La Rose Noire has raised the cyber-bakery stakes with a plan that will eventually give people the cake of their dreams, complete with fillings, flavours, icings, colours, messages and other decorations. The virtual bakery, which will allow people to order custom-made cakes on-line, is to be launched in August or September. Screens will be made available at La Rose Noire counters. Meanwhile, the caterer is testing its Web page, where all this hi-tech action is taking place. 'We are not becoming a cyber cafe,' managing director Alois Paier says. 'But we cannot ignore the trends. Shopping by computer is becoming a reality, and we feel we can benefit from it and improve our service. The Web page gives people a chance to look into our store without having to come in.' Other items available on-line include the newsletter, sandwich order facilities, special offers, recipes and promotional material. Paier says this will eventually replace fax orders because it is more accurate and more efficient. Real men eat onion tarts Macho men eat three-onion tarts on a nut crust. Ask Michael McCabe, the chef at the new he-man haven, Dillinger's. In a twist to a menu which looks like it is made on a ranch, McCabe is serving a range of vegetarian and fish dishes which have to be among the best in town. The house-cured ginger salmon ($95) is a treat, and his soups deserve a standing ovation, especially the polenta soup with lobster spring onion hush puppies ($55). The roasted tomato tarragon soup ($45) comes a close second. The three-onion tart ($40) is as creative as anything on cutting-edge Hong Kong menus, and that's apart from the 10 items on the vegetable side order menu. Unafraid of the calorie police, McCabe has a menu section called 'starch sides', which features dishes ranging from creamy whipped horseradish potatoes ($30) to crispy BBQ shoestring sweet potatoes ($30). There's also a daily vegetarian dish ($140) among the sirloins, porterhouses, filets, and ribeyes. Tel: 2521-2202. Sino-French ties toasted Glasses are being raised to French winemakers in China during May and June. French restaurant Papillon, in Wo On Lane, has put Dennis Degache's Dragon Seal label on its special wine list featuring French winemakers in the New World. The dry and fruity chardonnay is made at Hua Lai in Heibei province. The winery is a joint venture established in 1987 between Pernod-Ricard and the Beijing Friendship Winery. Papillon's special menu features Dover sole with a light beurre blanc (shallots and white wine) sauce, Provencal mussels, and seafood vol-au-vent. The promotion also includes wines from Michael Roland in Argentina and Bernard Portet from California. (Tel: 2526-5965)
