With the promise of pleasant and cooler weather in Hong Kong just around the corner, Italian restaurant Fiamma is embracing the change of season with a special menu crafted to showcase different varieties of mushrooms sourced from Europe.

Located at the Peak Galleria, Fiamma serves up comforting, family-style Italian dishes created with the same care and technique dedicated to fine dining cuisine. The restaurant’s culinary director, chef Enrico Bartolini, built a reputation as the chef in Italy with the most Michelin stars in 2019, with his five restaurants back home awarded a combined eight Michelin stars.

The restaurant introduced its Fine Mushrooms menu on September 1, a five-course tasting menu that starts with a serving of creamy burrata cheese paired with artichokes, hazelnuts and the smoky, earthy flavour of pickled black trumpet mushrooms. The meaty, fruity notes of girolles are featured in the antipasto course, cooked with white wine into a ragu that is then mixed into a Fassona beef tartare along with a Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese fondue.

The classic risotto made with porcini mushrooms makes up the third course, the perfect comforting dish to savour and prepare the taste buds for the main course of crispy pork belly. Hearty and flavourful, the roasted pork belly is combined with morels for its nuttiness, cured duck prosciutto for an umami kick and a sprinkling of fennel pollen to add some notes of aniseed and citrus to the flavour profile.

Where to eat in Hong Kong in September 2022, from schnitzel to truffles

It’s a testament to the culinary team’s skills that even the dessert can pay tribute to the mushrooms. The porcini mushroom is used again, with intriguing effect, for ice cream that sits on a bed of pistachio moss and chocolate soil. Served alongside the ice cream is a replica of the porcini made from a milk, chocolate and almond namelaka-style mousse for the cap, with a simple vanilla mousse for the stem.

The restaurant has also selected the perfect wines to pair with each dish for those diners opting for a wine pairing alongside the tasting menu – from a prosecco to start the meal to a Valpolicella Superiore red wine to go with the main course.