Several restaurants in Lan Kwai Fong are participating in tomorrow (December 1) night's 'See and Be Seen' charity event which benefits Lifeline Express. The charity takes volunteer doctors to poverty-stricken areas on the mainland to perform operations on patients with cataract-related blindness. A portion of the proceeds from each restaurant will be donated to Lifeline Express. For reservations phone Baci (2801 5885), Baci Pizza (2840 0153), Baci Pizza Too (2869 0099), Cafe des Artistes (2526 3880), California (2521 1345), China Lan Kwai Fong (2536 0968), Hanagushi (2521 0868), Indochine 1929 (2869 7399), Thai Lemongrass (2905 1688), The Annexx (2877 9779), Tokio Joe (2525 1889) and Va Bene (2845 5577).
Donatella Zampoli, a Michelin-starred chef from Mas del Suago restaurant in Italy, is guest chef at the Royal Garden's Festa Frescobaldi promotion in Sabatini from December 1-15. During her guest stint, Zampoli will make daily visits to local markets to create a changing, five-course set menu for $688 plus 10 per cent. Some of her other specialities are available on the a la carte menu, which includes fresh herb and veal ragout in eggplant timbale with fresh tomato sauce and pecorino cheese, potato gnocchi with cheese sauce and white truffles, pan-fried veal escalopes with white wine butter scented with white truffle, and oven-baked pigeon with Tuscan-style stew of cannellini beans. On December 12, Zampoli will cook for the Marchesi de Frescobaldi winemaker's dinner. The five-course dinner features roasted pumpkin and prosciutto di Parma ravioli flavoured with sage and veal juice, paired with the winery's Lamaione 1998, grilled veal fillet with porcini and Nipozzano sauce, served with the Mormoreto 1997, and with dessert of warm apple gratin and vanilla cream, a Pomino Vin Santo 1995. The winemaker's dinner is $680 plus 10 per cent. Zampoli will also conduct cooking classes on December 7 and 14 for $350. Call Sabatini on 2733 2000.
Boutique Wines will host a dinner on December 6 at Vino Restaurant in Central. The three-course dinner starts with an aperitif of Vilmart Grand Reserve Champagne, a starter choice of baked oysters with hollandaise or Alaskan crabmeat salad with avocado and assorted lettuce, paired with Forrest Semillon from New Zealand and Sandalford Semillon from Western Australia, moves on to a pasta course of angelhair sauteed with Italian sausage in 'gold nugget' pumpkin sauce, served with Rosevears Notley Gorge Pinot Noir from Tasmania, and ends with pan-fried salmon steak with sauteed spinach and lobster cream sauce or beef tenderloin steak on a bed of wild mushrooms and red wine jus, served with Willespie Shiraz from the Margaret River and Salitage Treehouse Shiraz from Pemberton. The dinner is $345 plus 10 per cent; contact Boutique Wines on 2525 3899. In addition, the shop in Ap Lei Chau is holding a sale tomorrow and Sunday (December 1-2) of French champagnes and premium wines from Western Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania and South America.
Kathmandu, the 'Modern Nepalese' restaurant on Old Bailey Street, is celebrating its second anniversary with a new menu and a 50 per cent discount on a la carte food items until December 6. Call the restaurant on 2869 1298.
Troika, the Russian restaurant on Elgin Street, now features a Russian harpist, who will perform nightly from 7pm-11pm. Katygorokh Elena Grigorievna specialised in the harp at the Academy of Music of Novorossiysk. The restaurant also has a new menu which features zakuska, or a selection of Russian appetisers usually eaten with vodka. New dishes include Danicheff salad (fish and vegetables garnished with asparagus), Olivier salad with chicken, blini with chicken and mushrooms and Slavonic-style pike-perch glazed with grapes. Reservations on 2801 7839.
Cucina on Broadway opened recently at 5/F, The Broadway, in Wan Chai. The new Italian restaurant replaces Roland's Terrace. Cucina is managed by Elite Concepts (Cinecitta, Kokage and 1/5 in Star Street in Wan Chai, and Ye Shanghai and La Cite in Pacific Place). The chef is Davide Campana, who trained throughout Italy. The menu includes pizzas, pastas (papardelle with fresh artichokes and lamb Bolognese sauce, fettucine with fresh porcini mushrooms, Parma ham and cherry tomatoes, and sea bass ravioli with thyme-sauteed fresh tomato sauce) and five main courses which change daily. Cucina on Broadway is at 54-62 Lockhart Road, Wan Chai, tel: 2217 8000.
