Archive for category Wine
Thomas Keller experience at Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong
This was indeed a rare opportunity to enjoy the culinary delights of the great legendary chef Thomas Keller right here in Hong Kong. Since our 2007 visit to the French Laundry in Napa, Chef Keller is definitely our favorite. This was specially arranged by the Mandarin Grill to bring the team of eight from Napa’s French Laundry and New York’s Per Se to prepare three dinners and two lunches for food aficionados in Hong Kong. The whole experience took eight months to prepare as almost all the ingredients were flown in specifically for this event. This was to reproduce the French Laundry experience in its entirety. Thanks to C, we were fortunate to secure our table. Even at HK$5,888/US$755 per person, there were more than 1,000 people on the waiting list!
We started off by being bombarded with a wide variety of canapés – blue cheese puff, salmon cornet, pork tart and chilled carrot soup. The salmon tartar filled cornet was the same signature amuse bouche served at the French Laundry and a refreshing start to our 10-course dinner!!
The “Oysters and Pearls” got us off to a roaring start. This is another famous dish from the French Laundry and the Kumamoto oysters with the Californian white sturgeon caviar made a perfect match. The 1997 Salon paired with this starter was heavenly.
The Hand-Rolled Musquée de Provence “Tortellini” included a generous portion of white truffle that was not on the menu and enhanced the flavors of the Mangalista ham and pomegranate seeds. Great for us, as you know, we love white truffle.
The main highlight of the evening was the “Calotte de Boeuf Grillée”. This beef from Snake River Farms in Boise, Idaho was heaven. A cross between Japanese Wagyu and American Black Angus created magic. It literally melted in our mouths and it didn’t have the excessive fat that normally comes with Wagyu. Simply divine. The “48 hour” brisket also added an extra dimension to the dish. Bravo. This was paired with the cult wine Colgin “IX Estate” 2005, which we were told was opened at 9am! That’s more than 13 hours! But the end result was perfect.
After 8 courses and 8 different wines, time finally came for dessert, actually two. The first was Popcorn Sherbet, paired with the 2000 Disznoko, Tokaji Aszu, 5 Puttonyos. To end, the “M&M’s” actually stood for Madagascar vanilla bean mousse and Mast brothers chocolate ice cream. Dow’s 20 year Tawny Port sealed the deal.
After the dinner, Thomas Keller went around the dining room to visit every table and talk to all the guests, take pictures and sign autographs. At the end, we were given a signed copy of Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry Cookbook. Although not personalized for us, we didn’t mind as we already had a personalized copy signed during our visit to Pebble Beach’s Food & Wine Festival in 2009. But we did get his signature on the French Laundry clothes peg. We also received the evening’s menu personalized with our names presented in a nice French Laundry folder.
Although maybe not as stunning as our first visit to French Laundry in Napa, this was indeed an experience that was right up there. And thanks to Mandarin Oriental for hosting such an amazing event.
– 18.5/20
The Thomas Keller Restaurant Group
French Laundry, Napa Valley, USA
Per Se, New York, USA
Mandarin Grill + Bar
Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong
5 Connaught Road
Central, Hong Kong
T: +852 2825 4004
E: mohkg-grill@mohg.com
W: www.mandarinoriental.com/hongkong/dining/restaurants/mandarin_grill/default.aspx
101201 Thomas Keller - Menu setting
101201 Thomas Keller - Blue cheese puff
101201 Thomas Keller - Salmon cornet
Celebrating Mid Autumn Festival in Style
Gloomy weather, rain, no full moon…why not celebrate Mid Autumn Festival with a bottle of Dom Pérignon Œnothèque 1996? Just launched earlier this year, this top cuvée is very elegant and smooth. The seven extra years of aging was definitely worth it.
– 19/20
100922 - Dom Pérignon Œnothèque 1996
Club des Chefs des Chefs Gala Dinner, Hong Kong
This was a special invitation from Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong. The occasion? A Gala Dinner for the Club des Chefs des Chefs, an exclusive group of top chefs who cook for the world’s premiers, presidents and monarchs. This annual event is held in Hong Kong and Beijing this year and will head to Moscow in 2011.
