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I had been helping Ms. Hurricane plan her big party, as she needed an "in" with
Restaurant Petrus. Well... The Chef Who Tries to Kill Me always whines that I don't love him, that I only love Hairy Legs... blah blah... so I took the opportunity to introduce Ms. Hurricane to him. It is totally reasonable that my friend needed a "taste test" before committing to hosting her big party at the restaurant, so we came for a preview tonight.
I was the first to be seated, and since my lunch wasn't that filling, I had arrived with stomach growling. I mentioned to The Chef Who Tries to Kill Me that "I hesitate to tell you that I'm hungry..." because, well, saying those things in his presence has consequences. I also advised him to keep things reasonable on account of my friend, and he promised to "let us off easy."
I was pleasantly surprised to see Nicolas in the house, as he had just joined the team mere weeks earlier. I felt instantly at ease having a familiar face look after us.
Most of the dishes tonight would come from the current "Summer Dinner" menu, with the addition of a special dish designed to match the wines which would be opened at the upcoming party. I was brimming with excitement and couldn't wait for the food to arrive.
We started with a series of nibbles:
Truffle and beef tartare tart - we've got some acidity with the tartare along with some crunchy shallots. I could taste the umami and flavors of the sea from the tart shell thanks to the presence of kelp.
Smoked eel and caviar - the
sablé at the bottom had absorbed too much moisture from the sour cream by the time I picked it up, and it crumbled into two halves. Nice blend of smoky flavors here, with the salted eggs being balanced with acidity.
Flower and herb waffle - the wafer was no longer crunchy by the time I bit into it, but that's the difficulty of being in Hong Kong in the summer.
The
herb dip on the side was like
raita (रायता) with diced cucumber and herbs in yogurt.
Gazpacho - this was very nice and refreshing, with full flavors and a good dose of acidity without being overpowering.
Grissini baguettes - not the traditional
grissini but I actually prefer these...
For some time now the restaurant has been making their own
butter from buttermilk shipped in from Brittany. These are then beaten tableside with
tapes à beurre into their serving size. Tonight we had both a salted butter and also one seasoned with spring onions. The latter was very popular with my friends.
Vegetable X.O sauce - definitely had a spicy kick the way "regular" X.O sauce would, and it tasted like onion chutney with balsamic vinegar.
Pesto croissant roll - VERY tasty.
Oyster: Fukuoka / Ebisu / 3 flavors - I had already had a taste of these Karatomari Ebisu Oyster (唐泊恵比須かき) on my last visit, although the toppings tonight would be different.
Pickled ginger and coriander - nice briny flavors but also showing sweetness of the oyster.
Japanese tomatoes and strawberries - the acidity from the tomatoes was nice, and this also had a little kick.
Gin and tonic with cucumber - the
granité made with gin and tonic was very nice and refreshing, and I certainly tasted the alcohol. This worked to partly neutralize the brine.
Caviar: Maison Kaviari / eggplant / hairy crab - the presentation box for the Kaviari Kristal caviar was brought tableside so that the little black pearls could be added to the hot dish just before serving. The Chef Who Tries to Kill Me remarked that he didn't want to lose to Hairy Legs when it came to dishing out caviar to me, so he made sure there was plenty.
So we had kamo eggplant (賀茂茄子) from Kyoto which was barbecued with miso to give off lovely, smoky flavors. We also had Japanese horsehair crab (毛蟹) and sake. Very nice and gave one that warm and fuzzy feeling...
Lobster: Brittany / beetroot carrot / elderflower - grateful that "my favorite vegetable" did not show up on my plate, and instead I had heirloom carrots. The sauce was made with lobster and chicken stock, which was really nice as it had good depth of flavors. It was rich but not too heavy, with some nice citrus flavors.
The
homard bleu de Bretagne was delicious, as expected.
Amadai: Fukuoka / zucchini / saffron - zero surprise that the tilefish (甘鯛) was done as
urokoyaki (鱗焼き) to make sure the scales get crispy. The fish itself was, of course, very tender and delicious. Served with zucchini and a sauce made with fish stock, zucchini, and saffron. Tasting the
vin jaune in the sauce always brings a smile to my face.
The zucchini flower was stuffed with some ricotta.
