Toscana HK closing down

[klyeoh]

Just read the news yesterday that Toscana at Ritz-Carlton HK will close down together with the hotel by end-Jan 2008! I've enjoyed Chef Umberto Bombana's cooking since the mid-1990s, and I will miss his cooking terribly as my next trip to HK is only in Feb!

The article in Sunday Morning Post also said that Ritz-Carlton HK will re-open in Kowloon in 2010 - I hope Chef Bombana & Toscana will be back!

[Charles Yu]

What a pity!!
I was actually thinking about holding our International chowhound meet at Toscana! ( Latest 'HK Best Restaurants' review gave Toscana a 10/10 for food! How trustworthy this rating is?! I do not know, since others that also received 10/10 include Caprice, Amber, Gaddis' and Opia. None of which I am particularly impressed with! However, Chef Bombana did cooked a couple of mega-bucks White Alba truffle charity dinner!).
May be our Chowhound meet should focus on picking a great 'Chinese' place instead?! My wife, who is currently in HK right now, told me she just had a fabulous dinner at Fu Sing Shark fin seafood restaurant in Lockhart road, Wan Chai.

[klyeoh]

I was a regular guest at Ritz-Carlton since 1994 & over the past 14 years or so must have dined at Toscana more than 50 times. It's remained my favorite Italian restaurant in HK (eventhough the best Italian meal I had in HK was at Conrad's Nicholini in 1998).

Umberto Bombana's cooking grows on you. He's got a heavy hand with the seasonings & his dishes came across as quite robust & rustic, somewhat incongruous with the elegant, refined atmosphere in Toscana.

Toscana's got a fabulous wine list - it can be reasonably-priced, or you can be extravagant. I once had a bottle of Viognier Giovin Re for only HKD500. But a friend once threw a lavish dinner for 6 of us, and he paid HKD8,000 on wines that night.

[FourSeasons]

I recommend you to try Da Domenica at Causeway Bay on your next trip on Feb.. My previous thread on Da: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/453986

[klyeoh]

Thanks very much, your thread on Da Domenica looked very interesting. I'll be in HK for a week end-Feb & will give it a try then.

BTW, I tried Va Bene in LKF & it was very good, and I agree with you - Va Bene in Xintiandi was a bit of a let-down and not in the same league as even its HK sister restaurant. For very good Italian in Shanghai, I liked either Giovanni's (Sheraton Grand Tai Ping Yang) or Danieli's (St Regis Shanghai).

[FourSeasons]

CharlesYu is organizing a get together for Chowhound members in late Feb/early March so you may want to join too as you are spending a week then. He is another expert on fine dining so both of you have common interest.

Never tried Va Bene in LKF so not able to comment. Just hope that Da Domenica will meet up to your high standard. I notice you really love to enjoy fine dining and Italian food and amazed at the number of places you have tried. I am not as much a fan as you are; so even though I used to be a regular visitor to Shanghai, I have only tried Va Bene and Jean Georges at the Bund.

[klyeoh]

Sounds exciting - would love to touch bases with Chowhounds in Asia for a change! I'm in HK 24-28 Feb, and also 9-12 Mar (I'll be in San Francisco in-between those two HK stays).

BTW, I don't only go for fine-dining - I appreciate good food wherever I find them, and I appreciate any place which takes great pride in their food preparations & are dedicated to using fresh, high quality produce.

You can also checkout my threads on dining out in Chowhound's San Francisco Bay Area, where I visit quarterly & spend 30% of my time.

[HKTraveler]

Been trying to go to Toscana one last time but it has been really tough to get a reservation!