A long and excruciating dinner

Pin It

It has, once again, been way too long since my last visit to Bo Innovation.  I've been thinking about going to the "new" location ever since they moved, but somehow the place just doesn't come up enough in conversation with friends.

A few months ago Mama Bear pinged me and asked for her.  Bear and his BFF have been working on a cookbook with recipes from Vancouver area chefs, and the idea was to raise money for a local food charity.  They were looking for someone to write the foreword to the book, and Mama Bear asked me whether I had any contacts with Alvin Leung.  As a matter of fact, I did have a way to connect with Alvin, and The Manchurian very kindly helped put Alvin and Tigger together.  It wasn't long before Alvin very kindly lent his support to the project.

A couple of weeks later, Alvin held a talk for the launch of his book My Hong Kong.  I figured it was only right to show my support by buying a couple of copies and getting them signed - so I could give a copy to Bear.  It's an interesting book and clearly a labor of love - which Alvin said has been in the works for some 8 years.

The Manchurian pinged me last week and invited me to dinner tonight.  Apparently Bo Innovation is launching a new menu, and as I had turned down quite a few invitations from him, I figured I would try to make it tonight.

The 6 of us were placed in the Aberdeen Room, which is right next to the open kitchen.  It's too bad that the lighting here was so poor, because it definitely had an impact on all of my pictures tonight...

The new, concise I ❤️Hong Kong menu was already in front of us, and featured the outline of the top of Lion Rock (獅子山) running down one side.  It's pretty clear from everything around us that Alvin is really trying to showcase his version of the Hong Kong story.

Smell my granny - you gotta admit that this is a pretty strange name for a dish... and I cracked a poor joke about what might be coming our way.  As it turned out, this wasn't a dish to be eaten, but just the wet naps with which we were to prepare our hands and fingers for what comes next.

So this was to introduce - to young people and those who are not from Hong Kong - the Florida Water (花露水) so often used by our grandmothers' generation.  In this case it came from Two Girls (雙妹嚜) - a brand established in Hong Kong at the end of the 19th Century.  And yes, I did see Florida Water in my grandma's bedroom when I was growing up...

10 days in 3 cities day 8: 25 more emojis

Pin It

It was gonna be another long night.  Dinner was due to start at 9:30 p.m., so naturally we started our evening 8ish at Wet, Vladi's new baby next door.  My friend has finally realized his dream of being the owner of a bongwater natural wine bar, and in spite of all the shit I give him about his bongwater, I am really, really happy for him.  I even brought him a special bottle of bongwater from home.

I've seen many people post about Wet, so I am well-aware that one enters through a space designed to look like graffiti-filled toilet.  As luck would have it, our Thai restauranteur friend from lunch was also here, so we asked him to join us at the table Vladi reserved for us upstairs.

I knew that Vladi would want to show me some of his treasures, but I also warned him that The Dining Austrian isn't a fan of bongwater... so I was pretty curious what he would do.

2008 Marguet Sapience - this is a brut nature, so I wasn't surprised at the high acidity.  The nose was nice and caramelized.

2016 François Rousset-Martin Cuvée du Professeur Sous-Roche - very oxidized and caramelized on the nose, a little beeswax, but kinda flat on the palate.  Meh.

2015 Muster Sgaminegg - kinda fruity on the nose, almost like pineapple.  Lots of acidity here.

Our local friend isn't having dinner with us, so he ordered a bowl of curry to go along with drinks. He very kindly shared a few spoonfuls with us so that we could have a taste. Pretty damn tasty for sure. Meanwhile, the girls behind me ordered a bowl of noodles, and the smell kept drifting in my direction and making me hungry...

It was time to move to dinner, so we went downstairs and through the passage away linking Wet to Gaggan.  I've been sitting in the Lab during the last couple of visits, so it's been a while since I was last seated at the chef's table looking into the kitchen.

