I used to have an easy answer when someone asked me to name the best Italian restaurant in town. I would say, without hesitation: Toscana at the Ritz-Carlton. Executive chef Umberto Bombana, a.k.a. King of White Truffles, succeeded where so many have failed in elevating hearty Italian cooking to haute cuisine. The pasta dishes at Toscana were always cooked al dente to effortless perfection. But because all good things must come to end, Toscana closed down in 2008 when the Ritz was demolished for redevelopment. It was a sad day for foodies across the city.
Two years later, Bombana found a new home at Alexandra House and opened Otto e Mezzo. Named after Federico Fellini’s iconic comédie noire, Bombana's second act is meant to be less informal than Toscana, although the food was supposed to be just as good. In 2011, The Michelin Guide Hong Kong gave Otto e Mezzo two stars. The following year, the guide bestowed the restaurant a third star, making it one of the two restaurants in Hong Kong awarded the top rating (the other one being Lung King Heen at the Four Seasons) and the only Italian restaurant outside Italy to have won three stars. Having achieved culinary stardom (literally), the restaurant requires weeks of advance booking and a much longer wait if you want a dinner table on the weekend. The overwhelming success led Bombana to open a branch in Shanghai's ultra-chic Rockbund area this past June.
I never got sucked into the whole Bombanarama, in part because I’m too cynical these days to get starry-eyed over A-list restaurants, and in part because many friends have been to Otto e Mezzo and told me not to bother.
Last week, I finally paid them an overdue visit and went there for lunch. At 12:15pm on a Wednesday, the restaurant was packed to the hilt. It was a clear sign that, two and a half years after it opened, it is still the “it” place in Hong Kong. We were seated in the main dining hall at one of the C-shaped booths. The décor is well-appointed and tasteful, but it lacks the oomph of a top-notched restaurant. After all, this is supposed to be the best Italian restaurant outside Italy. Although the staff are not unfriendly, they come off as stuffy and inattentive. I asked for lemon to go with my sparkling water and the waitress brought back a single slice and dropped it into my glass, ignoring all the other glasses on the table. The same thing happened when I asked for parmesan cheese for my pasta. A different waitress showed up with a grater, gave my dish a few shavings and started to walk away. That's when I said to her, “Excuse me, I’m not the only one having pasta at the table, am I?” She needed to be taught a lesson.
