf were adequate but nothing really to write home about. I thought the flow of the meal could have been done with a little more variation; the crustaceans had similar textures even if they were not the same shellfish and the kinds of pasta had been included in the Virtu already.
The deliciously refreshing dessert of limone, well-crafted to look like mini lemons, lifted the meal back to a happy ending.
Cuisine
Italian
We Loved
Fusillo – Egg white fusillone, bagna cauda, carabineros
Virtu – Mixed pasta, mixed seafood, mixed jus
Mafalde – Sea urchin, lime, parsley sauce
The Vibe
Kontrasto stands out for its pristine white surroundings and floor-to-ceiling windows which allow for some entertaining people-watching. But this also means that diners can also be the ones being watched, especially with a bus stop right in front. So if you go, pick a table nearer the open kitchen which would give you the best of both worlds You can watch the chefs at work and also do a spot of discreet people watching from a safe distance.
Quick Notes
Price for two:
HKD 3,160 for eight-course dinner; HKD 1,160 for five-course lunch
Address:
G/F, Chinachem Hollywood Centre, 1-13 Hollywood Road Central
Tel. 2728 7278
Opening Hours:
Lunch: 12nn – 3 pm; Dinner: 6 pm – 10 pm
This story first appeared here.
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