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Black Truffle Delights Italian Style

For aficionados of Italian food, the cuisine from the Piedmont region of northwest Italy, bordering France and Switzerland in the foothills of the Alps, means rich and savoury dishes, quality wines, white truffles, indulgent desserts and home of the Slow Food Movement. Simply put, Piedmont cuisine is synonymous with exquisite dining. Thus, we were delighted by the opportunity to try a black truffle menu at Castellana Restaurant, an upscale Italian outlet specialising in Piedmont cuisine.

Castellana, which opened in 2019, is a collaboration with Chef Marco Sacco, who brings two Michelin star pedigree from Italy. Its in-house chef, Fabiano Palombini, has created a menu that serves authentic Piedmont dishes with a contemporary twist, combining authentic Piedmont cooking with quality ingredients from Italy and around the world.

Castellana offers several set menus plus an à la carte menu. This month, Castellana is introducing a special Perigord Black Truffle menu featuring the highly prized truffle. The five-course and seven course menus are priced at $1,480 (includes five grams of black truffle per dish; $2,080 with wine pairing) and $1,980 ($2,880 with wine pairing) respectively. Castellana also offers a regular lunch set menu at $298 for three courses or $498 for five courses, both of which are quite reasonably priced.

There is also a “Journey Around the World” menu that offers dishes prepared with various ingredients from around the world ($980 and $1,380 for four or seven courses respectively, or wine-paired at $1,980 and $2,580 respectively)

For our meal, we were treated to a selection of dishes from the various menus. We began with Radici di Sedano e Caviale, which is celery root and Japanese sea urchin with zabaione – the sea urchin is superb, smooth and tasty. A dry and bubbly 2016 Alta Langa Casa E. di Mirafiore paired nicely with the food.

Next was Uovo di Montagna, mountain organic egg with Perigord black truffle. The egg white is meringue steam-cooked and served with the raw egg yolk, topped with large slices of the black truffle – quite a treat.

Carbonara au Koque – homemade tagliolini in au koque carbonara sauce – is excellent. The pasta, topped with cured ham, is savoury and flavourful. The pasta was cooked just the way we like it – soft but chewy, with its texture intact. A superb 2017 Damilano Chardonnay was paired.

For the main course we chose Manzo “Rangers Valley”, which is Australian Wagyu beef M7, topped generously with Perigord black truffle. The wagyu beef is tender and nicely marbled. The accompanying onion and cheese mix plus the beef sauce helped accent the beef flavour and the aroma of the black truffle. A paired glass of full-bodied 2013 Ettore Germano Barolo, made from the Nebbiolo grape variety, hit the spot nicely.

We concluded our meal with a signature dessert, the Gianduja Chocolate Mille Feuille, a light chocolate pastry that was just “ooh!” A sweet and dry 2015 Ca’ Rugate, Recioto di Soave “La Perlara” rounded out the meal perfectly.

We were thrilled with our dining experience at Castellano. The excellent Piedmont cuisine certainly lives up to its reputation. If you are looking for a wonderful dining outlet for a special occasion, Castellano is highly worth considering.

 

10/F, Cubus, 1 Hoi Ping Road, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

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