San Sebastian - Arzak

(I suddenly found this sitting in my draft folder and realise this never made it to the blog - so here you are, some 6 months late)

As self-proclaimed food lovers, it's hard not to fall in love with Basque Country. From pintxos bar hopping along meandering streets to fine cuisine at many Michelin-starred restaurants around (the region boasted the most Michelin stars per capita in the world), there's never lack of choice all year round. That plus the abundance of fresh and unique ingredients from the sea and from the land... it didn't take long for us to go crazy about this place.

After 2 amazing days at Bilbao including lunch at Chef Eneko Atxa's Azurmendi, we arrived at San Sebastian with the sole purpose of making a full "frontal attack" of Basque cuisine. And among the many fine restaurants in town, Arzak is perhaps the most famous and arguably the most interesting of all. This family-owned restaurant (currently in its 4th generation) has been rated 3 Michelin stars since 1989 and was consistently selected as the top restaurants in the world. Behind the kitchen is the father-daughter team of Juan Mari and Elena Arzak, whom we had pleasure to meet and chat during our dinner.

We purposely stayed in a mansion within walking distance to the restaurant so we saved ourselves the hassle of driving or hailing a cab after the meal. It's a comfortable 15 minute walk from our hotel to the restaurant. As we arrived and being led into the dining room, we were surprised at how modern the interior is - well we always have this presumption of an old rustic building (given the restaurant is 100 years old) but obviously we were wrong. Only a handful of tables in the main dining room - quiet and intimate.

Our tasting menu consists of some 16 dishes - some more of a bite-size portion but a few are quite substantial - we did our pintxos run the afternoon before coming to dinner, not a good idea as it turned out, given the sheer amount of food being served at Arzak. It's hard to describe accurately every single dish so I won't even bother to attempt, and for most dishes I can't even tell what exactly they were to this date - with names like "Cromlech with onion, coffee and tea" on the menu didn't help much either. But among the many courses we had, I was most impressed at a dish called  "Egg with earth tremor" - we have had the most amazing egg dishes while in Spain and this is no exception.

Not all the dishes worked to my liking though I should say - for example, the low-tide monkfish was served with sides that was shaped in the form of sea shells and stars, which I think was too playful, texture too strange and taste too bland. Fun to look at, but not too enjoyable to taste, to be honest. But all in all I love how they took advantage of the many seasonal ingredients found in the region and traditional cooking methods and turn the food into innovative culinary creations that were presented beautifully.

Dessert is another area that totally blew our mind off - chocolate in the form of a marble, basil ice cream with chocolate that shaped like a grape on top of strawberry "soup" (soup and chocolate "between the vineyards"), the dramatic mead and fractal fluid - red syrup was dropped into a plate of clear liquid to form the fractal shape before being poured onto the custard, and lastly, petit fours served in the form of a toolbox with screw caps and nails... With four courses of dessert in the tasting menu, if you happen to come here, my advice is pace yourself for that and you won't regret.

Another day, another fine meal. Wish we could stay here longer.

when? February 9 2011 (Spain Trip Day 6 )
where? Arzak, Avenida Alcalde Jose Elosegui, 273, 20015 San Sebastian - Donostia, Spain
drinks? Lagar de Cerveza Albarino 2009
menu highlights? Egg with Earth Tremor, Soup and Chocolate "between vineyards"
web: www.arzak.es

You can also check out more pics on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/g4gary/sets/72157626119658434/

Tiramisu - my foolproof recipe

If I am asked which is the one dish that can win a crowd over yet so easy to make at home, tiramisu has to be top of my list. Creamy and sweet mascarpone combined with coffee-soaked ladyfingers - there's simply no way you will make it wrong.

The recipe I have been (loosely) following was first given to me by a friend and I have kept this since college years. Give it a try at home, and I swear this will become the signature dish of your home kitchen, no matter how skillful you were in cooking.

