Con Fusion, a new bar and restaurant on Moreton Terrace in Causeway Bay, is having the longest soft opening I've heard of. It soft-opened December 22, in time to take advantage of the Christmas rush, and has had a series of parties for invited guests, but it probably won't be fully open for about another three weeks. The restaurant doesn't have enough staff to open for lunch (right now, they are serving dinner only), the menu is still being developed and the staircase that will lead guests from the ground-floor bar to the first-floor dining room isn't yet built (for now, customers have to leave the restaurant, enter the office building next door, and take the lift to the first floor).
Although you might think from the name that the restaurant serves fusion food, it fortunately does not - Con Fusion stands for 'Continental Fusion Music Connection', and it has live music on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. The food and beverage director is Anthony Meyers, while the executive chef is Eric Choi (previously of Baci in Lan Kwai Fong). The tentative menu includes dishes such as tortelloni con funghi e vitello (home-made tortelloni filled with veal and parmesan cheese in wild mushroom sauce), cioppino for two (home-made fisherman's stew with baby lobster, king prawns, scallops, fish, squid, clams and mussels in fresh tomato broth with spaghetti), petti di pollo (oven-baked chicken breast with goose liver in herbal cream sauce) and barramundi alla griglia (grilled fresh whole barramundi with extra virgin olive oil, roasted potatoes, cherry tomatoes, black pepper and cured black olives).
Another restaurant that has recently opened is Habibi. The Egyptian restaurant is at 112-114 Wellington Street, G/F Central. The owners are Jennifer Migliorelli and Hosny Emam (above). Migliorelli is in charge of the kitchen, while Emam takes care of customers in the front of house. Guests can choose from a good selection of cold and hot mezze and specialities, such as imam biyaldi (eggplant baked with raisins, coconut and fresh ground meat), halloumi (mild goat cheese lightly browned in olive oil), firahk al habeab (spring chicken filled with rice, pistachio nuts and raisins) and tagen kosa mahshiya (stuffed zucchini with pinenuts and ground beef in yoghurt sauce). Reservations on 2544 6198.