db Eats: Otto e Mezzo

“If you create from the heart, nearly everything works; if from the head, almost nothing,” Bergamo born chef Umberto Bombana declared in an interview recently, echoing Russian-French modernist artist Marc Chagall’s famous quote.

Bombana’s base, Otto e Mezzo in Hong Kong’s Central district, is the only three Michelin star Italian restaurant outside of Italy. Having headed up Toscana at the Ritz Carlton in Hong Kong from 1993 before briefly running his own venture Aspasia in 2008, in January 2010 Bombana opened Otto e Mezzo, which takes its name from the Oscar-winning 1963 Federico Fellini film 8 ½, starring Marcello Mastroianni, that tells the story of a moviemaker struggling to get his latest picture off the ground.

Just 10 months after opening Otto e Mezzo was awarded two Michelin stars, a year later it won a third, which it retails to this day. Bombana has since expanded his empire to Shanghai, Beijing and most recently, Macau. Housed within the chic Alexandra House shopping mall and offering sweeping views of Hong Kong’s gleaming metropolis, Otto e Mezzo is currently ranked number 8 in Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list and regularly appears in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants line-up.

Homemade taglioni with lashings of black truffles

Visiting for lunch earlier this year, the space was light, bright, cosy and welcoming. An avid art lover, Bombana has trustingly placed works by Picasso and Dalí on the walls alongside a Matisse-like portrait of himself, though the most arresting feature of the room is the mirrored ceiling formed of hundreds of small silver squares that glint in the sunlight like paparrazi flashbulbs.

Dining at Otto e Mezzo, even at lunch, brings with it a sense of occasion. Scoring a booking can take weeks, particularly if you’re after dinner at the weekend. On my visit the room was buzzing with suits indulging in decadent, truffle-laden lunches accompanied by beautiful bottles of Barolo.

You get the feeling that the boat is forever pushed out here – this is not a space in which to exercise restraint. Proving that fine dining is very much alive and kicking in the city, seats are made of fine leather and white tablecloths abound, though thankfully service is friendly, graceful and efficient rather than sycophantic.

Behind the bar is India’s best-known mixologist, Devender Sehgal, immaculately attired, forever smiling and on a mission to educate the city about the joys of classic cocktails with a twist. His latest toy is an Otto e Mezzo 8 ½ year old branded Bourbon made in collaboration with Michter’s Distillery in Kentucky.

Aldo Conterno Barolo 2006

As you’d hope, both the bread and pasta are made from scratch. Bringing along db’s Rupert Millar, who at the time was our man in Hong Kong, our feast began with hunks of olive and sundried tomato focaccia and lithe grissini sticks. As thin as a ballerina, they were impossibly moreish, particularly when dipped in the accompanying grassy Sicilian olive oil.

Testing the skills of the French sommelier, I ordered the artichoke soup to start, which he paired with an unctuous 2012 Isole e Olena Chardonnay. Glinting gold in the globe-shaped glass, its rounded, creamy, mineral character worked well with the rich, rustic, earthy soup flecked with mint and Parmesan.

No trip to Otto e Mezzo would be complete without sampling a dish featuring truffles. Bombana is so obsessed in them he’s been made a truffle ambassador in Alba.

Last December he had the privilege of devising a truffle-themed menu for the anonymous buyer of the world’s largest white truffle. Weighing in at 1.89kg, it sold for US$61,250 at auction in New York to a Hong Kong-based bidder who chose to consume his purchase at 8 ½.

Bypassing the truffle-themed tasting menu, I opted instead for a generous bowl of sunshine yellow homemade tagliolini blanketed in black truffle. A deceptively simple dish made with butter and Parmesan, the bowl is initially brought to the table unadorned.

A white-gloved waiter then takes a giant Perigord truffle from a silver dish and proceeds to let it rain, vigorously grating the truffle with feverish enthusiasm until not a speck of pasta is visible, leading me to squeal with delight like a naughty child on the last day of term.

The piping hot al dente pasta was deliciously creamy from the Parmesan and butter, and made all the more magnificent by the bed of indulgent, earthy, musky truffles in possibly the most decadent dish I’ve enjoyed all year.

Veal chop

The wine list is of Biblical proportions though is easy to navigate and boasts an impressive by the glass selection. Heavily weighted towards Italy, all of the country’s major regions are represented, with special attention paid to Tuscany and Piedmont.

To pair with my truffle dish, our sommelier suggested an intensely perfumed 2006 Aldo Conterno Barolo, which adroitly walked the line between masculine and feminine with notes of tar, roses, sour cherry, raspberries, meat, earth and blood.

Elegant and seemless, it clearly has a long life ahead of it but is a joy to drink now. Rupert’s veal chop meanwhile had me gasping in horror at its Flintstonian proportions. Served still attached to the bone, it was the size of a small planet, though Mr. Millar gallantly did it justice, polishing off the lot.

Bypassing the option of cheese from the restaurant’s own ageing room, dessert was a gourmet take on a hazelnut chocolate bar, prettified with flecks of gold leaf. Rich, creamy and crunchy, it tasted like the gooey innards of a Ferrero Rocher. True to his quote, Bombana cooks from the heart. His dishes bring joy and delight to diners, and what they lack in refinement they more than make up for in downright deliciousness.

This isn’t a man that relies on pipettes and edible flowers to turn heads. Instead, flavour is forever at the fore of his comforting creations. Would Otto e Mezzo have three stars if it were transplanted to London? With the calibre of cooking in the capital at the moment, most probably not, but I defy you to find a more pleasurable Italian dining experience in Hong Kong.

Otto e Mezzo, Alexandra Shopping Arcade, Hong Kong; Tel: +852 2537 8859. A three-course set lunch with a glass of wine costs HK$560.