Ingredients:

1 lb mascarpone cheese (approx the whole large tub you see in the supermarket)

3 eggs, separated
6 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence

1-2 packages lady fingers

strong coffee (i tried everything from instant coffee to starbucks to mocha press - to be honest it makes little difference)
whisky, rum or brandy (many recipes called for marsala or kahlua, but I usually just pour whatever i can find in my liquor tray. So far cognac is my favorite since I like it strong)

Steps:

1. Beat together mascarpone, sugar, egg yolks and vanilla essence in a bowl. Taste and add sugar if you want sweetness. Don't forget that the lady fingers are already sweet.

2. Beat the egg whites to peaks (this takes a lot of time or else a great electric whisk) and fold into cheese mixture.
3. Mix around 1/2 cup of coffee with around 1 1/2 tbsp of whisky (you might want to taste this to suit yourself). Dip lady fingers lightly in liquid and place a layer in a flat dish. (what I do is dip the ladyfinger in the liquid on one side for a quick second then place it upside down so the dipped side is on top. you don't want it too soggy)
4. Pour a layer of the mascarpone mixture over the lady fingers.
5. Repeat process, ending with a layer of the mascarpone. You should have 2 layers of lady fingers and 2 layers of cheese at least (Depends on size of dish - i would recommend using a not too large one)
6. If you run out of the coffee/whisky mix before you finish the dessert, repeat the mixture.
7. Refrigerate overnight to set. Strain cocoa powder on top before serving.

Worth a detour - Mission Chinese Food in Shenzhen

We are the kind of people that are quite willing to go the distance in search of good food but this one is still quite a stretch by all means. After accepting an invitation from our foodie friend j for this one-night only dinner event north of our border served by a visiting kitchen crew from Mission Chinese Food of San Francisco, I admit there was this moment when we wondered whether it's worth such a detour and hassle. With the original invitation email asking us not to publicize the event before it happened, and the address will only be provided in the morning of the event, we wondered whether this is just a cheap stunt or worse, a scam.

Anyway, we departed from Hong Kong at 4pm on this one Sunday afternoon and one long bus journey, 2 border checkpoints and a taxi ride later, we arrived at a random residential neighborhood in west of Shenzhen at an elegantly-decorated restaurant, where this special dinner event was held.

We did do a little due d beforehand trying to get a better idea what we are getting into. Mission Chinese Food is the brainchild of 2 talented restaurateurs, Danny Bowien and Anthony Myint. It's a "pop-up restaurant" housed within another old-school Chinese restaurant in San Francisco's Mission District, each shared a common dining room with separate menus and separate chefs. Since its opening in 2010, MCF has attracted quite a following with its creative (and somewhat twisted, mostly in a better way) interpretation of Americanized Chinese food, not only among local diners, but critics as well - San Francisco Chronicle named it a Top 100 Restaurant in San Francisco this year and its chef Danny Bowien a rising star. Mark Bittman of New York Times raved about it in his column.

For a good part of June, the entire kitchen crew closed down their shop in San Francisco and ventured around Asia - made their way to Tokyo, Beijing, and then Shenzhen/Hong Kong. Towards the end of their journey, they borrowed a corner of this nice restaurant in Shenzhen (owned by a family friend of theirs) and played host to this one-time event with a selected group of invited guests. Our friend J happened to receive the invitation and she's so kind to ask us (and 6 of her other friends) to join. This is how this event came along and how we ended up here. Well, a pop-up restaurant from San Francisco doing this one-time secretive pop-up dinner event in Shenzhen... hope you are still with me by now.

Anyway, our meal began soon after everyone arrived at around 6-something. The dinner started on a delightful note - the "Nobu-esque" geoduck sashimi served with a piece of ginger-infused cantaloupe and a dash of tomato-flavor is just the perfect summer appetizer I need. It set the tone of what MCF is all about - the dish is clearly Asian-inspired but with a unique, creative touch that is unlike everything we have had before. 

