"Sustainable" cuisine

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I'm pretty free these days due to the fact that I am gainfully unemployed, and one of the consequences of my period of leisure is that I've accepted a few more invitations to freebie events, as long as I found the chefs or themes interesting. PR8 had messaged me two months ago about a so-called "Sustainability Champions Collaboration Lunch" (I love it when he uses big words), and at the time I told him that I was most likely gonna be "picking my nose" today, "so, can".

I didn't bother putting this into my calendar, so imagine my surprise when I received a reminder on this yesterday. After checking old message to confirm that I did, indeed, agree to show up for this event; and double-checking that my presence was, in fact, still desired; and having assured me that I would "sit with the nice people"... I somewhat reluctantly dragged my ass to Roganic for this lunch.

Since the time when I agreed to show up for this event, I had become more wary of all the bullshit around "sustainability". Don't get me wrong, for years I have tried to change the way I live my life in order to be more "environmentally friendly" and "sustainable", and I would love nothing more than having the whole word change their mindset. But I am also keenly aware of businesses - big corporations and small restaurants alike - throwing the word "sustainability" around and not "walking the walk". Cue this recent restaurant visit and this fluff piece on that very same restaurant.

I run into the Man in White T-shirt in his trademark attire on the way in, and pass by a couple of friends sitting together at a table in the main dining room. Today, however, a bunch of us are placed around a long time which straddles two of the restaurant's private dining rooms. PR8 was on hand along with the owner of the restaurant, and soon each of the four chefs participating in this event - Simon Rogan, Richie Lin, LG Han, and Jordy Navarra - delivered a short blurb on their work around "sustainability".

Local figs, whipped ricotta, hazelnut praline, by MUME - the fig from Zen Organic Farm was dressed in a guava vinaigrette that was made with the peeled skin of the guava being used for the pre-dessert later. This was just bursting from flavor. The ricotta was so-so on its own, but worked when all the elements are in the same mouthful. Nice crunch and fragrance from the hazelnut praline.

Yonomoto

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I'm not the most alert when it comes to special events at restaurants, as I often miss the email announcements that come into my various mailboxes while I'm busy at work. I've been lucky a few times in the past, but more often than not I just let these things pass me by.

I was moping around the house on New Year's Day, enjoying a lazy Sunday morning when I saw the email announcing the MONO X Toyo Eatery collaboration. I sent a message to the restaurant, fully expecting that no one would reply on a public holiday. When Hong Kong went back to work two days later, a reply did come and I managed to grab 2 seats for the event.

I haven't had the pleasure of meeting Jordy Navarra from Toyo Eatery before, although he has certainly received a lot of attention over the last few years. So I was really looking forward to seeing what he brings to the table. The good thing is that I knew this would be the kind of collaboration/four-hands that I like, where the chefs actually put their heads together to create each dish incorporating flavors from each team. The dishes are then unique to the event and not previously seen at either restaurant.

We had good seats at the counter for our meal, which allowed Ricardo and Jordy to come over from time to time during service. We also chose the wine pairing, and Mauricio was kind enough to offer me a couple of extras...

Krug Grande Cuvée, 170ème Édition, ID 221042 - more toasty on the nose than I remembered, but that's very, very classic Grande Cuvée. Pretty popcorn. Wonderful.

The replacements

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Sankala was faced with a dilemma.  Her lunch meeting was being postponed, but she was loathe to cancel her reservation at Le Bec Fin - having already done so once 2 months earlier.  So I agreed to join her for lunch, and grabbed Big Mac so we could introduce him to another place we like.

I chose 3 courses for lunch but decided to forgo the soup that I enjoyed last time.  I was more curious about one of the options for dessert!

Foie gras egg custard - OK, so I had this last time, too... except there were slices of white truffle in the winter. Still happy and enjoyable without.

No gold foil for me

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A few months after my less-than-complimentary comments on an invitational meal at HAKU, I am surprised to find myself once again seated at its L-shaped counter.  I was once again invited to a media tasting in advance of a collaboration, and this time the partner was Chele Gonzalez from Gallery VASK in Manila.

Given my last experience and the repercussions which ensued, I did ask both the PR and Agustin Balbi whether they really wanted me there today.  When the answer came back in the affirmative - and with Agustin's promise to give me even more gold foil - I accepted their kind invitation and crossed the harbor for lunch.

Once again we were served Duval-Leroy Fleur du Champagne Premier Cru to start our meal.  This being lunch on a weekday, I allowed myself just one glass.

Before the start of the meal, we were each asked about our dietary restrictions.  I decided not to say anything, because I figured that with The Great One sitting next to me, she could always take up any bluefin tuna or fish cum they might serve me...

Amuse bouche by HAKU:

Sausage / Polmard beef / dashi mayo - YAY!  Meat-on-a-stick!  And French beef, at that...  With a dab of dashi (出汁) mayo and some katsuobushi (鰹節) shavings on top.

Beetroot cone / ikura / dashi cream - YASS!  BEETROOT!  The Great One was worried that I wouldn't eat the beetroot, but honestly there was so little of it that it didn't really matter.  And the salmon roe would have overpowered the thin beetroot shell anyway.

Casual Filipino eats

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This morning my friend Susan Jung from the South China Morning Post put up a link to her review of Lab Eat, a new Filipino restaurant and bar.  She had raved about the place a few days ago, telling us it was the best Filipino food she's ever had.  Well, since I was looking for ideas on where to eat tonight in that general vicinity, I decided to go check it out for myself.  Purely coincidentally, my dining companion knows one of the partners who invested in the restaurant.

Filipino cuisine is one that I am completely unfamiliar with.  I haven't had the slightest urge to hit a Filipino restaurant in the last 20 years that I've been in Hong Kong, and my one and only trip to the islands was more than 25 years ago.  So yeah, this would be a little eye-opener for me.

The fact that there were only two of us severely limited the number of dishes we could try, but I was really looking forward to this experience.  Since neither of us know much of anything about Filipino cuisine, we both looked to our friends for suggestions - me picking dishes from Susan's review, and my dining companion from her Filipino friends.

We started with cocktails, and I ordered my current favorite - negroni.  This was OK, but I've really been spoiled by the ONegroni that I get at On Dining Kitchen and Bar.

Kinilaw na tanigue - this was described as "Filipino ceviche", which is kinda accurate.  The cubes of Pacific mackerel are mixed with vinegar and diced onions, chili peppers, ginger, and what seemed to be green bell peppers.  Lots of crunch here, and while the zesty acidity was expected, the strong kick from ginger was not.  My first bite included little bits of bird's eye chili that I didn't pick out...