BOUTIQUE SINGLE origin coffee Kafa heads to Hong Kong this month, featuring in a special tasting dinner at Nicholini’s from July 19 to August 2.
Not only has chef Riccardo Catarsi created a menu filled with fragrant, roasted coffee flavours, the dinner will also be accompanied by coffee cocktails that highlight Kafa’s distinctive characteristics.
Kafa gets its name from the beans’ origin –a small forest region deep in Ethiopia. The 100-per-cent Arabica coffee’s exceptional quality has a direct relationship with the area’s wonderful soil and climate, the artisan cultivation technique and the way the beans are hand picked one by one. This production method, which stresses the connection with the surrounding landscape, means the beans are only available in small quantities and this makes them all the more precious.
Inspired by Kafa’s unique tasting notes, Catarsi harmoniously marries the coffee with the freshest produce in his menu. After sampling the welcome cocktail Kafa facon sangria, diners will be presented with scampi, roasted smoked leek cream, bell pepper brunoise and Kafa coffee dust. The dish is a work of balance, with just the right amount of the powdered coffee opening up an extra dimension to the delicate flavours of the scampi and vegetables. It’s followed by another drink, Coffeetail No 10 with Bombay Gin, a rounded concoction to enliven the taste buds.
The tasting dinner continues with risotto with castelmagno and mascapone cheese, porcini mushroom and coffee sweet onion cream. The coffee adds a novel element to this otherwise classic pairing, its robust notes an appropriate complement to the porcini. It will be served with the Coffeetail Spritz infused by citrus peel and orange aperitif.
The coffee’s strong fragrance also enriches another dish, lamb loin with cherries, almonds and coffee polenta. The dessert is composed of coffee macarons, chocolate rum mousse, lemon sponge; white coffee ice cream and sugar cane crumble, dazzling diners with its complex layering. Chef Catarsi names it dolce ponce after the iconic drink from his hometown Livorno, made with a part of rum and a part of coffee, sugar and lemon peel.
The tasting dinner will be available at HK$1,080. While not publicly on sale, Kafa coffee is now served exclusively at Nicholini’s and Conrad Hong Kong. Guests who opt for Nicholini’s tasting dinner during the promotion period can also take home a coffee cup and saucer by Lavazza.
Nicholini’s is at Conrad Hong Kong and online reservations can be made at www.ConradDining.com.
