Private dining, almost

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I did something terrible that I haven't done for a long, long time… In fact, I don't even remember the last time I did something like this.  I double-booked myself.

Two weeks ago I had arranged to meet some friends for dinner tonight.  As I had been busy traveling to Taipei for Mid-Autumn Festival, and then gotten busy preparing for my board meeting with the boss, somehow it slipped my mind.  And it didn't help that I wasn't responsible for booking the restaurant for our gathering, so the event failed to register and I never put it in my calendar.

A few days ago, I discussed dinner plans with another couple.  I wasn't very eager to go out for another meal, as I had already reached my weekly quota of cheat meals with the Sotheby's dinner.  My extremely kind and considerate friends decided that they would entertain me at home and cook up some simple vegetables and rice, so that I could stay within the boundaries of my diet.

So imagine my absolute horror when, while checking out some amazing pieces from Vacheron Constantin at Watches and Wonders this afternoon, I received a message reminding me that dinner had been booked at Kazuo Okada per my suggestion.  I realized right then and there that no matter what happens, I was going to have to look like a jerk and cancel on someone.

I decided to stick with my friends who made the reservation at Kazuo Okada, as I had booked them first.  I apologized profusely to the friends who were entertaining at home, and stopped by to deliver some contraband I smuggled in for them.

1971 Hasenklever Bonnes-Mares - nose a little dusty, but that could have been the glass.  Some black fruits like plums, a little leather.  Nose was somewhat decent but palate was very short.  Then again, I had just drunk some coffee so my tastebuds were not functioning anyway…

Watchmaking for idiots

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A few days ago I got a call from Tigger telling me to block out my schedule for this morning.  Through his connections to Richemont, he had arranged for a group of us to attend a "watchmaking class".  Given my interest in watches (well, I was pretty interested until recently…) he very kindly invited me to be part of his group.  So it was that I dragged myself out of bed on a Saturday morning, dispensed with my planned morning jog and hauled my somewhat-tired behind to the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Richemont had taken down an entire floor of the new wing and put on this massive "Watches and Wonders" exhibit, showcasing all of their brands.  As part of this big show, there are a couple of these watchmaking classes.  Initially I thought this would involved the group of us watching some watchmaker putting a movement together, but I couldn't have been more wrong…

Dinner with prince charming

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I'm not a celebrity gawker, nor am I easily impressed by the titles carried by aristocrats and royals, but I was most happy to accept an invitation to dine in the presence of a prince tonight.  My gracious hosts were Sotheby's and Domaine Clarence Dillon, and the dinner was meant to be a warm-up in advance of next week's auction featuring a parcel of wines shipped directly from the Domaine.  While there were undoubtedly some guests who were most excited about meeting a prince, for me the real stars tonight - with all due respect to Prince Robert of Luxembourg - were the wines.

It was certainly a privilege and honor to be able to taste ex-château stock of Haut-Brion and La Mission Haut-Brion, especially from some of the best vintages from the last century.  I had been looking forward to attending this dinner ever since I found out from the Specialist that an invitation was forthcoming.  It would, in fact, be the high point of my social calendar this month.

Lobster with Bird

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I wasn't supposed to have another cheat meal so soon, but the little bunny typhoon messed up my dinner plans last night.  I was meant to have met up with My Favorite Birdbrain Cousin and her parents, and would have chosen some place Chinese so I could be a good boy and stay within the boundaries of my diet.  No such luck.

While I would have preferred Chinese and ordered a big bowl of rice with some blanched veggies, Birdbrain insisted on going to On Lot 10.  I was hoping that there wouldn't be a table available, but the girl got lucky and actually got a table for us.  That meant I would definitely make this a cheat night, since there's no way I could ever keep to my diet with David's food… Damn!

I let Bird do the ordering, but warned her about having "eyes that are bigger than her stomach" - 眼睛比胃口大.  I don't think my warning had any effect… and thankfully I insisted that one main course would be enough for us.  I had asked David to decide whether we should have the daily fresh seafood or the paella, and David had chosen to serve us his very special paella… which never ceases to blow me away each time I have it.

A ho-hum third visit

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Time for my big cheat meal of the week.  We had set up this dinner the last time we met in Hong Kong, and I was looking forward to visiting the new location of Shunsai (旬採), a restaurant I liked in Taipei.    This would be the second Japanese meal for me this week, as I try to get my fill of good value Japanese while I'm back home.

We were seated in one of the private rooms equipped with an induction table for hot pot, and the space seemed a little small for us.  I guess real estate is a precious commodity…

The waitstaff dropped off the amuse bouche and left without a word.  WTF?!  Maybe they thought we were too engrossed in conversation to care about what we were eating?  When I asked our waitress what it was we were having, she simply said: "sea urchin".  No shit, Sherlock!  I can see there's sea urchin on top, but what else was there?

Tofu skin (湯葉) and sea urchin - the tofu skin was from Kyoto, and there was a sprinkle of perilla flowers on top.