Sweet drinks (are made of this)

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I had been looking forward to the new desserts that Astoria and the team had been developing at Caprice, and had the idea of doing a casual dinner at the Caprice Bar where I could try them all at once. I had to wait a few weeks until the new desserts all passed their internal taste tests, which was apparently done over last weekend. So I got myself a table for tonight, allowing me to catch Hairy Legs before he left for the summer.

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Anyss greeted us upon our arrival, and he was pretty excited to show us the new cocktails and the presentation format. Since we're on his turf tonight, we decided to order cocktails with our dinner for a change.

I Can't Drive _ _

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It’s that time of the year again, and I’m grateful that Foursheets flew halfway around the world to be back for this dinner. Just as I did last year, I chose to spend this night at my beloved Ta Vie 旅, as there were a few dishes I really wanted to have.

I chose not to dine here during the period when they were serving their 10th anniversary menu, featuring their “greatest hits” since opening, so I knew there was a good chance I wouldn’t be able to have the exact menu served to me tonight. Sato-san did, however, agree to serve me some of those dishes as part of the special menu he selected for me – interspersing the classics between new, seasonal dishes.

I’m also grateful that such a fine dining establishment would be open for business on a Sunday with the chef in the kitchen. That made my choice of restaurant much easier.

Nukazuke (糠漬け) bread – this little bread has been part of the journey on every single occasion, ever since the restaurant’s opening. I shall never tire of starting the meal by tearing open this piping hot bundle.

Snacks with an Accent

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The Great One pinged me asking whether I'd be interested in attending a four-hands collaboration between Chef Shantanu Mehrotra of Indian Accent and Chef Gaurav Kulhari of Chaat. She would be in Europe for the festivities in advance of The World's 50 Best Restaurants, but had been told that she could pass along her invitation to someone else.

As Foursheets is halfway around the world, I needed to find a dining companion willing to put up with me for a couple of hours. Thankfully The Man in White T-shirt was available and curious enough, so I didn't have to be the loner for the day. 

We are treading on B Bestie's turf, so I wasn't the least bit surprised to find that lunch had turned into dinner service for us. Thankfully I don't have anything planned for dinner since I'm home alone. B Bestie also very smartly kept me away from the table he was actually hosting for lunch...

Khakhra, vatana, chutneys, from Indian Accent - the flavors of the Gujarati khakra (ખાખરા) shell were now familiar to me after the few visits I paid The Bombay East Indian Girl last year, and here we've got some peas inside, with yogurt and tamarind chutney, and finally bits of dhokla (ઢોકળાં) on top with a tiny piece of avocado.

Funky Aussies

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Monsieur Jamin and the Film Buff have been talking about doing a dinner where all the wines tasted would be Aussie. Not only that, these would include some very off-beat, small production, highly sought-after gems that most wine lovers have never heard of. They invited me to join their shindig and, since the cat's away this week, this mouse decided that he would play.

We took a private room at Ming Court (明閣) Wanchai for the ten of us. I am, of course, aware that there's been a Wanchai outlet for this well-regarded restaurant for a few years now, but this part of town remains largely off my dining map. I'm glad to have had the opportunity to see how it compares with the "original" in Mongkok.

We started the evening with the crispy trio (脆香三疊), which I thought was perfect as a snack to go with some wines:

Fried cashew nuts with garlic salt and black pepper (蒜鹽黑椒腰果)

Fried lotus root chips with salt (鹽香脆藕片) - this was perfect as a snack to go with our wines, as the flavors were relatively neutral but one could taste the oil used in deep-frying... and that's just so satisfying.

Sweetened walnuts (琥珀甜桃仁) - I can never stop eating these once there's a bowl of it within my reach...

Smoked with delicious fat

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One of the restaurants in Shenzhen that I had heard good things about is Fumée (拂鳴). I had yet to pay them a visit as I'm still in the discovery stage with regard to the city across the border, and I have naturally focused on restaurants serving various schools of Chinese cuisine. I figured I'd get around to it eventually. When Mr. Chichi asked whether I'd be interested in joining a group tasting on a Sunday night, it didn't take me long to say 'Yes'.

After taking a detour on account of my stupidity, we arrived at the restaurant just before the appointed time. Our group was seating along the counter facing the kitchen, and I had the good fortune to keep the Kitchen Nazi company. He's always fun with eat with.

Our evening started with some Champagne...

Christophe Mignon ADN de Meunier Brut Nature, dégorgée le 20 Mai 2020 - initially this was served much too cold, a common mistake, so there wasn't much showing on the nose except for a little minerals. Got a little better once it warmed up with a little more depth on the palate.

Chef Reina Chen explained that she was serving us a spring menu, with ingredients reflecting the flavors she associates with the season. We would start with something refreshing:

We were shown some of the 9 ingredients used to make our welcome drink, including cardamom and "leaves from the forest".

This smelled of guava and pine or cypress... definitely very green. Nice and refreshing.