Chef Ricardo Chaneton, former head chef of three-Michelin-starred restaurant Mirazur, has teamed up with hospitality firm JIA Group to open a contemporary French restaurant called MONO in Central.
With an extensive background in classical French training, Chef Ricardo was most recently the Executive Chef of Petrus at Island Shangri-La. Prior to his four-year stint in Hong Kong, Ricardo spent several formative years training under chef Mauro Colagreco at three-Michelin-starred Mirazur in France (voted no.1 restaurant on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2019), as well as under chef Quique Dacosta at his eponymous three-Michelin-starred restaurant in Spain.
The newly opened Hong Kong restaurant aims to showcase his experiences, multi-ethnic background and personal nuances within a single tasting menu.
Contrasting unusual textures and flavours, the menu highlights contemporary dishes with a strong foundation in tradition. The seasonally-evolving menu is priced at HK$520 for 4 courses and HK$1080 for a 7-course lunch, and HK$1,280 for the 8 to 10 courses dinner tasting menu.
Signature dishes at MONO include the Ocean Crudo, a seafood appetiser that highlights fresh Hokkaido scallops, Hokkaido sea urchin, Spanish Carabinero prawn and Brittany oysters, seasoned with Irish moss, Chinese celery, ginger and a vinaigrette of fresh lime juice, Arbequina olive oil and crème of shallots.
Its Quinoa bread is another staple, a sourdough bread made from a 2-month mother dough and 3 types of quinoa (white, black and red), served with one of the finest olive oil in the world – the artisan Eva Aguilera extra-virgin olive oil from Catalunya.
The signature Monkbread fuses monkfish from Brittany with French sweetbread – a marriage of land and sea. The chef combined the two together on a single plate to showcase the texture of monkfish and sweetbread.
A dish where Chef Ricardo’s solid French culinary skills meet his Latin American origin, Mieral pigeon / Mole makes beautiful use of a whole Miéral pigeon from Bresse, a region in France famous for its poultry. The pigeon is aged in-house for five days, roasted on the bone and served mid-rare with its liver mousse ‘bonbon’. The base of the modern Mexican-style mole sauce is created with 26 spices at MONO, made to serve in front of guests at the chef’s counter for a rustic showcase.
Aside from the food, MONO’s wine list boasts over 100 labels with a strong focus on fine wines from Burgundy and Bordeaux, alongside a smaller selection of Latin American gems from Susana Balbo in Argentina, Bodega Garzon in Uruguay and even a Brazilian sparkling wine.
The restaurant is locataed on 5/F, 18 On Lan Street, Central. It’s serving lunch from Monday – Friday, and dinner from Monday – Saturday only.
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