Bangkok 2017 day 5: decoding Gaggan Anand

Pin It

Having sung happy birthday to the birthday boy in front of a crowd at the unofficial after party in the wee hours of this morning, the Great One, Hello Kitty, and I are back at Gaggan.  At our Gaggan x Den dinner a few nights ago, after giving him a special birthday present, Gaggan Anand very kindly invited the three of us back for dinner tonight.

When we arrived for our 6 p.m. seating, sommelier Vladimir was in the house but looking a little worn out from party last night (or should I say this morning?).  Gaggan was nowhere to be found, but we all know he had a rough night after the unofficial after-party he threw after winning the top spot of Asia's 50 Best Restaurants for an unprecedented third year in a row.  Thankfully he showed up soon after, and actually looked pretty together - unlike the picture he posted on social media.  We were once again seated in the Lab area of the restaurant, which was deliberately kept at about half capacity in light of the staff suffering from some serious lack of sleep...

We were treated to the latest menu, which was now represented by 25 emojis - one for each course.  The number of courses has increased since I was last here, and the portion sizes have gotten smaller; meanwhile according to Gaggan, the flavors have become more focused and pure.  It is interesting to note that about 40% of the menu was developed for Gohgan, his frequent collaborations with La Maison de la Nature Goh.

Bangkok 2017 day 2: a painfully long dinner

Pin It

I'm on a mission to check out more fine dining Thai restaurants in Bangkok, and among the usual suspects - at least for us tourists - is Sra Bua by Kiin Kiin.  This sister location of the Danish restaurant holding a Michelin star for its modern Thai cuisine sits on the ground floor of the Siam Kempinski Hotel Bangkok, and the very high ceilings here provides a nice and relaxing feel while dining.  This feeling of tranquility was enhanced by seating us in one of the booths with very high backs - helping to shut off some of the noise from our surroundings.  Unfortunately, neither the service nor the cuisine were relaxing.

I had gotten some unenthusiastic feedback from a couple of friends who had tried the cuisine here before, but I was undaunted.  I'm a big fan of chefs who try to deliver modern versions of traditional cuisines with long histories - especially when molecular/modernist techniques are involved - so I was always curious about this place.  Tonight was the opportunity to check this box.

Our welcome drink of chilled lemongrass and pandan tea seemed to be a popular choice among restaurants in this city, but thankfully it's also one that I love.

There was never any question that I would be taking the "Journey" tasting menu, which includes 10 courses preceded by a number of bites.  Halfway through the menu, I would come to the realization that this was simply too much food to stomach.

Bangkok 2017 day 1: the most anticipated dinner of the year?

Pin It

I'm blessed to be able to call Gaggan Anand a friend.  I've been a big fan of his cuisine since first getting a taste of it about 2½ years ago, and my fondness has only increased with my visit to his restaurant last year.  He's been extremely nice to me both in person and over social media, and I'm very grateful for his kindness.

I always knew that I would take Hello Kitty to Gaggan on this trip, but when I found out via Instagram posts from the two chefs that Hasegawa Zaiyu (長谷川在佑) from Den (傳) was going a 4-hands dinner with Gaggan in Bangkok, it didn't take me long to ask my friend to save seats for Hello Kitty and I at this special collaboration.  And since the Great One was gonna be in town at the same time, we decided to go to the special event together.

I had never had the pleasure of dining at Den, but given all the glowing reviews from the Great One and plenty of other friends, it's been on my list of places to hit in Tokyo for some time.  This would be somewhat of a preview...

16 hands with 20 stars

Pin It

Tonight I had the privilege of attending the first gala dinner organized by the Michelin Guide and Robert Parker Wine Advocate for the launch of the 2017 Hong Kong Macau Red Guide.  Word came two months ago that a dinner had been organized to feature 7 chefs - 6 of them with a collective 20 Michelin stars at their restaurants - with decent wine pairing to boot (now that RPWA is in partnership with Michelin Guides).

