Froggie's birthday

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It was the Resident Froggie's birthday today.  Surprisingly, she didn't have any plans.  Since no one should spend their birthday alone, I asked her to drop by the office after market close to hang out.

She shared some of her chocolate cake with us, a gift picked up by the Angry Working Mom at La Maison du Chocolat.  I popped open a bottle of 2003 Moët & Chandon Grand Vintage Rosé, and the two of us slowly drank it over the next couple of hours listening to Tears for Fears.

At some point we decided it was time to grab some food, so we strolled over to Sushi Kuu (寿司喰).  I haven't been there in a couple of years, so was happy to go and have a casual meal.

We started with some wagyu tataki (和牛タタキ), which surprisingly came in thin slices like carpaccio.  I guess I shouldn't expect things to be too traditional here.  The beef itself was fatty and tender, sitting on a bed of onions with that wonderful dressing... Mmmm....

Then came some grilled wagyu beef tongue.  Nice and tender inside, and nicely grilled without much charring outside.  Nice on its own, with a dab of grated yuzu chili, or even with the mustard sauce.  Not the best I've had, but decent enough to make me happy.  The greens on the side were pretty nice.

Grilled Japanese tuna collar was not bad.  The menu shows this to be hon maguro (本鮪), which means that the tuna was actually fished from the waters around Japan.  Lots of collagen here...making the flesh very juicy and slides around my tongue.  Froggie and I both agreed that the best tuna collar we've had was from San San Trois, although neither of us have been back for quite a while.

I ordered the braised Japanese pork belly (黒豚角煮) as an afterthought. Unfortunately, this was kinda disappointing.  I could see it as soon as the dish was laid down on the table. The color was way too light...which means it didn't have enough flavor since the soy sauce marinade didn't have enough penetration.  We playfully shook the plate, and the pork didn't wobble...at all.  That meant they didn't cook it long enough, and sure enough everything was just too tough and not tender enough.  Why bother serving pork fat that is not soft, tender and juicy?  Even the skin was a little too chewy.

We shared some cold sanuki udon (ざる讃岐うどん), which turned out to be a little unnecessary as we were already full.  I do like the chewy consistency of cold udon, though...

We decided not to have dessert, as we'd already had plenty of good food and wine on this casual evening.  I think it did turn out to be a pretty good day for the froggie after all...

Twenty years of Araujo

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I was honored tonight to be in the company of Daphne and Bart Araujo, who decided to spend the last night of their Asian tour with us.  It also happened to be the 20th anniversary of their purchase of the famed Eisele Vineyard, so this was indeed a special evening.

My friends at Altaya Wines organized the dinner at the Summer Palace (夏宮), which is apparently the first wine dinner with Chinese food for the Araujo wines.  I haven't been to the restaurant in a number of years, and took this opportunity to revisit the cuisine. 

We started the evening with a flute of 2000 Pol Roger Brut, which went down very quickly...I didn't even bother writing down any notes.

Baked stuffed crab shell (焗釀鮮蟹蓋) - this was very, very yummy...one of the best crab shells in town, probably on par with the one from Fook Lam Moon (福臨門).  There was enough veggie inside to balance out the crab meat and not make the whole thing too heavy.

2009 Araujo Estate Sauvignon Blanc - lots of green apple in the nose, on top of minerals, sweet vanilla and tropical fruits like bananas.  This is actually made with both Sauvignon Blanc and Sauvignon Musqué - a more perfumed clone of Sauvignon Blanc - with a little bit of Viognier.  Daphne says they only use around 25% oak, and the oak is not toasted but immersed in water.  This is an awesome wine, and one of the best values around I believe. 

Braised bamboo fungus with vegetables (竹笙扒時蔬) - interesting that this veggie dish should be served at the start of the meal.  Very ho-hum...

2004 Araujo Estate Syrah Eisele Vineyard - exotic tropical fruit, sweet and very ripe fruit, a little smoky with forest and pine needle notes.  Still reasonably tannic but starting to soften and becoming silky.  The Viognier is co-fermented with the Syrah, as Guigal does with its La Mouline. 

Sautéed Japanese pork fillet with supreme fungus (榆耳百合香炒黑豬肉) - this was OK, with sugar snap peas and lily bulbs providing sweetness to the dish as well as crunchy texture to the soft fungus and pork. 

2005 Araujo Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard - Wow!  I never expected a wine this young to be so elegant, silky and ready to drink.  A little smoke and cedar and forest in the nose.  Sweet on the palate with a lovely finish.  Towards the end there were coconut butter and tea leaves notes.  Such a pleasure to drink...  but my last two drops - after about 3 hours - saw the wine dive off a steep cliff and died...  I guess the wine can stay in glass for only so long...

Sauteéd Australian beef fillet with garlic (蒜片澳洲牛柳粒) - I always find garlic a little distracting in terms of wine, but the dish itself was fine.

