Just as the first chills come to central Hong Kong, the team behind Wan Chai’s Trattoria Felino opens a second act.
The new 70-seat IL PRESIDENTE has landed on Central’s Duddell Street, and while you’ll come for the Italian classics, you’ll stay for the cocktails.
Trattoria Felino built its name on unfussy, well-executed Italian cooking, a formula that’s made it one of Wan Chai’s harder tables to book. IL PRESIDENTE scales that ambition up considerably, pairing a full dining room with a bar programme the founders are treating as an equal draw, not an afterthought.
The space, designed by Dix Design, leans into Italy’s VHS-era glamour with rosewood wainscoting, Belgian velvet, British leather and deep orange tones, entered via a sunset-orange façade up the street’s historic granite steps.
Classics Elevated
In the kitchen, executive chef and co-founder Marcello Scognamiglio is running what he calls a “new classic” philosophy — recognisable Italian dishes, elevated through ingredient quality rather than reinvention. The Stuzzichini section anchors the menu with Cantabrian anchovies and an Egg Tartufato (potato and truffle foam served in the shell), while starters include a tableside Wagyu carpaccio with aged Modena balsamic and a hamachi crudo with smoked eggplant.
Pasta is very much in the spotlight, with dishes like Agnolotti All’Ossobuco in parmesan fondue, and a giant ricotta-and-spinach cannellone sure to make this a new date night hotspot. Mains run to a breaded veal Costoletta Alla Valdostana stuffed with fontina and smoked ham, and a tableside-carved porchetta with apple purée. Lads with a hidden sweet tooth should steer for the Gelato al Tavolo, which is churned tableside.
The Bar Takes Equal Billing
The 10-to-14-seat L-shaped bar is led by Simone Ciambrone, whose résumé runs through some of London’s most coveted cocktail corners, including The Ritz London, Donovan’s Bar at Brown’s Hotel, The Dorchester and, most recently, the Bvlgari Ginza Bar in Tokyo. This is a serious pedigree for a Central newcomer. His approach, which he calls “Miscelazione Educata” (educated mixing), favours restraint over spectacle.
The 12-cocktail opening menu is built around touchstones of Italy’s pop-culture peak. Marque sips include the Whisky e Sole (below), an old-fashioned riff with Michter’s Rye, Fernet Branca and Nardini Almond liqueur; the Piazza Duomo, a layered Aperol Spritz variation with peach and raspberry vinegar; and the Amores Extranos, a herbal tequila-or-mezcal margarita finished with absinthe.
For a Central dining scene increasingly crowded with Italian openings, IL PRESIDENTE is betting that pedigree — on both the food and bar side — plus a genuinely distinctive design will set it apart. It’s worth watching whether the bar, not just the restaurant, becomes the reason regulars keep coming back.
Il Presidente is currently open for dinner, with lunch launching next month
