Can someone please speak English?

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An invitation to dinner came from My Friendly Neighborhood Prime Broker, on account of their big boss passing through town. I was asked to recommend some places for the occasion, and after looking through a number of restaurants in Central offering menus within their official budget, I sent along a list of 5.

I was secretly hoping that they would choose one of the two places on the list that I've never been to, but we ended up at Plaisance by Mauro Colagreco. My last visit earlier this year was on the day before they received their Michelin star - with Mauro himself in the kitchen - and the food as well as execution was already much improved. I was hoping that they would at least maintain those standards, because we know Konishi Mitsuru (小西充) can cook. The question is whether his team would let him down.

Mindful of the expense budget, and wanting to cut down on my intake, I was more than happy with the four course menu offered.

Green apple and blood sausage macaroon - if you work at a restaurant bearing Mauro Colagreco's name, you should know that this is a macaron (with one 'o') and not a macaroon (with two 'o's) - as they are very different things. The ganache had something refreshing and crunchy inside, which I suppose was greeen apple... As I detected some cumin, I wonder if we had morcilla and not boudin noir.

2.0 of 2.0

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I had the good fortune (or was it misfortune?) of visiting the reincarnated Roganic on its second day of opening, and while that meal delivered some very tasty bites, I wasn't sold on the sharing concept for main courses... and it was also a heavier meal such that I felt stuffed for the first time. Well, they've apparently revamped the format, so I guess it's the 2.0 version of Roganic 2.0... or should it be version 2.1?

Once again, I was seated at a table with the ladies - and B Bestie didn't even show up himself and sent Giona instead. No peanuts tonight, then...

We began with three snacks, which were similar or identical to ones I had last time:

Oolong cured Himalayan trout, beetroot sand carrot and hawthorn - the cured trout came coated in smoked Oolong tea oil with some Oolong tea salt (WTF is THAT?!). The roll was made with dehydrated sand carrot, then stuffed with diced trout belly with salt-baked sand carrot with celeriac. Unfortunately the shell wasn't crispy anymore, but the filling was a little sweet thanks to the carrots.

Fish, shrimp, but no crab

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I haven't seen my friend for 9 years. He lives halfway around the world from me, and for one reason or another - the pandemic among them - we just haven't traveled to each others' cities since I last saw him in Hong Kong. He's taking an East Asia tour this month, and I finally got a chance to catch up with him and his wife.

Incidentally, he's one of the people who bailed out on my booking at the Chairman (大班樓) earlier this week, despite the fact that his wife has never been. As both of them are staying in New Territories, I figured I would pick somewhere that involves less traveling on their side. Much to my surprise, out of the two options I presented, they chose the one that involved significantly more trekking...

I last trekked all the way to Fanling (粉嶺) for dinner at Sun Hon Kee Restaurant (新漢記飯店) on account of another visiting friend. We grabbed a bigger group of people and had Brother Hon come up with the daily specials. For our casual lunch today, though, there's no need to bother the boss.

Pork tendon with shallot oil and soy dipping sauce (白烚豬前腿筋) - this is an absolute must. I have never not loved this dish. The meat is so bouncy and tasty... and so much fun to chew on.

Having a ball

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This would sound incredulous to many, but I had not one, but two groups of people bail on me for my dinner booking at The Chairman (大班樓) tonight. Thankfully I haven't run out of friends who would be excited to have the opportunity to dine here, so I managed to rope in a few more thanks to the Zhongmeister.

I was lucky we didn't have people with voracious appetites, so no extra dishes for us tonight. But on this visit, I insisted on getting the one dish I wasn't able to order on my last visit. A dish that was new at the time, which took me almost four months to be able to taste.

Crispy taro cake with smoked duck (茘甫鴨盒) - pretty tasty with that nice, smoky flavor in the filling. I wished the taro mash was more fluffy on top, though. That would have been even better.

Birthday on the mountain

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We're back in Taipei because, among other things, it's Dad's 85th birthday. I wasn't able to celebrate with him last year, so I was determined to do something nice this year. I had read about Noma's pop-up in Taipei at YMS by onefifteen, which had opened this year on Yangmingshan (陽明山), just next to the Parental Units' home. I figured the location made perfect sense for the Parental Units.

But YMS by onefifteen had been touted as a members-only club, with price of membership reported to be TWD 600,000. Well, I wouldn't use the membership often enough to warrant shelling out that kind of money, so I put that idea aside.

Then I saw Hairy Legs and Victor post about the place, and mentioned to Hairy Legs about the proximity of the restaurant to the Parental Units' home. I did not realize until then that onefifteen (初衣食午) is the group behind 1929 by Guillaume Galliot in Shanghai, so he offered to make a booking at YMS for me. I also didn't realize until recently that a good friend from high school was the interior designer behind both YMS and 1929 by Guillaume Galliot - which would explain why my long-lost friend has been posting pictures about both restaurants on his social media account.

I received an email from the group's F and B manager about my booking, and since he asked about dietary restrictions and preferences, I sent back a list of what we prefer to do without. I also mentioned that mom is sensitive to many chemical additives, which include MSG but much, much more. While fine dining restaurants serving western cuisine are generally less of a risk in this area, but one can never be too careful.

It's been raining on and off today, and although we left the Parental Units' home under a very light drizzle, it wasn't a surprise that the higher up we got on the mountain, the wetter it became. When we arrived at the entrace to the compound, there were staff with umbrellas on hand to escort us inside. But we had just reached Lab 10 - the casual dining / tea salon within the compound. We would need to trek a few more steps next door to Restaurant 12, where the fine dining restaurant is located.

Our table was right next to the wine cellar, and I had a good view of the open kitchen from my seat. Chef Jonatan Motos Ferrán came to greet us, and since Hairy Legs had recommended his cuisine, I felt assured we would be in good hands tonight. The menu is long with 14 courses - 17 if you count the 4 mignardises individually - and it's been a while since mom sat through a long, fine dining dinner... but I hoped she would still enjoy it.

We started with a series of four canapés:

Tomato ⁃ burrata ⁃ olive - not surprisingly, the meringue made with tomato water was a little sweet. The filling in the middle was made of burrata along with diced tomatoes and olives.