Next came the special dish that was designed to pair with our wines. It looked like a big hunk of... I had no idea what... presented with hay strewn all around.
I thought maybe Wa had trouble cutting this open...
Yes, there were whole black truffles baked inside with the duck legs, along with carrots and chunks of celeriac.
The black truffle, carrots, and potatoes were plated together with the duck leg, along with duck jus. Served with more black truffle shaved on top. I always love having duck leg, and this was a nice way to do it.
We also had some
duck consommé with vegetables inside. I keep repeating the phrase of "warms the stomach as well as the heart", but it's also true of this.
Even though we were pretty stuffed by now - and Ms. Hurricane had clearly reached her limit - I could not resist when The Chef Who Tries to Kill Me mentioned that he's got some of my favorite olive wagyu I had requested earlier. So I asked for two portions to be shared among the four of us.
A5 olive wagyu: Kagawa / matsutake / broccolini - the
jus came with vinegar made with "pine from last year"... which just shows the sorry state the kitchen is in because they can't even afford to get some fresher pine...
I'm led to believe there are only two locations in town serving the "olive-fed wagyu" from Shodoshima (小豆島) in Kagawa Prefecture (香川県), and it's something that both Foursheets and I really love. It's very, very, very tender... and while it's marbled and has the texture that seems to melt like butter, it's less fatty than many other Japanese wagyu we often see. So, sooooo happy to have tasted this again.
There was a choice of two desserts, and since Foursheets can't take either of them, I decided to have both!
Mango: Miyasaki / coconut / croissant - that's a pretty-looking Irwin mango from Miyazaki Prefecture (宮崎県)... or is it?
Underneath the chocolate shell, we do have diced bits of fully-ripened mango (完熟マンゴー), plus some crunchy crumble along with lots of shavings of green lime zest.
The "croissant" was meant to be made into an ice cream sandwich, but I totally forgot...
Artichoke: lavendar / chocolate / ice-cream - so this is a sweet version of the dish that we've seen here a few years ago.
Not foie gras inside this time, but chocolate.
The "olives" were made of lavender and honey, and drizzled with some
El Mil del Poaig olive oil. So fragrant!
As if we didn't have enough food, we finished with some
mignardises...
Madeleine - served with
chantilly on the side.
French melon - forgot to ask where this came from, but it was very juicy and ripe.
Chocolate tart - with rosemary and raspberries.
The Chef Who Tries to Kill Me very kindly started us with some bubbly. Krug, of course!
Krug Grande Cuvée, 172ème Édition, ID 223024 - lovely classic nose of toasty brioche, along with some white flowers and floral notes. Surprisingly the acidity wasn't sharp on the palate the way it tasted a few weeks ago with another bottle from the same Krug ID.
As this was meant to be a "preview" for the upcoming party where a bunch of red Burgs (and possibly white Burg) would be served, I proposed that we bring Burgs for dinner tonight.
2013 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Meursault 1er Cru Charmes - a bit of toasty oak and nuttiness on the nose. Good acidity on the palate. Showing very well right now. Almost 2 hours in we finally got the buttery profile typical of white Burgs, along with lots of toasty popcorn.
2013 Perrot-Minot Chambertin-Clos de Beze - served without decanting around 4½ hours after opening. Nice fruity notes with plenty of cherries, eucalyptus, and mint. Very fragrant on the nose. Tasted terrible with the lobster. After more than 6 hours the wine was showing very well, so fragrant with nice, herbal notes.
2009 Robert Groffier Chambertin Clos de Beze - served without decanting nearly 5 hours after opening. This was soooo beautiful! Such amazing sweet fruit on the nose, along with some leather notes. Really fucking awesome after 6 hours, and this was sooo expressive!
2014 Lucien Le Moine Bonnes Mares - served without decanting around 4½ hours. The nose was reasonably fragrant but a little chalky and dusty. Nice and clean on the palate, though, and the fruit was still there underneath the chalky notes. After nearly 7 hours the dustiness cleared up and the nose was much nicer.
While my friend may not have intentionally tried to kill us tonight, it was still too much food. Maybe I shouldn't have touched any of the bread tonight. I was very happy with what we had, and more importantly, Ms. Hurricane was very, very satisfied. So I will look forward to her party in a few months...
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