The restaurant group is betting on crowd-pleasing Italian cuisine to fill up this cavernous, colonial-era venue
On the heels of the opening of Spanish tasting menu restaurant Agora, Tai Kwun is set to welcome yet another new restaurant venue in the shape of Cantina. Translating to 'canteen' in Italian, it's the latest project of Aqua Group, replacing British restaurant Statement with a gathering place for hearty Italian cooking.
Helming the kitchen is chef Luca Schiavone, a fresh arrival from London who previously held roles at Cecconi's and Shoreditch House (both Soho House properties), as well as the Michelin-recommended Zafferano. At Cantina, he'll be serving a menu developed with Andrea Mura, executive chef at the new Aqua in H Zentre, that centres around approachable and honest Italian fare within the grand confines of the former Police Officers’ Mess in Tai Kwun’s colonial-era Police Headquarters Building—from which Cantina derives its name.
Related: Aqua & Hutong To Relocate After 18 Years, With Two New Concepts To Open In Their Place
Easing diners into a meal at Cantina are Venetian-style cicchetti small plates, involving the likes of fritto misto (fried prawns, squid, courgette, garlic mayonnaise), Sicilian red prawn carpaccio, seared tuna belly with spicy apple dressing, and slow-cooked baby octopus with peas. Aside from opening up the palate, cicchetti are also designed to be eaten with a healthy helping of wine.
Regional specialties feature heavily among the pastas and main courses. From northern Lazio and southern Tuscany come the cuttlefish and sea urchin in the squid ink spaghetti; while Molise and Puglia in the south provide the cavatelli pasta that is paired with pork ribs, beef flank and fennel sausage which have been slow-braised with a thick tomato sauce. Meanwhile, the homely Sicilian dish of pollo alla stemperata—a stew made with pan-roasted chicken thighs, carrots, celery and and green olives; and Milanese breaded veal cutlet, weighing in at a hefty 450g are designed to be shared family-style, as is the rule in Italy.
