World Pasta Day: eat so others can at these Hong Kong Italian restaurants in the next week
To raise money for Foodlink Foundation, which distributes unwanted food to Hong Kong’s poor, 22 restaurants will donate to the charity up to 20 per cent of what you pay for a special dish
Mark your calendars – World Pasta Day is October 25, and not only is it a good opportunity to dig into some delicious food but a chance also to help Hong Kong’s neediest.
From October 25-31, 22 Hong Kong restaurants will each serve one special pasta dish, part of the price of which will go to Foodlink Foundation, a charity that helps the city’s poor.
Michelin Guide’s new international director led global expansion
Among the restaurants taking part are Grissini, Ciak In The Kitchen, Eat.it, Greyhound Elements, Giando Italian Restaurant & Bar, Isola Bar & Grill, Mr & Mrs Fox, Sabatini Ristorante and Theo Mistral by Theo Randall. Participating restaurants will donate 10 per cent to 20 per cent of the price of the nominated dish to Foodlink Foundation. The prices of the special dishes range from HK$135 at Eat.it and Plat du Jour to HK$688 for a dish to share at Fishsteria.
Aurea Yung, head of operations at Foodlink Foundation, hopes the week-long event will raise awareness of the issue of food waste in the city, and also help those in need.
She says Foodlink, founded in 2001, has several initiatives. The core one is collecting hot food from hotels, corporate canteens, hospitals and international schools and redistributing it to the underprivileged.
Another is collecting unsold bread from bakeries, and vegetable trimmings – mostly from hotels – to give to low-income families for use in soups or fried rice. Foodlink Foundation also collects used room amenities from hotels and gives them to people living in hostels, and to homeless people.
The idea of restaurants raising money for Foodlink came from Geoffrey Wu, whose company Forks & Spoons represents some of the restaurants taking part in World Pasta Day.
“This is something different. We need to give back to society and the city needs more initiatives like this,” he says. “If we have the power to make a change, we should.”
Ciak In the Kitchen, Central
Home-made fettuccine with veal shank white ragout, wild mushroom and Tuscan fennel pollen (HK$280)
Ciao Chow – Italian Cafeteria, Central
Pappardelle with braised beef cheeks (HK$148)
Di Vino Wine Bar & Restaurant, Central
Home-made fettuccine tossed with Mediterranean octopus and beans (HK$188)
Where an Italian chef gets his guilty pleasures in Hong Kong
Eat.it, Causeway Bay
Carbonara with guanciale, pancetta ham, Italian egg and Pecorino cheese (HK$135)
Fishsteria, Wan Chai
Lobster macaroni cooked with brandy, white wine and Italian cherry tomatoes (HK$688)
Fratelli, Repulse Bay
Linguine carbonara with pork cheek, Parmigiano, cream (HK$145)
Gia Trattoria Italiana
Rigatoni Amatriciana (guanciale pork cheek and tomato) (HK$158)
Giando Italian Restaurant & Bar
Shell pasta with mixed seafood and fresh cherry tomato sauce (HK$228)
Singapore dining not just about Michelin stars, tourism board says
Greyhound Elements, West Kowloon
Fettuccine with seared scallops, asparagus in light pesto cream sauce (HK$138)
Grissini, Wan Chai
House-made tagliolini, roasted prawns, crustacean butter, lemony zucchini, parsley (HK$280)
Isola Bar & Grill, Central
Tagliolini with crabmeat and salted lemon with paprika (HK$298)
Jamie’s Italian, Causeway Bay
Francobolli with crispy pancetta, shredded kale, Parmesan (HK$168)
Joia, Elements, West Kowloon
Lobster spaghetti using Boston lobster, lobster oil and basil cress (HK$398)
Mr & Mrs Fox, Quarry Bay
Inked angel hair pasta with grilled calamari, cured guanciale, black truffle butter, fresh herbs (HK$298)
Paper Moon, Tsim Sha Tsui
House-made tagliatelle in creamy duck egg sauce, crispy Roman pork jowl and fresh green peppercorn (HK$208)
Plat du Jour, Admiralty/Quarry Bay
Fresh egg spaghetti and Dungeness crab, picked claw, roast crab bisque (HK$135)
Porterhouse, Central
Pappardelle with osso bucco, Pecorino cheese and fresh thyme (HK$258)
Sabatini, Tsim Sha Tsui East
Linguine with tiger prawns, asparagus and pesto sauce (HK$400)
Theo Mistral by Theo Randall, Tsim Sha Tsui East
Duck agnolotti, porcini and girolle mushroom sauce (HK$258)
Michelin Guide’s new international director led global expansion
Three Blind Mice, Wan Chai
Blue swimmer crab and mixed seafood linguine (HK$168)
The Continental, Admiralty
Osso buco corzetti, celery root cream, bone marrow, walnuts, kale gremolata, white truffle (HK$325)
