Carbone founder Mario Carbone gives Hong Kong a taste of New York
Successful chef takes time-honoured approach, giving people the food they enjoy most, in generous portions, and in an atmosphere reassuringly reminiscent of a bygone era
The opening of Italian-American eatery, Carbone, in Hong Kong two years ago heralded New York restaurateur Mario Carbone’s first eatery outside the United States. The 36-year-old already has 11 restaurants within his six brands across New York City, with one in Las Vegas. He’s also opening more restaurant brands at the famed Four Season’s site in Manhattan later this year and early next with his partners Rich Torrisi and Jeff Zalaznick.
With so much expansion and such a concentration of his restaurants within the New York City area, why would he come to Hong Kong? “I felt that Hong Kong chose us,” says Carbone, who partners with Black Sheep Restaurants Group in the city. “We were here on a bit of an eating tour, me and my business partners, and I had known a couple of Black Sheep employees who had previously lived in New York. So I messaged them about where to go eat in Hong Kong and that led me to [Black Sheep co-founders] Chris [Mark] and Asim [Syed Asim Hussain]. We really liked each other. I think our companies mirror each other’s well as we are similar in age and ambition. We are both centrally located in our indigenous cities. So not long after we got back to New York, Asim sent me a message asking me if I was interested in a space that they were looking at and doing a partnership with them in Hong Kong.”
Dining at Carbone is the same in New York and Las Vegas as it is in Hong Kong. The ambience transports you to another era, with white-clothed tables, impeccable service, Sinatra crooning in the background and traditional Italian-American fare with generous portions.
“The plan is, we are making food that is very familiar to you,” Carbone says. “I am not trying to wow you or impress you with something that you’ve never had before. Our job here is to give you something that you’re very familiar with, that you have had many times before and try to give you the very best version of that.
“At times we will be using modern techniques; I am a young chef and I have had versatile training background so I will use whatever technique I think is smart to produce that result, but the result is, familiarity.”