La Cabane recently turned 10 and to mark the milestone, the Hollywood Road bistro and wine bar is in the midst of a ten-day medley of celebratory events. If you haven’t caught one yet, you’ll be able to discover the local grapes of Georgia on September 16 or see The Pontiac and Ponty Café take over the space on September 17. Thereafter, if you've been longing to snag a seat at the ever-popular Jean May, now's your chance to sample chef Tiff Lo’s dishes in her Bistro takeover on September 20.

Other events see Guerrilla Lab’s Nicholas Chew and John Yip take the helm in the kitchen for a French dinner reminiscent of those once served at progressive but sadly long-defunct restaurant Serge et Le Phoque on September 21; the Bistro’s new chef Thomas Wong treating diners to a wine pairing dinner featuring some highly sought-after natural wines on September 22; and some special bottles from the bistro’s pillar winemakers on September 23. To complete the celebrations, the Bistro’s beloved Pantone Kitchen returns for a lunch takeover on September 24.

Japanese chef Masateru Kiriyama, who has spent the past 15 years as chef de cuisine at The Peninsula Tokyo’s fine dining restaurant Peter, has landed in Hong Kong and will be a guest chef at Felix in time for the reopening of the restaurant. To commemorate the occasion, Kiriyama has created a five-course menu which will be available from September 17 to October 4 and features the finest ingredients in dishes that allow the produce to shine. Highlights include a scallop ceviche with fig, prosciutto, and mint chimichurri, pan-fried foie gras and flan with rhubarb compote and pistachio, grouper meunière with braised turnip, spinach purée, and horseradish sauce, and Kagoshima A5 sirloin with black sugar spice, sea urchin, mashed potato and shallot.

See also: The Peninsula Brings New York’s Glamorous Studio 54 to Hong Kong This Autumn

Chef John Nguyen, whom you may remember from Xuân and Chôm Chôm, is Black Sheep Restaurants' head of Vietnamese cuisine and has joined Le Garçon Saigon to bring various dishes from his home city to Wan Chai. Inspired by foods from the streets of Saigon, Nguyen adds his creative flair to the menu with dishes such as the Australian Wagyu tartare with Arctic surf clams and egg yolk, contemporary bánh xèo, (stuffed rice cake) with heirloom tomatoes and melted cheese, beef tongue banh mì (baguette sandwich), and has added fresh Hokkaido sea urchin onto the ember-grilled octopus for an extra touch of indulgence. 

Hoping to blend mixology, gastronomy and art together, Avenue 75 regularly teams up with up-and-coming local artists to offer a multisensory experience. In their latest collaboration, multimedia artist Heron Gray has been enlisted for his travel-inspired watercolour and acrylic paintings, providing a backdrop for six new arty cocktails created by mixologist Michael Leung, the 2019 champion of the Campari bartender competition in Asia. Cocktail highlights include Lady Grey made with tea, sherry wine, lemon and whey; Ukiyo-e, in reference to the Japanese art movement during the 15th century, which uses rum, sake, umeshu and yuzu; and Renaissance Garden, a very Italian combination of vodka, tomato, vermouth, olives, garlic and basil.

As we greet autumn's, hopefully, cooler air with welcome arms, we are also pleased to see new menus at some of our favourite restaurants. Focused on produce that is unique to Hong Kong and Asia, development kitchen Aulis has some tempting dishes on the menu to try. This includes fresh Hong Kong peas, served raw and as a light mousse, with braised ox tongue, pineapple mint oil and yuzu gel and a 21-day dry-aged Wagyu striploin dish with black garlic emulsion, and roasted sweet potato glazed in sherry caramel sauce and a beef bone sauce finished with Madeira.

Over in sister restaurant Roganic, a new season also brings a new tasting menu dedicated to its farm-to-table ethos and makes the most of local ingredients. Highlights include a butter-poached grouper with white asparagus from a local farmer and wild garlic oil—finished with Daurenki Tsar Imperial caviar if you should feel so inclined—along with Hokkaido scallop with Zen farm's pumpkin and whey, and a dessert with Hong Kong figs, whipped fig leaf cream and ragstone cheese rocks.

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