2002 Araujo Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard - nose of roast duck, really ripe and sweet...even a little chocolate?  Some eucalyptus later.  It's from a big and hot vintage, and you can still feel the tannins but you know it's just going to get better with age.

Roast Peking duck (北京片皮鴨) - this was not bad, although with a table this big, we only had one slice of duck in each of the two pancakes... too "dainty" for me as I usually stuff a couple of slices in for more of that game meat flavor.  I added some sauce but left out the raw scallions, as it would have completely killed my palate for wine...and I wasn't gonna show the Araujo wines any disrespect!

1997 Araujo Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard - initially a huge nose of menthol, with Asian spices, game meat and smoke.  Very, very smooth now, with a wonderful acidity balance.  I've always known that Araujo wines are elegant, but for a wine from this blockbuster vintage this has to be an outlier.  I do remember that my last bottle drunk in NYC more than 3 years ago was also really elegant and understated.

Fried rice wrapped in lotus leaf (飄香荷葉飯) - a pretty good way to end the meal.  I must have been hungry, because I pretty much inhaled the bowl of rice in about a minute or less... I was wondering whether this particular dish (with soy sauce and some seafood ingredients) would be a good match for the wine, but I need not have worried.

1992 Araujo Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard - my favorite wine of the evening.  Initially some star anise, with sweet fruit, cedar/sandalwood, pencil lead and mint/eucalyptus.  What a wonderful wine, and more elegant and open now than the '97.  Acidity is higher on the finish, but soooo lovely.  What a great effort for the winery's second vintage!

Chilled mango pudding (芒果凍布甸) - lots of mango chunks inside.

Araujo Estate Grappa - not being on Araujo's mailing list, I never heard about the existence of this.  I asked Bart about it and he simply said that he loves grappa, so they decided to make one.  I've had some pretty rough grappas out there, but this was very, very smooth.  Nose of pear, a little medicinal and white grape raisins.  Very enjoyable to drink.  Gotta get myself a couple of bottles, and re-evaluate my opinion of grappas altogether...

This was such an enjoyable evening.  Needless to say the wines themselves were a pleasure to drink.  Daphne and Bart are just a lovely couple...very gentle and affable.  I remember first reading about them in Wine Spectator's article on Californian "cult wines" (April 30, 2000 issue), and in all the press photos they always appeared as a couple together.  I also like that their business card says "Bart and Daphne".  In the end I wasn't enough of a groupie and didn't ask to take a picture with them, which I do regret a little...  I hope to have a chance to spend some more time with them in the future!

Les Copains lyonnais

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The day has finally arrived.  We had planned a lunch based on the cuisine from Lyon, since I kept talking about my love for andouillette and wanted to go to Chez Les Copains.  So the simple hunt for a sausage turned into a special affair involving a whole group of foodies (and a couple of winos).

Our amuse bouche was fried duck crackling.  Kinda like pork rinds, except smaller pieces and less puffy.

Grenouille à la Robuchon - these were simply sublime... frog legs encased in panko and deep-fried, served with both parsley and sweet garlic purée.  I took the first one in two bites, then proceeded to scoop up the remaining sauce in the bowl with my finger.  When the second one came, I didn't hesitate and finished it in one bite.

Quenelle de brochet - the quenelles made from pike were nice and soft.  Served with sauce nantua with just a sprinkle of paprika.  Absolutely lovely.  The last time I had something served with sauce nantua was at Le Train Bleu in Paris, which also serves Lyonnaise cuisine, of course.

Tête de cochon - wow... this was just awesome.  I looooove head cheese, and this particular version left me speechless.  The sight of the male elf holding the roll was just beautiful.  It was absolutely delicious as a cold cut, and I couldn't resist having a few more pieces.

The majority of this was pan-fried and served with pickled relish.  I know the acidity of the relish was supposed to help balance out the fat and greasy taste, but that's exactly what I love!  On the side of the dish we had pig brains pan-fried and served on toast.  Very creamy.

Andouillette, andouille, and sweetbreads - this was what I came for... the 5A andouillette, pan-fried and cut open to reveal that wonderfully pungent smell of pig intestines.  No mustard for me, thank you very much.  Nothing should distract me from the original flavors.  The andouille was also interesting, as it was heavily smoked and was served in thin slices.  Sweetbreads were good but nothing compared to the sausages.

I was reasonably full, but there were desserts coming.  First up was tarte bourdaloue, that yummy pear tart.  Very, very yummy, and I couldn't resist having 3 slices...  Wonderful.  Baked in honor of the resident Froggie.  Wish I had room in my stomach for more.

Bugnes lyonnaises - simply deep-fried dough sprinkled with powdered sugar.  Kinda like a funnel cake, and similar to 麻花 in Chinese cuisine.