While enjoying a glass of Louis Roederer Champagne, we managed to catch up with Markus Burkart, chef to His Majesty the King of Sweden. Originally from Switzerland, he has been cooking for the King for more than 20 years. He shared an interesting fact that on any official Royal trip, they ship all the ingredients for all the meals in a military plane. This ensures that there are no surprises when cooking in a foreign country. A potato would have the sweetness and consistency that the chef expects when preparing the dishes.
For dinner, we were seated at the Swiss table in the company of Gregor Zimmermann, Chef in charge of the Official Receptions, Switzerland. The six course dinner was prepared by Mandarin’s own executive chef, Uwe Opocensky. He started us off with Spiral. VERY interesting. Everyone at the table stared at the dish and wondered how to approach it. We were informed to put a finger in the spiral and cover it with the crushed olive and black sesame. The spiral was made from very fine strands of sugar, kind of like cotton candy. The sesame was a bit dry – but there was so much, were we supposed to finish it all?
Then the Crispy Fish was a caramelized garoupa which tasted like the dessert caramelized bananas (拔絲香蕉). Not bad, especially when paired with the 2008 Beringer Chardonnay. The waffle base for the Peking Duck that followed was too thick and did not go as well as the regular thin wraps. Overall it was a bit salty too. The famous Tea was a variation of the one we enjoyed at the Krug Room before, except this time it was chicken broth instead of onion soup.
Then the Beggar Chicken was an interesting concept. Unlike the typical beggar’s chicken which is cooked in a clay dome, this modern version had a ‘shell’ made from gypsum powder (石膏粉) that is normally used for tofu fa (豆腐花). The waiter assured us that the shell was edible. Hmmm, maybe we’ll pass. Also, the chicken was a bit dry. However, the highlight was the 2005 Lascombes that was paired with the dish. We couldn’t resist a second pouring…or third…
For dessert, the Butterfly was made from caramelized sugar and once again reminded us of Uwe’s ‘humming bird’ we had at the Krug Room. For petit fours, dozens of bird cages were marched into the room and each cage contained glutinous rice dumplings, caramel apple, pineapple puffs, and chilled mango puddings.
Overall, a very creative implementation of traditional Chinese dishes and a great culinary exchange opportunity.
– 15/20
Mandarin Oriental
5 Connaught Road
Central, Hong Kong
T: +852 2522 0111
W: www.mandarinoriental.com/hongkong
100818 Club des Chefs des Chefs - Menus from the chefs
100818 Club des Chefs des Chefs - Cocktails
100818 Club des Chefs des Chefs - Table setting
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Review – Iggy’s, Singapore
We heard a lot about this place and it has an interesting story. The restaurant is named after its founder, award-winning Sommelier and restaurateur Igantius Chan. His dream of opening his own restaurant was realized in 2004 and ever since, the cuisine has been based on his favorite travel and dining experiences. There is no head chef here, but rather a culinary team that creates the masterpieces good enough to earn them a second place in Miele’s 2009/2010 Guide and #45 in The S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. No doubt, we had high expectations for our dinner.
We booked the counter seating at this restaurant and it is worth requesting as its open counter like atmosphere is very different. The L-shaped counter seats 13 and it felt like eating at a sushi bar. Not quite an open kitchen, but a narrow glass opening gave us a good view of all the action inside.
There were only two choices for the fixed menu – take it or leave it. No à la carte and we were just presented with an eight course menu. However, they did try to accommodate and asked us if there was anything on the menu that we didn’t eat. We chose a bottle of wine to go well with all the courses, and went for a Burgundy – Domaine Arlaud 2004 Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru. A very good choice.
The amuse bouche looked like just a bowl full of foam (coriander actually). Underneath was something crunchy and it turned out to be pan fried shirako (cod fish sperm sac)! Well, not bad – surprisingly spicy and it helped wake up our palates.
Thin raw slices of Hirame (flounder) were mixed with burrata cheese, tomatoes and avocado. A good refreshing start to our gastronomic journey. The White Asparagus that followed was covered with a strong sauce (from duck, rocket leaves, Parmesan cheese and truffle) that slightly over powered the freshness of the asparagus. The Kokotxas (cod cheeks) reminded us of Chinese steamed fish with black beans; nevertheless the fish was very soft and ‘slimy’ in a positive sense. The highlight of the evening was the Lobster that was served with spaghettini in tomato and basil sauce…very fresh. The next dish was called Egg. Need we say more? Poached and mixed with white truffle powder, poultry jus and deep fried chicken skin, the combination was amazing. After R finished taking the photo, C had almost finished the dish! But this time, R was not far behind and both were gone very quickly. The main course was the Pigeon, which was unfortunately only so so. Nothing bad, but nothing great. However, the presentation with the pea purée created a work of art.