The price of MOP 5,750, while not exactly eye-popping, was certain to make people think twice - at least for mere mortals like myself.  It wasn't the most expensive dinner I've ever attended and paid for, but it certainly came in at above average.  I considered the concept of a dinner where each chef only contributes one dish - one chance to impress the diners - then the fact that each chef would be serving a large quantity of the dish at the same time, and decided that the cost (together with the time required to travel to/from Macau) was above my comfort level.  The chance of not performing up to my (admittedly high) expectations was too great.  So I was happy to sit this one out.

Then I received an unexpected email from the PR team at City of Dreams, with an invitation to attend the gala dinner at Studio City.  I would have to leave the office early and take the ferry across to Macau, but this wasn't an invitation one turns down lightly.  So I happy accepted their kind invitation, took Friday afternoon off, went home to change into my penguin outfit, and boarded the ferry.

I arrived at the Grand Ballroom at the start of the cocktail hour, took the opportunity to thank the people at the City of Dreams, and also met up with friends doing PR for the event.  They very kindly asked if I wanted to interview any of the chefs, but I told them that "I'm just here to eat."  The chefs were already being hounded by the media for photos and interviews just before dinner, and I wasn't important enough to make further impositions on them.

Return to Thailand day 3: the Best Restaurant in Asia

Pin It

So this was it.  My most anticipated meal on this trip.  The Best Restaurant in Thailand, and the Best Restaurant in Asia - that is, according to Asia's 50 Best Restaurants, sponsored by S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna and announced just 2 nights ago.

I became a big fan of Gaggan Anand when I went to his pop-up in Hong Kong.  He was doing something that was unique and very appealing to me - using modern cooking techniques to present traditional flavors... in this case Indian cuisine.  To me, he's the Indian counterpart to Alvin Leung of Bo Innovation... only better.  Because of my self-imposed exile from Thailand for the last few years, I was never able to come to Gaggan, his eponymous flagship restaurant in Bangkok - until now.

I pinged Gaggan and told him I was finally making my way to Bangkok, and we made arrangements for me to come to dinner tonight - since he would be busy with his obligations with Asia's 50 Best Restaurants for the previous few days.  I scheduled my trip to accommodate tonight's dinner, because there was no way I was leaving town without dining here!

Since both the Great One and HaoKouFu had already dined here a few days ago, I was faced with the prospect of dining alone - which isn't ideal, but I'm a big boy and I've done it plenty of times.  So when the Jet Setter pinged me last night and told me he was in town, I was only too happy to invite him to join me for dinner tonight.

I showed up at the restaurant before doors opened at 6 p.m., and got a warm welcome from Gaggan himself.  He very kindly seated us at one of the chef's tables with a view of the kitchen, and gave word to the restaurant manager - who goes by the simple nickname of 'A' - to take care of us.  This was gonna be fun!

Even though I normally don't drink wine with spicy food, I decided to take the sommelier up on his offer of a few glasses.

2014 Willi Schaefer Graacher Riesling feinherb - acidity was pretty high here.  Dry on the palate but there is ripeness on the finish.

Dinner starts with a series of snacks, which we are asked to pick up with our hands... as no cutlery is provided.  No fork use, but no problem!

Dewdrop - I had seen pictures of this posted over the last couple of days, and was really looking forward to this beautiful dish.  Made with grape juice, aloe vera, and (sansho? 山椒) flowers.  I rolled it into my mouth just like a giant dewdrop, then popped the membrane with some pressure.  Incredibly refreshing and clean flavors.  What a great way to kick off dinner!

elBulli : A Tribute by Amber

Pin It

About a month ago, I returned from a long roadtrip in the US, fired up my computer, and saw a tweet about Richard Ekkebus getting Ferran Adrià to come to the Landmark Mandarin Oriental.  Being a HUGE fan of Ferran's, I immediately fired off a tweet to Richard, jokingly asking him "who do I hv 2 kill 4 a seat?"  Richard rather cleverly suggested that I "shoot" an email to him, and so I did as I was told.  Soon I had myself a table, and went about recruiting partners in crime.

