Black Sheep Restaurants’ new Mediterranean eatery has opened on Bridges Street

Is Bridges Street poised to be the new Peel Street? With the flurry of recent F&B openings along this nondescript lane tucked into the slopes of Soho – no doubt helped by the foot traffic drawn in by the highly decorated Bar Leone – Bridges Street is fast becoming home to a good number of eateries and bars.

New to the scene is Salon des Refusés, a moody and intimate gastronomic escape focused on Mediterranean flavours and communal dining. Luca Marinelli – formerly of Osteria Marzia and the long-shuttered Il Posto 97 – steps into a chef-patron role for the first time with Salon des Refusés. Under the tutelage of chef Mauro Uliassi, who is the brains behind the three-Michelin-starred Uliassi on the Adriatic Riviera, chef Marinelli learned the secrets to making seafood sing, and this fresh concept by Black Sheep Restaurants is all about leaning into coastal living in France and Italy, where fresh produce is king and plates are centred around fresh harvests from the sea and bounties from the deep.

Salon des Refusés
Photograph: Courtesy Black Sheep Restaurants

Chef Marinelli and his team start their morning in Ap Lei Chau, combing the seafood market for the day’s best hauls to mould their menu around produce at their peak, so no two experiences at Salon des Refusés are quite the same. If you want the entire evening taken care of, leave your fate to the kitchen with the aptly named In Chef Luca’s Hands tasting menu ($888). If you’re going the à la carte route, the rule of thumb is the more, the merrier – all plates are designed for sharing and are good for a couple of bites.

Begin with snacks such as Cantabrian anchovies, confit Sicilian tomatoes, and toasted crouton ($248) and prawn and squid fritti with piquillo pepper dip ($128) to whet the appetite with briny flavours. From the raw section, the bluefin tuna carpaccio ($208) showcases the heat of Calabrian chilli oil, and the caviar spaghetti ‘alla Marchesi’ follows the ‘less is more’ principles of chef Gualtiero Marchesi, the pioneer of Italian nouvelle cuisine, by paring back the amount of ingredients to let quality speak for itself.

Salon des Refusés
Photograph: Courtesy Black Sheep Restaurants

For mains, the menu plays with international influences – Hokkaido scallops ($228) are topped with Sicilian pistachios, ma yau fish ($258) is prepared ‘alla tuba’ with sauce vierge, and pasta ‘alla chitarra’ ($248) combines Adriatic baby squid with nduja sausage. Don’t miss the classic Milanese torta ‘Aurora’ ($88) or the strawberry ‘caprese’ ($118) featuring strawberry sorbet and an assortment of fresh berries. Chef Marinelli’s dishes are matched with wines sourced from Italy and France, and the mix between established wineries and off-the-radar producers allows guests to discover new favourites.

Salon des Refusés
Photograph: Courtesy Black Sheep Restaurants

Salon des Refusés’ interiors, designed by Melissa Collison, ooze vintage vibes, with mosaic walls, checkered floors, and motifs of shells and maritime elements present throughout the interiors. A major highlight of the space is the majestic open bar, which welcomes up to six guests into the culinary spectacle and allows them to observe the chefs as they work in harmony to whip up the evening’s dishes.

Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out Hong Kong newsletter for the best of the city, straight to your inbox