New eats: 200 years of Champagne Rosé, British cheese nights and typhoon shelter crab pasta

We’re introducing our weekly New Eats column, where we bring you what’s hot and current on the dining scene right now, from the best new menus around town to the latest restaurant news, tasty tidbits of industry gossip and special one-off promotions that you shouldn’t miss. If you’ve run out of ideas for dining out in Hong Kong, this is the place to start looking.

This week, there’s plenty of rosé to go around as Veuve Clicquot celebrates 200 years of Champagne-making with a special menu at Tate; meanwhile, oenophiles should head straight for Gough on Gough’s new wine and cheese nights, and Linguini Fini gets creative with local ingredients in a pasta mash-up that has us salivating.

Pink bubbly at Tate Dining Room 

Here at LSA headquarters, we love our Veuve Clicquot after-work happy hours, but little did we know there’s much more to the brand than just its distinctive “Yellow Label” and fruity, citrusy effervescence. This year, Veuve Clicquot Rosé celebrates 200 years since founder Madame Barbe-Nicole Clicquot first had the vision to reinvent rosé Champagne by blending red and white wine grapes — a revolutionary notion that would go on to become the primary method for blending rosé Champagnes in the world. 

To celebrate this unique achievement, Veuve Clicquot has tapped the talented Vicky Lau of Tate Dining Room & Bar to create a special degustation menu to complement the red fruit aromas of Veuve Clicquot Rosé. The “Ode to Madame Clicquot” is a visual and gustatory treat, from the mini dim sum cart laden with fresh red fruits and Viennese pastries; to the creative dishes such as tofu with caviar and baby white shrimp with shrimp meringue. We’re especially head over heels for the dessert, which incorporates the use of the whole mandarin peel, soaked in sugar syrup; and the olive sablé with red date cream amuse bouche, which is one of the best things we’ve eaten all year. 

Price: HK$1,680 for 8 Chapters with amuse bouche, plus HK$480 with wine pairing featuring Veuve Clicquot Champagne Rosé; available exclusively throughout the month of April. 

Tate Dining Room & Bar, 210 Hollywood Road, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong, +852 2555 2172

A wine and cheese affair at Gough’s on Gough

Timothy Oulton’s temple of gastronomy Gough’s on Gough continues to bring British tradition to Hong Kong with their newly launched British Cheese & Wine Nights, featuring a selection of house or premium international wines paired with fine British cheeses. Available every Sunday to Wednesday evening, guests will have the choice of 3 glasses of house (HK$168) or premium (HK$228) wines, or 5 glasses of house (HK$268) or premium (HK$328) wines, with expertly curated cheese pairing suggestions.

Artisanal British cheeses are sourced from different family-run farms throughout the UK, from the raw-milk Kirkham’s Lancashire cheese made with the family’s Holstein Friesian cows; to the soft Tunworth cheese, similar to a camembert with a classic creamy paste and nutty aromas. The six varieties also include a classic Colston Bassett Stilton, created in one of the smallest dairies in the UK, and made the traditional way with hand-ladled curd. Served with walnut raisin bread and onion jam, guests can opt for 3 cheeses for HK$198, or get a tasting portion of all for HK$328. Wash it down with everything from sparkling to rosé to sweet wines and sherry, poured by sommelier Francois Ferrand. 

Gough’s on Gough, 15 Gough Street, Central, Hong Kong, +852 2473 9066

Hong Kong-Italian is born at Linguini Fini

Homegrown kitchen Linguini Fini may be run by an American-born chef, but it’s never been afraid to innovate when it comes to incorporating local flavours into its Italian-American roots. First came this inspired Italian-style hot pot (who could resist homemade meatballs dunked in a hot broth?), and now, chef Vinny Lauria is bringing us a series of dishes rooted in beloved Cantonese flavours and ingredients.

Feast on Lauria’s twist on a classic carbonara (HK$159) that’s been elevated with Cantonese-style char siu, or the shrimp and scallop arrabbiata (HK$179), with dried shrimp and scallops infused into the tomato sauce for an earthy, umami depth. Our favourite has to be the show-stopping typhoon shelter crab linguini (HK$179) — typically, crab prepared with heaping spoonfuls of black bean chilli sauce, garlic, scallion and red chillies. Lauria’s riff on the dish uses a gremolata of garlic and scallion, tossed with fresh crab and black bean to achieve the perfect balance of smoky and salty, sweet vs spicy, before being mixed in with a heaping pile of the restaurant’s eponymous pasta. Hearty and delicious, the fusing of Chinese culinary culture with comforting Italian home-style cooking is a match made in heaven.

Linguini Fini, 49 Elgin Street, SoHo, Central, Hong Kong, +852 2387 6338