The pre-dessert was a Sweet and Sour. The strawberry sorbet and meringue was to cleanse our palates for the dessert. The name for the dessert, Soil, sounded a bit weird…and it was. It kind of reminded us of the “Soil” from the Krug Room. In this case, the soil was coffee and walnut powder mixed together. Served with banana and walnut ice cream, it was an interesting combination.
The petit fours was actually the best. A marshmallow covered with fine peanut powder. Yummy. A good end to an enjoyable dinner.
Maybe it’s always better to not read too much in the reviews and rankings. High expectations may not be a good thing. But it’s always best to try for ourselves.
– 17/20
Iggy’s
The Regent Singapore
Level 3
1 Cuscaden Road
Singapore 249715
T: +65 6732 2234
E: marcom@iggys.com.sg
W: www.iggys.com.sg
100403 Iggy's - Main entrance
100403 Iggy's - Bar dining area
100403 Iggy's - Logo
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Review – Gunther’s Modern French Cuisine, Singapore
This restaurant was found by searching the Internet and although we hadn’t heard of them, they are #7 on Miele’s 2009/2010 list. Located on a small side street, this was not your typical hotel restaurant, which might be a good thing. We were greeted warmly by Fabio, our waiter for the evening. We didn’t really study the menu much as the Menu Dégustation already caught our eye. At S$128/US$92 it was very reasonable…at least by Hong Kong standards. They were also very flexible and said that we could change our main course if we did not eat lamb. No problem for us and we stuck to the original menu.
Their wine list was also very extensive and the best was their wide selection of half bottles. We ordered a half bottle of 2006 Christian Moreau Chablis 1er Cru to match the first few dishes, but started off with a glass of Champagne to compliment the caviar in the first dish.
The amuse-bouche was a prawn tempura. We know we’ve been spoilt by Inagiku, so this tasted a bit bland. The first appetizer, cold angel hair pasta with Oscietra caviar was a very good start. Even when served cold, the pasta was still al dente! Amazing!!! The caviar went well with our glass of Perrier-Jouët Champagne. No wonder this is their signature dish. Next up was the grilled bamboo clam flown all the way from Scotland. Mixed with tomatoes and pilaf rice, this was a strong flavored dish. Kind of overpowered the freshness of the clam, but the end result was very good. The egg fondant with grilled mushrooms and Spanish ham was right down C’s alley…eggs! On the first bite, R immediately knew that C would love this dish…and he was right. Without a word, it was gone in no time. The combination was perfect. The egg was very smooth and the yolk was very runny and very rich.
Fabio saw that we had just started a half bottle of Pichon Lalande 1994, so he took the initiative to let us try the roasted foie gras with crushed candied almonds, another signature dish of theirs. This was very nice…made us have the urge to order a half bottle of d’Yquem. The rich Lalande did the job and we did have a main course to come. The main course, grilled lamb rack was in R’s point of view very good. But C commented that it was quite gamy (膻). Obviously, this word was not in R’s dictionary, so it didn’t bother him a bit.
The fine apple tart “à la dragées” was not what we expected. The two thin wedges did not look like your typical apple tart. But paired with the Havana rum raisin ice-cream, it was perfect. Of course, C had the French cheese…but no trolley here, just a small sample of four cheeses…a bit disappointed.
The service was remarkable and the food exceptional. Not too fancy, just fresh ingredients and great implementation by Chef Gunther Hubrechsen. Definitely worth a higher ranking on the Miele list in our opinion.
– 18.5/20
Gunther’s Modern French Cuisine
36 Purvis Street #01-03
Singapore 188613
T: +65 6338 8955
E: restaurant@gunthers.com.sg
W: www.gunthers.com.sg
100402 Gunther's - Amuse-bouche, prawn tempura
100402 Gunther's - Cold angel hair pasta with Oscietra caviar
100402 Gunther's - 2006 Christian Moreau Chablis 1er Cru
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