Walk into almost any Italian restaurant in Hong Kong and you will find the same greatest hits: burrata, carbonara and tiramisu. You probably won’t find pasta scraps – except at Dieci, the newly opened pasta concept on Gough Street where executive chef and founder Paolo Olivieri has made them his signature.

Olivieri grew up in Villa San Giovanni in Tuscia, a small village in Lazio, in central Italy, nestled among rolling hills and farmland. His grandparents were farmers.

“I grew up in my grandmother’s garden – chicken and rabbit, vegetables, the cycle of the seasons,” he says. “Compared to French cuisine, which is very technical, Italian is more ingredient driven and seasonal.”

That philosophy is why Dieci, which Olivieri describes as an osteria futura (future tavern), changes 40 to 50 per cent of its menu every month, depending on what is seasonal and what the catch brings in.

Pasta mista is the one constant. “It became an instant signature,” Olivieri says. “It’s the most photographed and talked-about dish, a status that came naturally from customer feedback.”