Though we love French fine dining, we have always been intimidated by the white table cloth environment of places like Caprice.  If you ever felt the same and crave to enjoy fine French food, Seasons by Olivier E is the place for you.  Seasons is unpretentious and offers refined French dishes infused with a touch of Asian and made with the freshest seasonal ingredients.

Chef and co-founder of Seasons, Olivier Elzer was the former head chef at Pierre Restaurant and L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon.  This hot young chef has has already made a name for himself for his work in Hong Kong and his new venture, Seasons, has recently gained a Michelin star having only opening their doors less than a year.

The beautiful contemporary design and decor of Seasons reinforces the name of the restaurant – divided into 4 sections each inspiring a different season.   Winter is the private room, Spring a greenhouse room with a glass canopy and Summer an outdoor terrace for al fresco dining.  The main dining room is themed Autumn with neutral tones and a dark marble tables.   One side of the Autumn room is bar seating overlooking the open kitchen, which I personally think is one of the best seats in the restaurant, allowing you to enjoy the culinary art in action.

Seasons offer a set dinner menu ($588) and a special tasting menu of 4, 6 or 8 courses ($888-$1488) for the table.  Or you can choose a-la-carte and have the option of full or half portions for each dish.  Their attractive 3-5 course lunch sets price between $288-$488.

Hubby and I each ordered a full portion appetizer and main, and a dessert to share.  I regret not ordering the degustation portions, which would’ve allowed me to sample more.

Though we were both tempted to dive into the beautiful bread basket, we both knew better to resist on filling ourselves up with carbs.  But, there was this addictive crispy wafer that tasted like potato chips, in which I ended up polishing off.

It’s no secret that I love beautiful dishes, and when I saw our neighboring couple order a stylish pot of pink radishes, I knew we had to try the same.  The chilled French Pink Radish coated in a herbed butter and dipped in a Guérande salt was the ideal starter to prep our taste buds.  Tart, fresh and crispy – I kept going back for more.

With no reservations, we were seated at the bar, where I watched my Pan-seared Scallops being cooked over the large Japan Teppan grills.  The tender and succulent scallops cooked in a herb butter and served with a preserved citrus was good, but wasn’t comparable to the Grilled Tuna that hubby ordered.  The tender tuna belly with 5 spices and crispy shallots plated over a guacamole with an Asian gingery sauce was the clear favorite of the evening.  This is THE dish to get your taste buds going, the acidity and spicy punch makes you salivate as you anticipate the next dish.

For the main, I selected one of the chef’s signature dishes, the Grilled Langoustine with Risotto Venere and Masala Butter.  The langoustine was perfectly prepared to preserve its delicate and pristine taste (I did note that one of the tails were a bit too soft to my liking).  This rich and creamy risotto didn’t use the typical short-grain white rice, but instead a black rice resulting in an interesting chewy texture that was infused with spices reminiscent of a curry flavor.

Hubby had the Grilled Holstein Rib Eye which was brought to the table in a wooden box, and when opened there was a whiff of aromatic smokiness from the slowly burning twigs.  The thin slab of rib eye was juicy and tender and slathered with a heavenly red wine shallots sauce.  Also being a chef’s signature dish, we couldn’t decide which of the main’s we liked more, both being equally impressive.

To finish we ordered the Moelleux au chocolate and vanilla Bourbon ice cream to share.   Nothing tops a warm chocolate cake with an oozing liquid center.

With Seasons’ impressive dishes, it is no wonder it is the talk of the town and is already a Michelin star restaurant.

 

Dinner Total for 2: $2462
Address: Shop 308, 3/F, Lee Gardens Two, Yun Ping Road, Causeway Bay / Tel: 852 2505 6228
http://www.seasonsbyolivier.com
Date Of Visit:  Jan 23, 2015

The Bill
Panna Distilled Water ….$65
French Pink Radish ….$58
Grilled Tuna Belly (Carte) ….$308
Pan-Seared Scallops with Citrus (Carte) ….$368
Langoustine Risotto (Carte) ….$588
Holstein Rib Eye 200g ….$525
A glass of Sancerre, Cuvee Maxime, V.V sur Silex, 2013 ….$130
Violet Breath ….$130
Moelleux au Chcolate ….$525