This being a weekend lunch and all, of course there was going to be wine!

1988 Jacquesson (disgorged July 2006) - woody, toasty nose with honey, lemon citrus, smoky notes with a hint of straw.  Kind of sweet on the palate, which is surprising given there was no dosage added.  Brought by a friend.

2004 Kongsgaard VioRus - I was a little worried when I pulled the cork, because the cork was a little musty and, well, I was afraid that the wine would be corked.  But the wine turned out to be fine.  Lots of honey and apricot, with some minerals and metallic notes.  Sweet on the palate with the slightest hint of tartness on the finish.  The wine has been aged for a few years, so the fresh, floral scents one normally gets from Viognier is gone.  But I love aged white wines for their oxidized nose, and especially this one for the sweetness.

2006 Bernard Morey Chassagne-Montrachet Vieilles Vignes - I started drinking this about 2 hours after pulling the cork, and initially was very disappointed.  I thought I had breathed it a little too long and the wine was flat.  I ended up dunking it in the ice bucket for a while to cool it down, and sure enough, there was significant improvement.  Sweet nose of strawberries and minerals.  Still a little tannic on the palate.

It took us three hours to finish this very enjoyable lunch.  My thanks to Bonnie for the hospitality, and of course thanks to the elves for cooking this wonderful meal for us!  Finally, andouillette in Hong Kong!

Mad World

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The resident Froggie invited me to join her for a concert tonight.  Tears for Fears were in Hong Kong for the first time, and I thought it'd be good to listen to some of my old favorites live.

As I left the office this evening, I mentioned to my new colleague that I was going to see a concert.  I hesitated about telling her the name of the band, since she was born just a few months before "Shout" was released as a single... I was pretty damn sure that she'd never heard of these guys, and I was right!  Yes, I feel old...

After being on foot in the standing section in front of the stage for more than 45 minutes, the hall went dark and a choir recording of "Mad World" started playing.  When they turned on the lights, I could see Curt singing while Roland played the guitar.  The first thought that came to mind was how old these guys looked... I of course still remember how fresh these guys looked back in 1984, but that was more than 25 years ago... These guys are pushing 50, and then I remembered how old that made me...

The follow up was "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", which got the crowd going early.  They band mixed up the set and played some of the songs I didn't know so well, and the crowd calmed down a little.  A second, more "original" rendition of "Mad World" came and was an instant crowd-pleaser.  One of the surprises of the evening was a low-key cover of "Billie Jean", which we liked a lot.

The band left the stage at the end of the regular set, and the crowd started chanting the chorus to "Shout" as we waited for the encore.  I've never been to a concert where the crowd used lyrics from a particular song was the chant for the encore...  As the band returned to the stage a couple of minutes later, Roland stood in front of the mic and said "Enough!"  Was he cringing at the way we mangled their song, and just wanted us to stop?

I had long given up hope of hearing my favorite Tears for Fears song, which unlike many people isn't "Shout" but "Woman in Chains".  Oleta Adams wasn't here, and I didn't see any female backup singers on stage.  Michael Wainwright to the rescue... I didn't think much of his singing when he was on stage before the main show started, but for this song he sang in falsetto, and the result was pretty impressive.  If I closed my eyes I could almost believe a woman was singing...



The final song of the concert was, you guessed it..."Shout".  The guys almost didn't have to sing any of the chorus, since the whole crowd was chanting it.  It was a pretty good way to end the show, and for the first time during the concert I didn't mind having the crowd around me sing along with the song and drowning out the vocals of the band...

The SCMP survey on "world's best restaurants"

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Last week I wrote about my take on the 2010 edition of the San Pelligrino "World's 50 Best Restaurants".  There has of course been lots of discussions around the world, including among my friends.  My friend Susan decided to do a survey locally, and the result was published in the South China Morning Post today.  I was privileged to be included in the polling group.  I have reposted the first part of it here, including my "top 5".  Original article is available here (requires subscription to scmp.com).

HK food experts name their favourite restaurants

We invited local food experts to name their best restaurants. Some of the choices were surprising

