Avant voyage

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I must admit to being a little surprised when I received an invitation to a "6-hands collaboration" in Shenzhen. Chef Alessio Durante of Opus 388 at the Mandarin Oriental Shenzhen and Chef Jerry Tian of Avant were taking turns hosting dinners at their respective restaurants, and they've invited Chef Paul Marcon - son of Regis and the latest winner of Bocus d'Or - to come all the way from Restaurant Marcon. I've never had the pleasure of visiting Saint-Bonnet-le-Froid, and I thought this would be an opportunity to get a glimpse of what one could expect at the mothership. Similarly, I was also a little curious about Avant.

Everyone else was already in Shenzhen eating their way around town, so only two of us got picked up by the car at the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong. The trip across the border was quicker than expected, and we arrived at Avant with plenty of time before our dinner was due to start.

Well... the others did eventually show up, and I got to hear all about the drama from someone's trip to Yunnan with the three chefs...

We started with the sourdough bread from Avant and a tomato and rosemary focaccia from Opus 388.

Mushroom butter - made with a variety of mushrooms the chefs had brought back from their trip to Yunnan.

One last dinner at Metropol

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When my friend announced the impending closure of his family's Metropol Restaurant (名都酒樓) after 35 years, one of the first things that popped into my mind was to organize a dinner for a group of our school alumni. We've had a few gatherings there over the years, since the boss is one of us. I managed to round up about a dozen of us whose classes spanned 32 years, and even invited Kutsuyama along since Sacred Heart and St. Mary's are kind of sister schools.

The boss very kindly arranged a menu for us, and as a classic Cantonese banquet meal, it included shark's fin. I was happy to give my portion up.

Roasted whole suckling pig (鴻運乳豬全體) - it's pretty common for banquet feasts to start with roast suckling pig, so I was pretty happy to see this.

Ro ro e vino

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We took advantage of DaRC being back in town for a few weeks to catch up with him and Ro Ro over dinner, and this time I proposed going somewhere that Foursheets has wanted to try for some time - Carna by Dario Checcini. Foursheets has always liked a good piece of steak, and of course Ro Ro would not have any objections to having lots of ro ro (肉肉)…

The ride up to the restaurant on a high floor at The Mondrian in an observation elevator provided a nice view of Victoria Harbour, and instantly puts one in a good mood.

One is offered a choice of welcome drink at the reception area, and I chose the house cocktail over a glass of Chianti poured from a traditional fiasco. We are not at Dario’s place in Panzano, and I was saving my palate for the wines we had brought ourselves.

I left the ordering to DaRC, as he has been here before – and has visited Dario’s in Italy. Every now and then, it’s nice to not have the responsibility of ordering for the table.

First up was the focaccia and the [squid ink] carta da musica. This was accompanied by some pickled vegetables.

Louise et maman

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I've been dining out a lot this week, with a total of 4 big dinners out, and I have a brutal schedule starting the latter half of next week, so I was kinda looking forward to having a quiet night at home by myself this evening. My digestive system and waistline could definitely use a break. But things don't always go according to plan, and Hairy Legs messaged me today to see whether I would be free for his collaboration with Jan Hartwig.

Well, I would have answer a foodie call like this from very few people, and Hairy Legs happens to be one of them. So the plans of staying home to eat my Nissin Mapo Tofu Cup Noodles went out the window, and I dutifully trekked over to Caprice for another big night out...

I played the part of the solitary gourmet tonight, sitting at a table all by myself. Meanwhile, a bunch of big shot chefs strolled in to the private dining room... so that's where most of the senior staff were tonight.

We started with the presentation of amuses bouches from both chefs, as Jan came to introduce his little bite:

Ah yes… the second ang mo chef to serve me kueh pie tee this week… The pie tee shell was made with poppy seeds and black garlic. The wagyu tartare filling came with slippery balls of sago that had been cooked in 2-year-old soy sauce, which explains why this tasted a little on the salty side. But the little dose of acidity from what may have been finger lime provided a nice balance to that, and there was also crunchy cashews in the mix. The chef also added Japanese leek oil, fresh coriander, wasabi, pickled ginger, and fresh myoga – although I wasn’t sure the last couple of elements were necessary. There certainly seemed to be a lot of elements packed into one bite, and many of those are very Asian flavors…

Casual Friday

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It has been a LONG time since the Specialist and I last dined together, and since we would be at the Penfolds Re-corking Clinic tonight, we figured we should catch up over dinner. We would also crack open a pair of decent wines, naturally.

I could not have been more surprised when she suggested that we go to Yong Fu (甬府), since all of her friends know she doesn't spend money on high-end Chinese food. Fortunately the restaurant has been doing set lunches and set dinners since earlier this year, and this provided me with the perfect opportunity to try out the set dinner for the very first time.

Gemma remembered how much I loved their mahua (麻花) on my first visit earlier this year, so she made sure I got a plate of it before our food arrived. And just like last time, I had difficulty stopping myself from reaching for it again and again...

Pickled cauliflower (泡製菜梗) - this is always a good idea. I love how they jazz up cauliflower with a little vinegar and a mild level of chili.