There was some debate among my friends about whether the price of the dinner was "worth it" or "reasonable".  I gotta admit that when I first found out about the cost of dinner - which was, admittedly, AFTER I had asked for a table - I experienced a little sticker shock myself.  First of all... this was a book tour by Ferran.  Everyone gets a set of the massive elBulli 2005-2011, the seven-volume compendium published by Phaidon that weighs a whopping 18kg...  This presents a problem for some couples, who don't need 2 sets of books at home... and has led at least one couple to decline my invitation.

Stripping out the list price of the books makes the cost of the 12-course dinner, wine-pairing included, somewhat more palatable.  But here we run into another objection from some people : for the not-inconsiderable price, what's on the plate isn't actually cooked by Ferran or his team.  It's a menu put together by Richard and Amber Chef de Cuisine Maxime Gilbert - in consultation with (and obviously "approved by") Ferran.  So it's not exactly equivalent to a "guest chef" performance.  What you get comes 100% from Team Amber (with all due respect from this very fine team).

Comparisons were immediately made with the time Thomas Keller flew in with his team for a guest chef program at the Mandarin Oriental, and how diners experienced sticker shock back then (including myself, before later being told how much free-flowing wine was being poured at those dinners).  People scoffed this time just as they did back then.

But plenty of people wanted in on this.  Richard was jokingly being compared to Willy Wonka - holding the "golden ticket".  Lots of people were more than happy to pay, only to be left empty-handed and upset.  That's what you call "star power", and only a few people in the culinary world today command that kind of power.

As for me... even though I knew the cost of the dinner defied normal logic, but having been a huge fan of Ferran for the last 10 years (and having become an even bigger fan after having dinner with him two years ago), I dutifully bit the bullet and paid up.  I wasn't gonna miss this!

The touring chef

Pin It

Tonight was one of those rare occasions when I accepted an invitation from a PR to attend a tasting.  Most of the handful of invites that come my way really aren't all that interesting, but this was different.  Chef Alain Devahive Tolosa - whose cuisine I first came across at my dinner with Ferran Adria - is embarking on an Asian tour with Ritz-Carlton Hotels, and for the next few days he's at Ozone in the Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong.  This guy's one of Ferran's disciples, and I wanted to see what he's up to after parting ways with the guys at Catalunya.

We started the evening with a couple of cocktails at the bar...

This melon cocktail - done as a spherification - was served on melon cubes topped with bits of jamón serrano.

The sangria was served with a layer of fruit foam, along with thin slices of strawberries and kumquat.

The noisy winter dragon

Pin It

Babu pinged me out of the blue yesterday, asking me when we would be going back to the "Japanese restaurant".  She was due to fly out in a couple of days, so I wasted no time in rounding up the troops and quickly made a reservation at Tenkyu RyuGin (天空龍吟) tonight.

Takano-san was off tonight, but I was pretty sure we would be well taken care of.  I was very much looking forward to having their winter menu for the first time.

Monkfish liver from Hokkaido and "aka" clam with spring onion in mustard miso sauce ("スペシャリテ" 北海道 "極上あん肝" と "赤貝" のからし酢味噌和え) - an interesting start, with cubes of rich and smooth monkfish liver paired with beautifully scored slices of ark shell.  Served with slices of radish, spring onions, a sauce made with white miso and egg yolk, and julienne of yuzu (柚子) zest.

Week of not collecting Michelin stars: Bo Confusion

Pin It

I've been a long-time fan of Alvin Leung's cuisine, having first visited his place at Gilman's Bazaar back around 2004.  It's also one of the restaurants I often recommend to visitors.  But for someone who's supposedly a fan, I certainly haven't been there much lately.  In fact, my last visit was more than 4 years ago, so a return visit is certainly long overdue.

The PR for the restaurant has been kind enough to extend me invitations for visits, repeatedly over the last few months both for Bo Innovation as well as MIC Kitchen.  Unfortunately timing has never worked out for me, and in any case I am more than happy to go on my own dime.  After such a long absence, I kinda wanted to go in under the radar... and check things out as a "regular" diner.

But with this restaurant, it's not always easy finding a dining companion.  People either love or hate the food, and people also either love or hate Alvin.  And with the pricing of the various set menus, it's a little expensive for someone to bet on.  Fortunately My Favorite Cousin is always up for some good food, so I had no difficulty in roping in my accomplice for this mission.

