Megabites Food News – 3 May, 2017

It might be Le French GourMay this month, but there’s lots of good and not so good Italian flavoured news in this week’s megabites.

Sadly at IFC Isola is to relocate and lose it’s gorgeous terrace and view across the harbour. Rumour has it that even after demanding that the restaurant renovate their interior a couple of years ago landlord IFC have decided they can make more money by taking the large space and splitting it into smaller shops, so there will three new restaurants opening soon… More details on those as we get them.

Isola will close in it’s current location (Shop 3071-75, Level 3, ifc mall) on the 31 May and reopen almost directly downstairs on the second floor on the 12 June with a little more upmarket feel and basically the same menu with some new dishes to reflect the slight change in the feel due to the new location. The reservation telephone number and website address will remain unchanged.

A recent Italian food tasting at Isola saw several local vendors showcasing their Italian sourced products. Among those offering sample tastes were Abrate whose imported Tratuf Langhe truffle and pesto crisps are big thick and delicious. There’s a technique to cooking pasta well and it exposes the taste and texture difference between the cheaper brands and the more artisan pasta. Budget is always a factor when shopping, but when you want to impress then choose a quality pasta or all your effort in creating a mind bending sauce will be for naught. As well as pastas Abrate’s web shop also features a good selection of truffle, mushrooms, spices, dried fruits, desserts and other Italian delights.

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2017/Depack-cocktails-Bonhams-March2017/i-rsqPrWL

Vigne Vecchie produce a wide range of Italian products including pates, sauces, pickled vegetable, oils, and a bc favourite delicious cherry tomatoes stuffed with tuna. Many are available locally through an online store and regular pop-up events give them an email to find out about their upcoming events [email protected]

Pizza Express has launched a new menu for summer with many of the new dishes featuring seafood and seasonal fruits. We’ve yet to taste the new offerings but some of the more interesting sounding are: Crab Flatbread; Hawaiian ‘PizzaExpress – which features pineapple chutney and parma ham instead of the more traditional pineapple chunks and the new Lava pizza which has burrata mozzarella and basil torn over a baked pizza topped with olives and cherry tomatoes. All the new dishes are available at all 19 Pizza Express outlets across Hong Kong.

To celebrate the grand opening of their Citywalk store Emack & Bolio will be giving away 500 free scoops/cones on the 13 May from 2pm. The new store is located at Shop UG19, Citywalk, 1 Yeung Uk Road, Tsuen Mun