Classics for a birthday

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So we're doing another dinner for Hello Kitty's birthday, and when it came time to pick a venue, I was pretty surprised to see her choose Hugo's.  Not only have none of us been to this place, none of us have been to the original incarnation of the restaurant, either... So it was new to all of us, and I was pretty eager to check it out.

I've been eating nonstop lately, so I wasn't in the mood to take on one of the tasting menus on offer.  I struggled to come up with the list of à la carte dishes I wanted to order, as there were simply too many of those classic, middle-of-the-road dishes that we no longer see at many fine dining restaurants today.  These include steak au poivre, Lobster Thermidor, Crêpes Suzette... etc.  The restaurant is also famous for their many dishes prepared table-side - again harking back to the old days - so I was determined to order something in that category.

First came the bread basket, bearing three slices of garlic bread, among others.  It's been a while since I last had garlic bread, and these were really good.

Swimming scallops from Kamaishi

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I attended a very special dinner tonight - one that I feel obliged in sharing with the world.  No, it wasn't cooked by a celebrity chef at Michelin-starred restaurant, nor were we drinking some bottles of ultra-rare wines.  Rather, tonight's dinner was about doing good to help a community.

I've known about Senpai's involvement, initially through the community services group of his former employer, with helping to revitalize Kamaishi (釜石市) - a coastal city in Iwate Prefecture (岩手県) and part of the Tohoku (東北) region affected by the earthquake and tsunami of 2011.  Over the last three years I've seen postings of countless pictures about his visits to the region, including those taken while helping out at the annual Yo!sa Kamaishi Festival (釜石よいさ).  I've received postcards from the region, and even tasted some sweets from the region hand-carried to Hong Kong by Senpai.  He's devoted a chunk of his time over the last three years on this particular cause.

Last year he began helping one particular local business expand its reach, and started exporting some seafood from the region to Hong Kong.  One of our mutual friends has ownership interest in Ozawa  (小澤), and readily agreed to serve "swimming scallops (泳ぐホタテ)" from Kamaishi.

A few months ago, I received word from Senpai that the swimming scallops were now being offered at Heichinrou (聘珍楼).  The second-generation family member in charge of the Japanese restaurant chain's business in Hong Kong is actually Senpai's and my kohai from our high school in Tokyo, and he had agreed to help out with this worthy cause.  Unfortunately I never found the right opportunity to go and taste them, despite the fact that one of the restaurant chain's outlets is right across from my office.

When Senpai asked me to join this dinner a few days ago, I knew what this meant and immediately agreed.  Four years ago, just a month after the disaster, I wrote about two dinners that I had with friends with the specific goal of supporting Japanese restaurants in Hong Kong and Japanese produce.  The best way to help the people of the Tohoku region was to support their economy by buying their products and making them self-sufficient again.  Dining on these swimming scallops is one small way towards accomplishing that goal.

A disappointing star in the City

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Senpai was back in town for another visit, and a few of us joined him for dinner tonight.  I was tasked with choosing a venue that was NOT Fook Lam Moon (福臨門), and I decided to drag the gang out to North Point so we can check out Yuè (粵) in the City Garden Hotel.  I had dinner here a few years ago and it piqued my interest for a return visit, and I finally decided to come back tonight.

Once again, I was disappointed by the restaurant not having some of the dishes I wanted.  When it's one of the signature dishes you put on the first page of your menu, why are there so few portions of it around?!

Crispy bean curd with spicy salt (七味脆豆腐) - this was very, very bland.  I thought they'd at least use a little more shichimi (七味) powder, but they seemed to be pretty stingy on this...

Game on!

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Hello Kitty's birthday is coming up, and I asked her to choose the venue for her birthday dinner. To my delight, she chose to go to Amber for the occasion.  I have not been back to visit Richard for a while and had been meaning to find an opportunity to do so, therefore I quickly agreed to Hello Kitty's request while secretly yelling "YES!" in my head...

I hastily fired off an email to Richard in the middle of the night, hours before flying out on vacation, asking him to secure me a table while apologizing for not going through the proper channels (of booking with the restaurant directly).  I did mentioned that it would be to celebrate Hello Kitty's birthday...

So a couple of days ago I was trading messages with Richard, and he mentioned that they had started to serve their game menu.  I, of course, responded with an enthusiastic "YES" when he asked whether he should reserve a couple of portions of this limited offering for us.  While we all love Richard for his creative / fancy/ refined cuisine with the finest seafood and vegetables, the game dishes I tasted at Amber last year were truly amazing.

No sooner had we sat down than Sommelier John Chan came over to offer a complimentary glass of bubbly from Richard.  The Alfred Gratien Cuvée Brut Classique showed nice acidity, which was balanced with ripeness.

The "welcome drink" was tomato water infused with verbena, lemongrass, and fern.  Lovely fragrance along with clean and pure flavors.

Dama's birthday

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So... two days after my return visit to Tenku RyuGin (天空龍吟), I arrived at Ta Vie 旅 to sample the new dishes that Chef Sato Hideaki (佐藤秀明) wanted to show me.  The small gang of us all used to work together, and it's been way too long since we sat at the same table.  Tonight we would (belatedly) toast ILove Lubutin's birthday.

Sato-san asked me whether everyone has been here before, since he wanted to show us new dishes.  The entire 8-course menu ended up being new to me, although he did very kindly send us an old favorite...

Baby cuttlefish with ratatouille, potato and fennel cream - served on a beautiful glass dish, the 新甲烏賊 from Nagasaki (長崎県) has a nice texture which retains just the right amount of crunchiness and bite while still soft.  The cuttlefish itself wasn't really seasoned so one could taste the original flavors, but combining it with the ratatouille or the potato and fennel cream was also nice.