Sine Qua Non toast, part 10

Pin It

It's been more than 2 years since this gang sat around a table and guzzled bottles of a beloved cult wine. I guess we were just all busy with our own stuff and no one got around to organize something. Once again I became the instigator, and this time we managed to round up enough people for a proper dinner. I was pretty happy that H-man was around and could join this dinner, and we've shared a few bottles of Sine Qua Non over the years.

I didn't want to be the one picking a restaurant this time, so after a few rounds of suggestions, we settled on Jiangsu Club (江蘇銘悅). I was once a big fan in one of its former incarnations, but I haven't been back in almost 9 years. I was really looking forward to seeing how the food would be after all this time.

A couple of the guys seem to be regulars here, and we collectively put together a pretty big menu for this big night.

I can't resist these seaweed peanuts (苔菜花生), especially when I'm hungry.

Chilled chicken in chilli peppercorn sauce (江南麻辣口水雞) - this is... not exactly Jiangsu cuisine... and normally I would expect this to be pretty spicy. Not the case tonight.

When a billion people know your face

Pin It

H-man is back in town for a few days, his first trip here since 10 years ago. As Rice and I took him to Neighborhood on that visit, we figured it only made sense to do the same this time around. Little did I know that The Kitchen Nazi had become such a celebrity since the premiere of the popular Chinese TV show, that tables at Neighborhood are now difficult to come by.

Since I had booked my table with Shirley, The Kitchen Nazi had no idea that I was coming tonight... until I mentioned it to him yesterday. That would have an impact on the selection of dishes I would be getting tonight.

We started with a tea session at Rice's office, where he poured me some tea for my cold, as well as giving us a taste of some Taiwanese green tea harvested in the 1930s...

We arrived before our table was ready, so the three of us stood against the bar while trying to stay out of the way of the staff and other diners. Coincidentally, DaRC and Ro Ro are also here tonight - in the company of Dashijie. This would turn out to be kinda fun later, as we were seated at neighboring tables.

Pine nuts - the boss was also on the same mushroom foraging trip in Yunnan as the three chefs from last night, and once again we have roasted pine nuts to start our dinner with. These were very, very good.

Avant voyage

Pin It

I must admit to being a little surprised when I received an invitation to a "6-hands collaboration" in Shenzhen. Chef Alessio Durante of Opus 388 at the Mandarin Oriental Shenzhen and Chef Jerry Tian of Avant were taking turns hosting dinners at their respective restaurants, and they've invited Chef Paul Marcon - son of Regis and the latest winner of Bocus d'Or - to come all the way from Restaurant Marcon. I've never had the pleasure of visiting Saint-Bonnet-le-Froid, and I thought this would be an opportunity to get a glimpse of what one could expect at the mothership. Similarly, I was also a little curious about Avant.

Everyone else was already in Shenzhen eating their way around town, so only two of us got picked up by the car at the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong. The trip across the border was quicker than expected, and we arrived at Avant with plenty of time before our dinner was due to start.

Well... the others did eventually show up, and I got to hear all about the drama from someone's trip to Yunnan with the three chefs...

We started with the sourdough bread from Avant and a tomato and rosemary focaccia from Opus 388.

Mushroom butter - made with a variety of mushrooms the chefs had brought back from their trip to Yunnan.

One last dinner at Metropol

Pin It

When my friend announced the impending closure of his family's Metropol Restaurant (名都酒樓) after 35 years, one of the first things that popped into my mind was to organize a dinner for a group of our school alumni. We've had a few gatherings there over the years, since the boss is one of us. I managed to round up about a dozen of us whose classes spanned 32 years, and even invited Kutsuyama along since Sacred Heart and St. Mary's are kind of sister schools.

The boss very kindly arranged a menu for us, and as a classic Cantonese banquet meal, it included shark's fin. I was happy to give my portion up.

Roasted whole suckling pig (鴻運乳豬全體) - it's pretty common for banquet feasts to start with roast suckling pig, so I was pretty happy to see this.

Ro ro e vino

Pin It

We took advantage of DaRC being back in town for a few weeks to catch up with him and Ro Ro over dinner, and this time I proposed going somewhere that Foursheets has wanted to try for some time - Carna by Dario Checcini. Foursheets has always liked a good piece of steak, and of course Ro Ro would not have any objections to having lots of ro ro (肉肉)…

The ride up to the restaurant on a high floor at The Mondrian in an observation elevator provided a nice view of Victoria Harbour, and instantly puts one in a good mood.

One is offered a choice of welcome drink at the reception area, and I chose the house cocktail over a glass of Chianti poured from a traditional fiasco. We are not at Dario’s place in Panzano, and I was saving my palate for the wines we had brought ourselves.

I left the ordering to DaRC, as he has been here before – and has visited Dario’s in Italy. Every now and then, it’s nice to not have the responsibility of ordering for the table.

First up was the focaccia and the [squid ink] carta da musica. This was accompanied by some pickled vegetables.