Admirers of the refined Italian cuisine of Nicholini’s now have more reasons to be excited this autumn, as duo waves of gastronomic revelations will hit the restaurant, offering guests the pinnacle of Italian cooking from various perspectives. The festivities are officially underway with the arrival of Riccardo Catarsi, the new Restaurant Specialty Chef. In addition to devising a new tasting dinner and a la carte dishes, he will also make a statement about his culinary prowess through the seasonal white truffle promotion.
Chef Riccardo hails from Livorno, a Tuscan coastal city. Upon joining the food and beverage industry, his career has been marked with notable stints at top-rated restaurants, working side by side with luminaries in the gastronomy world. His creations deliver the cooking philosophy to “take one step into the past, but look in the future”. While inheriting the flavor profile of traditional Italian food, these dishes are reinvigorated under chef Riccardo’s ingenious touch, transforming into the new classics of the modern age. Bringing his golden formula to Nicholini’s, he will carry on the establishment’s reputation to use natural, organic seasonal ingredients to prepare excellent handcrafted delicacies.
The newly launched white truffle tasting dinner manifests how chef Riccardo casts a wonderful light on the seasonal ingredient from Alba, Piedmont. His treatment of the precious fungus is guided by recipes from his hometown, updated by his contemporary approach. Some of the noteworthy dishes include white truffle with pan-fried Hokkaido scallop, 47ºC, purple potatoes, salmon roe and sea urchin sabayon. Chef Riccardo is inspired by the traditional, yet unexpected pairing of seafood and truffle, using fish oil in the fatty seafood to underline the truffle’s heavenly aroma. The sea urchin, imaginatively turned into smooth sabayon, finds a counterpoint through the crunchy purple potatoes.
The new pasta creation, homemade tortelloi with white truffle, foie gras, homemade parmesan milk and veal jus, is a new expression of the rich, silky texture that diners favor in an autumn truffle dish. A full day before cooking, chef Riccardo infuses the parmesan in milk to ensure the liquid gets thick and creamy to contain the truffle’s sharpness. The exceptional quality of the white truffle this year is further showcased through other age-old recipes employ turbotred mullet, veal tenderloin and other premium produce. The time-limited white truffle promotion can be ordered a la carte, or under a four- to six-course tasting menu (from HK$1,488* to HK$1,888*). It is available now until mid-December, the end of the white truffle season.
Nicholini’s
Address: Level 8, Conrad Hong Kong, 88 Queensway, Pacific Place Hong Kong
Reservations: Please phone (852) 2822 8801 or visit ConradDining.com for online reservations
*Subject to10% service charge