Over the moon at Tutta Luna
It doesn't do wonders for your lipstick colour, but the neon tomatoes on the ceiling of Tutta Luna are a small measure of what the new restaurant is introducing to the territory.
Top of the list are the thin-crust pizzas: the secret, apparently, is in the flour, which has to be specially imported. The signature dish is the Pizza Luna, with porcini mushrooms, parma ham, eggplant, zucchini, bell peppers, tomato and mozzarella. The dozen or so pastas concentrate on taste rather than novelty value, including a Lasagna Bolognese and an excellent Rigatoni Con Stinso (short pasta with braised veal shanks).
The next best thing is the price, which hovers between $65 and $95 a dish. The most expensive is $110. Businessman Allan Zeman insists the prices are not a launch gimmick. He owns the building, so he cannot claim a wicked landlord as reason to break the pledge. Tel: 2869-0099 A touch of the United Nations A similar price-is-right attitude has been taken at Sherman Tang's new Clockwork Orange-inspired The Milk Bar & Cafe. The most expensive dishes on the menu cost $85. For that you get salmon and asparagus tips pasta with garlic, caramelised onions and sage; or the Miami Slice pizza with smoked salmon, sour cream, capers, red and spring onions.
The rest of the menu is a United Nations of cuisines, ranging from Thai noodle salad ($50) and roasted eggplant soup ($45) to apple pizza with bacon and blue cheese ($60) and a three-chocolate mousse ($45).
The doors open out to an outdoor seating area which overlooks the street. Tel: 2869-0922 Cutting costs of dining out Another restaurant which has pledged to fight the outrageous price of dining out is Cafe Deco at the Peak Galleria. Executive chef Martin Kniss says prices of some dishes will be reduced in their new menu, to be introduced in a couple of months.
'There will still be expensive items on the menu, but we're dropping the prices of some dishes so that if people want an inexpensive night out, they can still have one,' Kniss says. No details as yet, but the promise has been made.
Water charges do not wash Such consumer consciousness is clearly not in evidence at the Grand Hyatt, which charges $40 for a cup of hot water and lemon (no honey) - even when you have ordered food.
'In Hong Kong, people drink lemon and water like tea. It counts as a beverage,' the staff say.
The new Cafe des Artistes in Lan Kwai Fong is another restaurant where water is also a precious commodity. A small cup of hot water costs $35 (on top of a $900 lunch bill for three). The excuse it gave was that there was no button on the cash-register for hot water so they had to ring it up as English tea.
When challenged, both restaurants backed down and waived the charges.
Similar efforts by the 97 Group to charge for water were short-lived after angry patrons kicked up a storm. Staff apparently had to call 97 boss Nichole Garnaut, on holiday in Cuba, to ask what to do about the outcry. 'Drop it,' she ordered.
Meanwhile, restaurants have made water wiles part of their staff's things to do to hike up the drinks bill. When customers ask for water, they ask: 'Perrier or Evian?' So know your eau.
