Winter nights are perfect for something earthy and pungent, and Via Quadronno is offering just the thing: a cheese and mushroom five-course dinner with porcini and chiodini mushrooms, fontina, parmesan, gorgonzola and goat cheese (above). It’s priced at $1,288 for two, but you can get 40 percent off just by showing them a copy of this magazine.

Attention, fellow alcoholics: The Press Room is celebrating its second anniversary with free-flowing wine every Monday evening this November.

Who doesn’t love hot pot? As winter creeps closer, there’s something so comforting about gathering around a big, fragrant pot of soup and cooking your own tasty morsels. But what if you’re a fussy eater?

He worked for seven years at El Bulli. He’s won awards for the “Best Dessert In the World” and “Best Pastry Chef in Spain.” Now, catch the master in action right here in Hong Kong. Oriol Balaguer is at the Mandarin Oriental from Nov 3-8, making desserts for the cake shop, Mandarin Grill and the Krug Room. An absolute must-try for anyone with a sweet tooth.

With the weather finally cooling down, restaurants around town have started to include suitably autumnal flavors in their menus. Our favorite this week is Babek’s two brand-new dishes, a grilled king prawn with garlic and lemon, and a chargrilled lamb rack with pomegranate seeds.
9 Elgin St., Central, 2975-9332.

This week is all about our favorite autumn item: fungi. With all the farmed truffles imported from Australia, it seems like they’re a year-round delicacy nowadays. That may be the case, but the season for the crème de le crème of truffles, the white alba (pictured above), starts now.

It’s a good week to be a celebrity chef-spotter! Pierre Gagnaire is making his last Hong Kong visit of 2008 from Oct 17-25. Besides an eight-course tasting dinner ($2,088), he will offer a one-hour lunch menu incorporating autumnal flavors. Mandarin Oriental, 5 Connaught Rd., Central, 2825-4001.

The Press Room group is truly taking over Wan Chai with the opening of their Classified Mozzarella bar, a food-concept store that focuses on wine and cheese, especially artisan mozzarella. Since it’s more a store than a restaurant, the new outlet maintains a dining capacity of no more than 20, and serves simple dishes such as bacon-wrapped deep-fried mozzarella, soups and sandwiches.

The term “molecular gastronomy” tends to elicit different reactions, depending on who you speak to. Rolling of eyes are common amongst those who’ve had too many unfortunate experiences with the food-science experiment trend gone wrong, while others express rapture for melon that tastes like bacon.

It’s hardly news that cooking classes are all the rage these days, but finally there’s a class with something for everyone. Corner Kitchen is offering a customized bistro-menu cooking class where students can pick from a vast menu exactly which entrées, mains and desserts they want to create.