Gaddi's

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Gaddi's is a French haute cuisine restaurant situated in The Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong. It was opened in 1953 and named after a former general manager of The Peninsula, Leo Gaddi. The current executive chef is Britain's David Goodridge. The former executive chef was Philip Sedgwick, the first British head chef of Gaddi's.

Gaddi's at night
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Gaddi's at night

Gaddi's was considered the best European restaurant in Hong Kong for a long time, but that reputation has since been challenged by a number of new restaurants opened in recent years. The service is excellent, the waiters are professional, and the food is classically French but with inventive, European influences.[1]

Gaddi's is a legend in Asia and the epitome of old Hong Kong. Its elegant atmosphere is intended to evoke the hotel's original 1928 neoclassical architecture. It has an elegant European dining room, with crystal-and-silver chandeliers from Paris, Tai Ping carpet, and a Chinese coromandel screen dating from 1670.[2]

The food is classic French haute cuisine and utilizes the highest-quality products imported from various countries. Examples of past dishes are raw-marinated goose liver with toasted brioche, twice-cooked pork belly with mustard risotto, bitter herb salad and balsamico sauce, specially selected American Black Angus Sirloin baked in a rosemary and salt crust with pea puree and Roquefort fritters and pan-fried rye bread with melted Camembert and oscietra caviar.

Gaddi's is known for creating the first Chef's Table in Hong Kong where the Chef Table diners sit at a special table beside the Gaddi's kitchen viewing the dishes being prepared.

Gaddi's is also renowned for its ten course tasting menu which lets the diners taste a sample of many of Gaddi's famous dishes.

The wine cellar is among the best and largest in Hong Kong, with a collection of rare vintages.

In a 2006 Independent feature on romantic dining, author Alexandra Antonioni wrote: "They don't make restaurants like this any more and everyone should dine at Gaddi's at least once in their lifetime. Nothing can touch it for glamour and sheer indulgence."[3]

[edit] Notes & References

  1.  Online Frommer's review
  2.  Frank Gray, "Peninsula Hotel", Cigar Aficionado, Winter 1996. Online version
  3.  Alexandra Antonioni, "Valentines' Special: Alexandra Antonioni's recipes for love", The Independent, 12 February 2006. Online version