This week, our editors are busy eating their way through town for Tatler's annual dining bible, and taking time out to try the food of some visiting legends
Welcome to The Digest—a weekly bite-sized round-up of delicious highlights and food musings, brought to you by the team behind Hong Kong Tatler Dining. Find out what we've been tasting and rating to help you shape your eating agenda for the weekend ahead. Get more updates and dining inspiration by following us on Facebook and Instagram.
Gyoten
(Photo: Charmaine Mok)
We have Richard Ekkebus and Landmark Mandarin Oriental to thank for some of the most exciting guest chef pop-ups to happen in recent years, and this autumn's triple threat has already gotten off to a good start. I was lucky enough to be one of the eight diners to enjoy an omakase lunch crafted by Kenji Gyoten, of the acclaimed sushi restaurant in Fukuoka. The Tian private function room has been transformed into an exact replica of Gyoten, which is in itself worthy of a peek. But not only was the nigiri expertly crafted—the masterful combination of heady matsutake mushroom with fatty yellowfin tuna was a revelation—Kenji himself was a riot of playful jokes and confident banter. There are still a few seats for lunch until Sunday, when the pop-up closes. —Charmaine Mok, Editorial Director of Food & Wine
Gyoten at Landmark Mandarin Oriental, 15 Queen's Road Central, Central; +852 2132 0066
Ta Vie 
(Photo: Charmaine Mok)
It's no secret that our team is currently working on the annual Best Restaurants guide, and so here's a little nugget of a preview. One of the final meals we had this season was among one of the best, at Hideaki Sato's Ta Vie. Sato's Pottinger hotel restaurant joined our Top 20 list for the first time last year, and the very first dish we’re served this year is a testament to the chef’s innate artistic vision when it comes to crafting a dish. Listed on the menu as kegani crab and avocado cocktail with black vinegar sauce covered with chrysanthemum jelly, we’re told the dish is the chef’s play on Shanghainese hairy crab. And yes, the elements are there—the rich, sweet strands of crabmeat struck through with the tart undertones of Chinese black vinegar—but the overall dish feels fresh and new with the addition of a thick oblong of buttery avocado and the cloak of jelly, which calls to mind fallen flower petals drifting in a crystal-clear pond. — CM
Ta Vie, 2/F, The Pottinger, 74 Queen's Road Central, Central, Hong Kong; +852 2584 6971
Gaddi's
(Photo: Wilson Fok)
Autumn is just the perfect season to have pigeon, and Gaddi's chef Xavier Boyer knows exactly how to prepare the perfect bird: leg stuffed and breast roasted with a delicate Muscovado sugar crust. Fresh root vegetables around the pigeon lend a different kind of sweetness to round up the dish. We'd say this is another signature in the making. — Wilson Fok, dining editor
Gaddi's, 1/F The Peninsula Hong Kong, Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui; +852 2696 6763
L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon
(Photo: Wilson Fok)
First there were the epic buttery mashed potatoes and, now, this. Move over, bread baskets, this bread extravaganza is the standard offering for two at L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon. The selection satisfies just about any kind of carb lover out there. Crisp baguettes and chewy sourdough, buttery miniature croissants and brioches, or soft rolls flavoured with tomatoes, spinach, or saffron. Let's not forget the special sweet milk bread with autumn chestnut swirls. Our advice: share the bread but hold your appetite for more spectacular courses to come.—WF
L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon, Shop 315, 334, & 401, Landmark Atrium, 15 Queen's Road Central, Central; +852 2166 9000