The palate of Provence
The palate of Provence Cafe des Artistes opened its French doors this week, with a menu brimming with the flavours of Provence: eggplant caviar with crisp celery leaves ($70), chicken liver terrine ($75), steamed mussels with garlic ($83). And that's just for starters.
Other dishes include traditional fish soup thickened with garlic mayonnaise ($55), scallop ravioli ($123), seafood spaghetti ($118), sardines marinated with black olive and herb paste ($80), grilled king prawns with sweet peppers, black olive and deep-fried zucchini ($153), and roast rack of lamb with thyme flower and sweet garlic juice ($160).
Located where the old Cafe de Paris used to be, Cafe des Artistes is an Elite Concepts project, which makes it part of the Lan Kwai Fong scheme of co-ordinated development. The cafe also features an open-air terrace area where the old kitchen used to be (Tel: 2526-3880).
Mmm, what a delicious fad Eat dinner where you will, but the latest fashionable thing to do after 10pm on Friday and Saturday nights is to drop into M at the Fringe for dessert.
Michelle Garnaut's newest 'Just Desserts' idea includes a dome of Sauterne jelly stuffed with mango mousse on a bed of fresh mango and spiced biscuits ($74), the perennial favourite, Pavlova ($72), and Turkish delight served with Turkish coffee ($48).
The list of 10 desserts also include aged Cheddar with Madeira ($98), pear and ginger pudding with apple butter sauce and Calvados ice cream ($70), and coffee granita cake with optional whiskey (76).
The range of sweets are the creation of Andrew McConnell, the first new chef at M since Garnaut opened her classy restaurant about six years ago. The Australian chef's full menu is due to be introduced any day now. Tel: 2877-4000. Lunch is dictated Wednesday is the day secretaries go out to play - and their bosses put the bill on company expenses.
Celebrated every which way from breakfast to dinner, plus flowers, Secretary's Day has restaurateurs launching into yet another round of revenue-boosting specials.
A few of the offers this week include a $138 set buffet lunch, including a glass of wine, at The Kowloon Hotel's The Pizzeria.
In case bosses can't make it on the day, the hotel is serving its specials from tomorrow to Friday at The Window Cafe (lunch $148, dinner $248), Wan Loong Court (dim sum set menu $138) and the Middle Row Bar ($98 set menu), as well. (Tel: 2734-3869) At the Furama, the celebrations last the whole week as well.
Lunch at the Rotisserie includes an appetiser buffet with the usual spread of oysters, cold cuts and salads.
Main courses include pan-fried seabass, boiled salmon with prawns, roast spring chicken, grilled veal, and lasagne. Desserts are a buffet affair. (Tel: 2525-5111) Currying flavour If you can't make it, fake it. At $24, Thai's Foods' ready-to-eat vegetables in red curry are the next best thing to cooking a Thai meal all by yourself.
Eaten alone, the meal-in-a-pouch is disappointing, with an abundance of bamboo shoots and not much else in the spicy sauce. But throw in some chicken and a few Thai eggplants, and you've got a tasty dish without added colours or preservatives.
The ready-to-eat range is available from Seibu in Pacific Place.
America's new pecking order Kentucky Fried Chicken is getting a roasting in the United States in an effort to boost sales in its 51,000 outlets across the country.
The growing popularity of rotisserie chicken and the need to generate sales with a different product prompted the company the enter the roast chicken market.
KFC plans to spend US$40 million (about HK$309 million) advertising its new fare and hopes to sell $500 million in the first year.
Depending on the part of the chicken, each piece will contain between 100 and 250 calories, with anywhere from four to 11 grams of fat. The pieces are marinated in herbs and served with their skin. There's no word yet on whether Kentucky roast chicken will come to Hong Kong.
