Inspired by the Italian Futurist Movement, Hong Kong’s Italian restaurant Aria is translating paintings into plates for the new art menu this month.
Aria Italian celebrates Art Month in Hong Kong this May with a limited-time Art Menu that pays homage to the greatest artists of modern history. Available only from 27-29 May 2022 with an option for wine pairing, the exclusive four-course menu is a lesson in artful gastronomy and meticulous plating.
In creating the visually stunning cuisine, Executive Chef Vecchio Angelo dives into the detailed history behind each painting, meticulously replicating the colours used in the original works with premium ingredients.
Take a look at the chef’s extraordinary creation below:
Starter by Robert Delaunay is an appetizer inspired by the French artist’s 1934 artwork Endless Rhythm. In response, Chef Vecchio Angelo has designed a refreshing spring appetizer with a composition of cucumber, mozzarella, bell pepper, pickled pumpkin, and portobello mushroom.
Risotto by Vincent Van Gogh is a vibrant echo of the Dutch artist’s 1889 masterpiece, The Starry Night.
Chef Vecchio captures the striking blue hue of the celebrated painting by using butterfly pea with risotto, topped off with white and green asparagus, mussels, and lemon to achieve brightness in colour and flavour.
Pigeon by Jackson Pollock references one of the American artist’s most famous paintings, Convergence, created in 1952. For Chef Vecchio, this dish is also an exercise in experimenting with depth across flavours and presentation.
The star of the plate is pigeon cooked two ways: the breast in vibrant pink, and its leg a crispy fried lollipop.
Finally, Sweet by Piet Mondrian is a dessert that recalls the extreme purity of colour by the father of colour abstraction himself, directly referencing the 1921 painting Tableau I. Mondrian is known to have crafted his crisply lined works with a palette knife.
In parallel, under Chef Vecchio’s chef’s knife, the dessert composition features a precisely sliced medley of house-made cakes and pastries — all made from the primary dessert trifecta of fruit, chocolate and “art”.
“An Art Menu by Aria”
Food: HK$1,580 (4 Courses)
Wine Pairing: Supplement Charge HK$500 (4 Glasses)
