Lucky cats: Italian and Spaniard launch Trattoria Felino, an independent restaurant, against the odds in a spot where others’ dreams have died

Marcello Scognamiglio and Felix De Arriaga left jobs at a private members’ club to open a Neapolitan restaurant in a Wan Chai spot where others have failed

Trattoria Felino is pitched somewhere between fast casual and fine dining, offering a concise menu of sensitively priced, high-quality, creative dishes

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Marcello Scognamiglio (left) and Felix De Arriaga have opened Trattoria Felino, a Neapolitan restaurant in Wan Chai in a spot where a few food ventures have come and gone in recent years. Photo: Trattoria Felino

Published: 12:45pm, 18 Jan 2024

In the Hong Kong dining scene, there are certain addresses that seem eternally cursed.

They are locations that, despite their seemingly bustling surroundings, are never quite able to bring in the business long term.

They are spots that seem to change hands more frequently than most, a revolving door of earnest hopes turned into dashed dreams.

One such address is 1-7 Ship Street, Wan Chai, the location of the freshly christened Trattoria Felino, which has seen its fair share of openings and closings in the past few years.

Rosita, the Latin-American spot that shared triple billing with star chefs Agustin Balbi (Ando), Ricardo Chaneton (Mono) and Marco Li Voti (now at Sabatini), opened in December 2022 but did not make it past its first anniversary.

Before that, the spot housed the lively modern Malaysian restaurant Bibi & Baba, which operated gamely throughout the most challenging point of the pandemic between 2020 and 2022; it had taken over from tapas spot Ham & Sherry, which opened in 2013.