Awesome pasta

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I took a couple of friends out to Tuscany by H tonight. I was the only one in the group who's been there since Harlan's return, and I wanted to introduce my friends to one of the best Italian restaurants in town. 

We started with the 2004 Dönnhoff Oberhäuser Brücke Riesling Spätlese. Smoky nose with minerals, petrol and lemon notes. It's a nice and easy wine to drink, with a slightly sweet palate like a Spätlese.

My starter was the giant crab cake, which was done pretty well and paired with some very ripe tomatoes. Very tasty indeed.

The 1996 E. Pira and Figli Barolo Cannubi was decanted and drank pretty well, with a fruity, strawberry nose that was a little stewed, with a bit of brett and distinctive forest notes. Still a little tannic on the palate.

I chose the tagliolini with jumbo scampi tails, vine ripened cherry tomatoes in baby shrimp sauce. I remember that my friend had raved about it during our last visit, so I was eager to try it out. The plate that arrived in front of me was huge, and it was awesome. Very succulent scampi, together with those delicious cherry tomatoes and a good dose of basil for that classic Italian taste. The thin homemade noodles packed lots of flavors of the sea thanks to the shrimp sauce. The whole thing was just so yummy that I inhaled it all in no time. My friend ordered it as well and did the same thing.

As I was really full, I decide to take it easy on dessert, ordering the lemon and blood orange sorbet. The lemon sorbet was fine, but the orange sorbet was much nicer. A good way to end this meal.

One last note - the service from the waitstaff was very commendable. They were very thoughtful, which was quite a refreshing change from most of what we find in Hong Kong.