Executive Chef Andrea Tarini has officially opened Radical Chic, a brand new Italian fine dining venture in the International Commerce Centre in West Kowloon. In this article, we look into what guests can expect from this exciting new sky-high venue.
Radical Chic has now had its official soft open at its sky-high venue on 101/F of International Commerce Centre, West Kowloon. Radical Chic draws upon the evolution of fine Italian dining over the past ten years to present a new culinary experience fusing innovation, artistic finesse, and avant-garde gastronomy.
With sweeping city and Victoria Harbour views to enjoy alongside a creative Italian degustation menu by Chef Tarini, Radical Chic will showcase progressive Italian dining in a city renowned for hosting the world’s most discerning palates. Native Italian Chef Tarini takes his homeland’s finest meats, seafood and seasonal produce to craft an upscale dining experience with a refined and radical new take on Italian cuisine in Hong Kong.
Chef Tarini (left) is joined at the helm by fellow Italian native, Restaurant Manager Roberto Cini Mencacci, a Master of Hospitality with experiences heading the guest experience at Michelin-starred establishments throughout Italy and Asia.
A passionate gourmand with a strong understanding of wine, Roberto elevates the experience at Radical Chic with knowledgeable beverage recommendations and expert food pairings.
Radical Chic’s New Italian Fine Dining in Hong Kong
Inspired by the modern culinary art movement, Radical Chic portrays exceptional Italian ingredients with splashes of colours and contemporary fine dining twists. Chef Tarini is both a noted chef and celebrated teacher of Italian fine dining, who derived many of his learnings from some of the world’s greatest and most revered Italian chefs, Mauro Uliassi and German chef, Heinz Beck.
Guests dining at Radical Chic can expect the unexpected upon every visit, as Uliassi’s doctrine of boundless innovation remains deeply engrained in Chef Tarini’s cooking style.
No one to shy away from a challenge, Andrea Tarini has chosen Hong Kong – a city teeming with gastronomes and discerning palates – to debut his revolutionary take on Italian food.
Introducing Radical Chic’s Revolutionary Italian Gastronomy
For the opening menu at the newly opened Radical Chic, Chef Tarini draws on his teachings by Mauro Uliassi to bring a radical twist on Italian gastronomy. Now open for lunch and dinner service, Radical Chic offers a 6 or 8-course degustation menu for dinner and a choice of a 4 or 5-course lunch set every Tuesday – Sunday.
The highly anticipated degustation features an elegant showcase of seasonal ingredients infused in re-interpreted Italian regional dishes, starting with Sicilia Caponata, a dish originating from Sicily. Mazara del Vallo prawns are marinated in olive oil and salt, served with a rich sauce made from the heads of the prawns and an ice-cream caponata made from vinegar, honey, pine nuts, raisins, eggplant, tomato, basil and olive. The Raw Fassona Beef features tender steak from Fassona in Piedmont, northern Italy, along with Grappa-infused pear and Piedmontese Toma cheese.
The Frog Legs course includes deep-fried frog legs inspired by a classic dish from Marche, eastern Italy, from where Chef Tarini hails. Frog legs are topped with fresh garden herbs and rocket leaves to balance homemade green tomato jam. Zucchini Soup with Squash Flower is a popular dish from southern Italy, infused with plenty of garlic and caramelized onion. The beautiful green colour is derived from blanched and iced zucchini and fresh basil with zero butter or cream added to the soup.
Risotto di Mare uses Carnaroli rice from Lombardy in northern Italy, which is tossed in a hot pan with olive oil in a traditional process called tosstatura. The homemade clam and fish stock give the rice a rich seafood flavour, and the resulting dish is topped with caviar and creamy Japanese sea urchin. Radical Chic’s innovative take on carbonara, Cappello del Prete alla carbonara, features ‘priest hat’, a special homemade pasta that resembles a square shape.
Inspired by the traditional dish from Lazio in Italy, the “priest’s hat” pasta is stuffed with pecorino romano, Parmigiano, guanciale, black pepper, and egg yolk for a decadent and harmonious bite.
The Beef course features Japanese A5 OMI wagyu, one of Japan’s oldest and most coveted forms of beef. This is paired with a homemade Italian-style “barbecue sauce”, a sauce that is made with balsamic vinegar, red onion from Tropia, and Pepperonata (simmered red bell peppers).
Finally, cut the richness of the meal with a refreshing sorbet palate cleanser. The Red Cherry Sorbet features cherries from Emilia-Romagna and rosemary oil. The dessert is a deconstructed mascarpone cheese Tiramisu, with 95% of the ingredients in the dish sourced from Veneto, Italy.
Wine Program at Radical Chic
Radical Chic is also proud to present a highly curated wine list that highlights some of the finest wineries around Italy, including but not limited to Barolo, Barbaresco and Langhe wines from Piedmont in the north, and beautiful Brunello and Chianti from Tuscany in the south. From the international list, Radical Chic’s wine selection also spotlights renowned French estates such as Margaux, Pomerol, and Saint-Emilion in its extensive library of rare and coveted bottles.
Radical Chic’s Gallery Inspired Interior Design by Haven Design Ltd
At Radical Chic, guests are given the illusion of dining in a museum’s art gallery.
At the entrance, guests are welcomed with the warm glow of a sunset-orange wall light that sets the tone of the uniquely chic and contemporary dining experience to follow.
Along the passage to the main dining area, guests will pass impressive glass-encased wine displays, and a bar facing the breathtaking view.
With hanging art adorning the white walls of the main dining hall, the interior aesthetic is striking and formidable yet simultaneously minimalistic.
The restaurant is equipped with concealed gallery lighting, providing a highly flexible lighting solution for the art walls while maintaining an unobstructed panoramic view of Hong Kong. Sheer curtains act as divisions between tables, providing privacy while provoking romantic sensuality with their soft, fluttering touches.
The modern dining area features a carefully selected range of materials in an earth-tone palette. It has highly textured walls and eye-catching orange velvet, sensual sheer fabrics, and custom-designed wall-to-wall carpets. It is a bold area with stand-out design features including radical light fixtures at the bar and the eccentric wallpaper used solely in the private dining room.
Radical Chic has now soft open for lunch & dinner service from Tuesday – Sunday. For more updates, please visit the restaurant’s website here.
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