I was running late and arrived a few minutes after my cousin, who was seated but hidden from view.  The staff at the entrance didn't seem too keen on the idea of me going around the place looking for my cousin, so they asked for the name of the reservation.  I told them my last name and also spelled it out.  They can't find it.  Was I sure about the name? Then they repeat my name back to me, with the wrong vowel.  I repeat my name again.  Eventually they managed to find my name on their clipboard, and lead me to the right table.  When a restaurant with Michelin stars can't find your reservation - even after someone else from the same party has already arrived - you kinda get the feeling that there's more trouble ahead.

I had checked out the menus on the website, and while I preferred the Tasting Menu myself for some of the items listed there, I wanted to see if my cousin could order the Chef's Menu, so that we could swap dishes and taste a greater variety.  Well, apparently that is simply too difficult for this 3-star kitchen to handle.  If we wanted to take different menus, we would have to take the Chef's Menu and the Chef's Tasting Menu - the more expensive two out of the three - because there was more overlap between those two.

Well, I didn't feel like paying an extra USD 100 for a more expensive menu simply because the kitchen couldn't be bothered to time themselves better, so I decided that we'd both take the cheapest Tasting Menu, without any extra dishes requiring supplements.

Our amuse bouche came in a paper bag, and we ripped it open to reveal Alvin's version of one of Hong Kong's beloved street foods - gai daan jai (雞蛋仔).  These egg waffles were slightly sweet, but with bits of Yunnan ham (雲腿) and spring onions inside.  These were a little greasy and pretty finger-licking good.  The only issue we had with it was that the two "halves" didn't stick together and separated.

Gaga for Gaggan

Pin It

It's been almost six years since I began my boycott of Thailand - for their government's inhumane treatment of the Rohingya which began two administrations ago.  Given that I haven't stepped foot in the country for more than a decade, it's natural that I haven't paid any attention to what's new and hot in terms of restaurants in the country.  Names like Nahm and Bo.lan simply appear as blips on the edges of my radar and quickly fade away.

The first time I read about Gaggan was from Scubagolfer, and he wasn't particularly impressed with all that foam.  Afterwards I once again told myself that I wasn't missing anything by not going to Bangkok, and wondered whether once again the people responsible for San Pellegrino's The World's 50 Best Restaurants had somehow hyped the place up...

US excursion 2014: the seven year itch

Pin It

This is one meal that is 7 years overdue. On my very last trip to New York - which was, unbelievably, eons ago – I was all set to go to wd~50. I had made it to the high temple of molecular gastronomy, elBulli, the year before, and had heard a lot of good things about Wylie Dufresne’s place. Unfortunately for me, I came down with a massive case of toothache that day, and was in no shape to take in anything other than liquids that required no chewing. I called the restaurant with a heavy heart, told them I had to cancel last-minute because of my toothache, and left the city with more than an ounce of regret.

Tonight, on my one and only night spent in the city on this trip, I was determined to right this wrong. Initially my friend had suggested we go somewhere else, and because I didn’t wanna be difficult – and I was open to try out other suggestions – I was happy to go along with her choice. However, when I found out a week ago that Wylie announced the impending closure of the restaurant due to the premises being redeveloped, I knew it was now or never. Fortunately, my friend was able to get us a table.

It took a little longer than expected for me to walk over from the Mondrian Soho to the restaurant, passing through parts of Chinatown and the heart of Little Italy along the way. The place was pretty unassuming, and I could see why the place was getting redeveloped.

There were two menus on offer, and I was thankful that my friend agreed to do the longer, regular tasting menu with me. The shorter one had only half the number of courses and would have left me with a lingering sense that I hadn’t gotten the full picture.

We started with these paper-thin sesame crisps. Really yummy thanks to the sesame seeds, and with just the right amount of salt for flavoring.

