Italian luxury restaurant chain Cova celebrates 30 years in Hong Kong with a limited-edition cake and special menu
- The Italian company, now part of the LVMH group, helped changed perceptions of fine dining when it opened in Hong Kong in 1993, its chief executive says
- To mark 30 years in the city, it is selling an elaborate riff on its mango dome cake and serving a five-course special menu at its Lee Garden One restaurant
Cova, a brand famed for its mango dome cake, Italian gastronomy and premium chocolates, has just celebrated its 30th anniversary in Hong Kong.
While three decades may not seem that long given the Italian company’s 200-year history, it is considered an achievement in Hong Kong. When Cova first opened in the city, the dining scene was quite different to today.
“When we opened in Hong Kong, people only thought of French cuisine when it came to fine dining,” recalls Cova’s chief executive, Paola Faccioli. “People also preferred to drink tea rather than coffee.”
Established in 1817 by one of Napoleon’s generals, Antonio Cova, Cova is a heritage brand with roots in Milan, Italy.
It began its global expansion in 1993 with its first international outlet in Hong Kong. In 2013, Cova became part of the LVMH group, which solidified its luxury dining status.
This acquisition enabled Cova to extend its refined approach to Italian culinary traditions in major cities in Asia such as Beijing, Shanghai and Tokyo. Maxim’s group acquired the franchise rights for Hong Kong and Macau in 2016.
One of the most successful of Cova’s adaptations for the Hong Kong market remains the aforementioned mango dome cake.
“We looked at the ingredients available in the city and mango is such an abundant and popular fruit. We adapted our dome cake recipe for mango and it was very well received,” Faccioli says. “We also started selling the dome cake in mango flavour in Milan; that also does quite well.”
To celebrate its 30th anniversary, the brand has introduced a limited-edition mango millefoglie, a 256-layer puff pastry filled with Chantilly cream and topped with diced fresh mango as a twist on the original mango dome cake. The mango millefoglie will be available until June 15.
Cova Ristorante & Caffe in Lee Garden One, Causeway Bay, underwent a light refurbishment and has reopened with a new cake counter and an exclusive celebratory 30th-anniversary menu featuring white asparagus available until June 15.
The five-course menu begins with steamed white asparagus alongside smoked salmon and a creamy egg gremolata. It is followed by a white asparagus cream soup topped with seared scallops – a dish notable for its umami flavours.
One of Cova’s signature dishes is spaghetti with lobster, and the anniversary menu features a twist on the dish in which red prawn and squid ink spaghetti combine to give the dish a stronger seafood aroma.
Main course options include pan-fried white cod with a light cream sauce and grilled US prime rib-eye, both accompanied by white asparagus.
For dessert, the kitchen at Cova has prepared a panettone semifreddo, a summer take on the traditional Italian holiday bread, complemented by zabaglione and Moscato sauce.
Cova was one of the first brands to introduce Hongkongers to panettone, and so it is apt to present the dessert in a new way for its anniversary.
The Italian brand has been expanding around the world, recently opening cafes in Macau, Paris and Athens. There are also plans to extend its presence in more exotic locations, and Cova pop-ups are being staged in places such as Portofino, Italy, to test the water.
“Our next location will be in Istanbul and we will be opening more locations and pop-ups around the world soon,” Faccioli says.
