Located just across historical Tai Kwun on Hollywood Road is new Italian fine dining restaurant Kontrasto. It is the first joint venture of chef Fabiano Palombini (formerly of Piedmont restaurant Castellana) with Lubuds Group, proprietor of restaurants Pleka, Odea, Pano, and Mian, among others. The restaurant's intimate surroundings make it an excellent choice for a business lunch in the area or for romantic dinners with a significant other. The venue features an open kitchen in the middle, tables dressed in white cloths, suited servers, and refined Italian dishes that use the best seasonal ingredients from the Mediterranean.
Signature dishes that we can have over and over again are the two pasta dishes. The first is Spaghettone, a single serving of pasta made using artisanal spaghetti sourced exclusively from Vicidomini in Naples, topped with Pecorino Romano cheese and bits of cured pork cheek. The second dish, Virtù, a pasta dish inspired by chef’s hometown, Teramo, Abruzzo, traditionally served on May 1 for Workers' Day, made with a blend of traditional Italian noodles such as fusilli, rigatoni, ziti, pipe rigate, and mafalde served in a creative platter of fresh seafood.