US excursion 2014: Salty molecular Chinese in Chicago

Pin It

Tonight was always gonna be the highlight of this trip.  As soon as I found out that the conference was gonna be in Chicago, Alinea became the must-do dinner.  And as soon as the restaurant opened up their June bookings on April 15th (OK, I lied... I was drunk on the evening of April 15th, so I didn't book until the 16th) I visited the website and got myself tickets for tonight.

The main worry about tonight, though, was whether Mo' Unni and I would be fighting jet lag during dinner.  I would arrive only 1 day earlier, and Mo' Unni would be arriving only hours before.  Would either or both of us be falling asleep at the table?

We arrived at our appointed seating time of 5:30 p.m., which would be the second time I'm having dinner this early at one of the world's top restaurants this year (the other being dinner at Sukiyabashi Jiro).  I'm at least grateful that I didn't overindulge at lunch, so I had plenty of stomach space.

Anyway, after we walked through the front door and down the dark corridor, we entered the actual foyer and were led to the entrance to the kitchen.  I paused for a couple of minutes, taking a picture while observing the action within.  No Grant.  Not unless he shaved both his head and his facial hair.  Oh well...

After confirming that neither of us had dietary restrictions - and I would have bet money that Mo' Unni had to have at least a few things on her list - we sat back and waited to be hit with 16 courses over the next 4 hours.  And since Mo' Unni wasn't in any shape to do any serious drinking, I decided to try out the restaurant's wine pairing - which would consist of 10 different wines.

Playdate with Uwe, episode 2

Pin It

It's been more than a year since our incredibly fun dinner with Uwe, and an email came around asking if another gathering was in order.  We were reminiscing about some of the Art Basel-related creations, and debated about visiting around that time to see what fun stuff Uwe would come up with this year, but unfortunately the lot of us just couldn't get our act together in time...

So we came back to the Mandarin Grill + Bar tonight, ready for another fun evening.  When Uwe asked me what I wanted for tonight, I asked him simply to surprise us.  I never doubted him for a second.

First came a bunch of nibbles, beginning with anegg sabayon made with mushrooms - and there were definitely some tasty chunks at the bottom of the shell.  We debated about whether the shells were from real eggs or not, but I don't think they were...  Anyway, these were really delicious.

Playing with dirt (and water, and air)

Pin It

I received a ping this morning from Chef Richard Ekkebus of Amber.  Would I be interested in joining the Azurmendi/Aziamendi pop up tonight as his guest, he asked.  To be perfectly honest, I had known about this pop up for a while, but hadn't planned on going.  I was looking forward to a night off tonight, since I was scheduled to be dining out 4 times over the next 5 nights.  But Richard isn't someone you wanna say 'no' to, especially when he's kind enough to extend an invitation like this.

So I happily said 'yes', and scrambled for the next 2 hours to borrow the right camera equipment from someone, since I foolishly left both of my SLRs at home.  Thankfully I do have a few friends with SLRs lying around, and one even got her driver to deliver it to my office.

I've always been a fan of molecular gastronomy.  Yes, the guys who brought you foam, sous vide, spherification and all that fun stuff.  Guys like Ferran Adrià of elBulli, and his countless disciplines. Well, Chef Eneko Atxa likes to play with lab equipment, too.  In addition to the syringes, circulators, steamers and dehydrators that everyone else has, he's also been known to use ultrasound to infuse and concentrate flavors, not to mention putting together a system to capture the smell of fresh herbs being cut.  Mad scientist?  Maybe.

I arrived at Amber Bar at the appointed time, and immediately ran into a few good friends.  We were all to be seated at the same table, and had among us blogueurs, been-there-done-that ex-bloggers, wannabe blogueurs, hell-no-I-am-no-bloggers, professional chefs, home chefs... and a couple of VVIP stragglers who found themselves sitting at what Da Jam once called "the cool table".  This was gonna be fun.

Grosset Brut Excellence - not a bad way to start the evening... Nice and a little toasty.