Susan Jung Updated on May 06, 2010

Every year around this time, food lovers get into heated, but ultimately futile, discussions following the release of the annual San Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants list, published by Restaurant Magazine. This year, Francophiles were upset that the top restaurant in France, Le Chateaubriand, came in at number 11. Four of the top 10 spots were restaurants in Spain, but the famed El Bulli was toppled from first place - which it had held for the past four years - by Noma, a small restaurant in Denmark (foodies in that country were ecstatic). To get an idea of what the results would have been if the panellists consisted only of Hong Kong voters, we took a poll of local food lovers - seasoned restaurateurs, food bloggers and gourmands who travel the world in search of good restaurants - to pick the places they consider "best", using the same parameters as the San Pellegrino guide (see The rules of voting below).Actually I've been doing my own "global top 10" for the last couple of years, and updated it about a year ago. With the additional rules Susan imposed, it was easy to take out the ones which didn't qualify and instantly come up with my "top 5". My list and comments are certain to draw criticism from many corners. But it is my strong belief that despite all the passion Hong Kong has for food, there are way too many great restaurants in this great wide world of ours. Had I traveled more extensively in the last 12 months, there may not even have been any Hong Kong restaurants on my list. Any trip to Tokyo or New York and it's sayonara Hong Kong! But that's good news for us living in Hong Kong, because it means there's always room for improvement! Much to my surprise, I found there was little consensus. It was obvious from the choices which countries the voters had travelled to recently - one of the rules is they had to have visited the restaurant in the past 18 months. But even with the pick of local restaurants, where I expected quite a lot of overlap, there was just one repeat nominee - Fook Lam Moon, the upmarket Chinese restaurant known as the "tycoon's canteen" - and both voters chose the Wan Chai branch (which is considered to have the better food). And while voters could choose up to three restaurants in Hong Kong, only one did so. Food blogger Peter Chang says: "I just don't think [local] restaurants are as good as those I found elsewhere. It's not the service, it's the food - some of them can be hit and miss. Fook Lam Moon is consistent - whether or not you're a regular. If you're not a regular there, you won't know about the special, off-menu items but it's still good. "For me, being the best has to do with creativity - the food has to be good, but what impresses me is when they have new dishes and new ways of doing things. All my top picks are creative - they experiment; they serve the tried and true, but they also serve dishes with the 'wow' factor. A lot of Chinese restaurants don't have that." One of the rules is that panellists could vote for no more than three in our "region" of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan - but Judy Yu was the only panellist to pick the maximum number. Food stylist Vivian Herijanto, who has a diploma in culinary arts from the Institute for Culinary Education in New York, says she picked only one local place - Robuchon a Galera, the Michelin three-star restaurant by multi-starred French chef Joel Robuchon, at the Hotel Lisboa in Macau. "Chinese restaurants don't give you the `experience' or ambience and aren't as accommodating. The really expensive places have good service but if you go anywhere else, the service isn't great and they're too noisy." Two Chinese restaurants Herijanto likes for food and service are One Harbour Road at the Grand Hyatt, and the Four Season's Lung King Heen, which controversially was awarded three stars in the Hong Kong Michelin guide (many local gourmands say the food is not on par with the ambience). "Lung King Heen isn't like other Michelin three-star places I've been to," she says. "The view is great and the ambience is really nice for a Chinese restaurant. But you can't compare it to the Alain Ducasse Plaza Athenee, which is gorgeous. But that's in Paris and this is Hong Kong - and it's hard to compare non-Western with Western." I've been one of the "official" panellists for the San Pellegrino guide since 2006, when Restaurant Magazine expanded the voting pool to include people from outside Europe. As for my picks: I didn't travel as much in the past year - only to Istanbul and France, bypassing my usual favourite restaurants in Paris and going straight to the southwest, where I cooked at a friend's house or ate only at inexpensive places. Of the five top places based on where I've eaten over the past 18 months, three of them are also on the lists of our panel here - Robuchon a Galera in Macau, The Chairman in Central and Fook Lam Moon. But I have two of my own, both in Turkey - Seasons restaurant at the Four Seasons Istanbul at Sultanahmet ( tel: +90 212 402 30 00) and Muzedechanga (tel: +90 212 323 09 01). Peter Chang, food blogger (chi-he-wan-le.blogspot.com) Restaurant de l'Hotel de Ville, 1 Rue d'Yverdon, Crissier, Switzerland, tel: +41 21 634 05 05 "My four-hour lunch at Philippe Rochat's restaurant was simply mind-blowing. Everything was so nicely done, with lots of Asian elements which worked really well." Michael Mina, 335 Powell Street, San Francisco, United States +1 415 397 9222 "My solo dining experience here was absolutely perfect, with a great wine-pairing to boot. Every dish was superbly executed, and the service - from knowledgeable staff - was incredibly refreshing. Pierre Gagnaire, 6 rue Balzac, Paris, France, tel: +33 1 58 36 12 50 "I've always loved Pierre Gagnaire's ability to blend Asian elements into his cuisine and make things work. Dessert at Pierre Gagnaire is truly an affair, and the wine list has plenty of real bargains." Caprice, Four Seasons, 8 Finance Street, Central, Hong Kong,tel: 3196 8888 "Hands down, the best French restaurant in Hong Kong. The creativity is apparent, although the cuisine is more traditional, and the cheese selection is second to none." Fook Lam Moon, 35-45 Johnston Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong, tel: 2866 0663 "Food here is consistently good, from made-to-order dim sum items to one of the best roast suckling pigs, as well as many off-menu items known to the regulars."