Truffled egg - I'd seen Richard post pictures of this earlier in the day, and I finally got to see it for myself during the cooking demonstration.  Raw egg yolks are placed on serving spoons.  The sac is pierced with a syringe, and half of the yolk is extracted.  Hot truffle broth is then injected into the sac, which has the effect of cooking the yolk remaining inside.  Very fun.  Very yummy.

The first of autumn

Pin It

Remember that 3,000-calorie dinner (actually two within the space of a week) I had not so long ago?  Methinks tonight's dinner definitely blew that away… by a very wide margin…

The last time we met, my friend the Krug Lover and I discussed the possibility of booking the Krug Room so he could try it out.   He was pretty excited at the prospect, so I checked with Uwe on the next available date and - after ruling out an earlier date because of a pre-existing conflict - settled on tonight. I figured we needed a reasonably big crowd, so I asked Krug Lover to invite a few of his friends while grabbing a couple of mine.

I arrived at the Mandarin Oriental, got upstairs and walked through the Chinnery as I normally would.  I wasn't expecting to be stopped by a bouncer, who informed us that the room wasn't ready.  They were preparing a surprise for us, and we would only be allowed to enter the room once everyone has arrived, as we needed to be surprised simultaneously.

So I was dutifully led back outside, where we were seated in the bar section of Mandarin Grill + Bar, and served our first glass of Krug while waiting for the whole gang to get here.  Unfortunately, that was gonna take a while because My Favorite Cousin was running pretty late.  So I sat down and took a few sips of Krug Grande Cuvée…

Once more for old times' sake

Pin It

Mr and Mrs Locust are doing a tour of Asia, and came into town today for a few days.  We were debating about which restaurant to visit, and somehow in the end Catalunya came out on top.  I had been very happy with my first visit last month - even though the focus that evening wasn't on the food itself.  I was pretty excited about going back, as it would give me a chance to see how the restaurant would do on a "regular" evening.

I left the ordering to Mrs. Locust, not wanting to push them into ordering anything in particular… other than a couple of things I really enjoyed from last time.  We ended up doing tapas only, which I think is fitting given the positioning of this place.

Pa amb tomàquet - a.k.a pan con tomate, which we had with slivers of Cantabrian anchovies on top.  Perfect balance of flavors.

Playdate with Uwe

Pin It

It's been a while since my last dinner with Fergie, and I thought it'd be a good idea to arrange another get-together.  This time, though, I pulled in a couple of mutual friends to make the party a little bigger... in the hope that it would be even more fun.  I think that turned out to be a pretty good call, if I may say so myself!

I had been wanting to go back to the Mandarin Grill + Bar for a proper meal, and my lunch last month provided a glimpse of what such a meal would be like.  Thinking that we should do something a little special, I called on my VVIP friend Tigger to set me up with Chef Uwe Opocensky, who very kindly arranged a special tasting menu for the evening.  I think we'll all remember this meal for some time to come.

We started with a few nibbles:

Ketchup cookies with shaved Parmigiano - I must confess that I found the Parmigiano shavings really yummy and full of flavor.

Dinner with Ferran

Pin It

How do I even begin to describe this evening?!  If my birthday dinner at elBulli was not the apex of my culinary experience, then tonight certainly would have been.  What exactly am I raving about?!  Well, tonight I had the rare pleasure of dining at the same table at Ferran Adrià - sitting 2 seats away from the man himself!!

The Specialist had informed me months ago that they were getting a consignment from the cellars of elBulli, and that there would be some special events held around the auction.  I was really looking forward to the auctions, especially the "lifestyle" lots which comprise of the utensils actually used at the restaurant.  I was already pretty psyched to have received an invitation to the cocktail reception before the auction.

Last week I received even more exciting news.  Apparently there were some last-minute openings at an exclusive dinner with Ferran himself, and would I be available on this particular evening?  Hello??!!  Who do I have to kill for this?!  Isn't that a no-brainer?  I promptly changed my flight back from Taipei so that I would not miss this momentous occasion.  I do have to thank Apple Daily for interviewing me about the upcoming auction of the elBullicellar through Sotheby's, as that was the real reason for me receiving this invitation...