The sashimi's followed by steamed eggs served in a cappuccino cup. This is my favorite dish of the evening - the eggs are steamed chawanmushi-style, with chicken confit at the bottom and a thin piece of scallop and green apple on top, and they are all bathed in a superior broth infused with chrysanthemum. Refreshingly flavorful - the well-cooked confit plus the strong flavor of the broth made this a standout against the traditional version.

After that we were served with 2 main courses. The prawn dish was met with mixed comments across our table. Fresh prawns are salt-baked by the table side, and served with sauteed razor clams and mushrooms. I found it a bit uneasy to see the prawns being "buried alive" - literally - in piping hot salt bath in front of us, but I like its taste and appreciate how the chef tried to contrast the texture and flavors of prawns and razor clams. But the prawns are a little bit undercooked and some might find it a bit too salty to their liking. The duck "3-ways" is decent - duck confit was wrapped in a "money-bag" - a egg flour crepe as the wrap with pulled duck meat inside, along with seared duck breast and deep-fried duck tongue. I would probably prefer the wrapped duck confit be a bit smaller and deep-fried but overall it's still good.

Tonight's soup dish is a fish roulade wrapped with chicken liver in a ginseng broth on a bed of barley. I can't personally taste much of the ginseng flavor, and I found the fish a bit tough and less the delicacy I would expect. Nonetheless I found the combination of flavor and texture very interesting.

Two desserts were served at the end of the meal. First is a glass of sauternes infused with chrysanthemum and mango steen. I am sure wine connoisseurs may shrugged at the attempt to mess up their "heavenly drop" with extra flavorings, but we all thought this is nicely executed and well-balanced. The last course - the cornmeal cake - has more of a southern flavor (of the States, not China) than anything else. It's soaked with cognac and served with chinese pears, whipped cream and again, a hint of chrysanthemum flavor. To me, it's of just the right sweetness, and I wonder how they would match up against the sticky corncake commonly found in everyday Northern Chinese cuisine.

Yes, it's an awfully long journey home after we finished our meal, but with eye-opening food, good company and this being a one-of-a-kind experience, we felt it's worth the detour.

when? June 12 2011
where? Capistrano, Futian District, Shenzhen
menu highlights? Steamed Eggs: Scallops, Apples, Chrysanthemum
web: www.missionchinesefood.com

You can also check out more pics on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/g4gary/sets/72157626947475022/

Mirror

Sometimes you just hated it when a dinner you had so much high hope for almost made it to greatness but at the end not quite close to that level... that's the impression I had after trying this much-hyped, much anticipated French restaurant in the heart of Wanchai. We have been trying to secure a booking at this restaurant for ages without much success so when our good friend C told us he have a reservation for a table we immediately jumped on joining.
The restaurant’s on the 6th Floor of a commercial building – not exactly the usual neighborhood as far as fine-dining’s concern but I like the décor inside – bare walls in deep, trendy colors with a mirror as its only decoration, an open kitchen on one end with a handful of dining tables in the main room that can sit 20-30 at max. Given we have such a hard time getting a booking, it doesn’t feel as crowded as I thought, surprisingly. Not much of a view of the outside but it certainly feels comfortable inside the cozy dining area.

Menu's simple - there are a choice of 4 or 6 course signature menu and a 6 or 8 course chef degustation menu. This arrangement made sense since everything from appetizers to mains to dessert all came out from a small open kitchen that can hardly fit 5 people working at the same time. I can’t imagine they are capable of offer any more choices other than this. Wine menu features just a handful of choices – straight from the negotiants according to the menu - it's perfectly fine if you are fan of Burgundy and they do have an interesting selection of it, but in case you are not, you are better off BYOB and pay that more than reasonable corkage fee (HK$150 at the time we went). That being said, I enjoyed the Clos Vougeot that C picked from the wine list much - classic, powerful and good combination of earthy nose quickly followed by plummy flavors and more.

The dinner started on a high note - the appetizer of shrimp with caviar on a bed of rich sauce made from shrimp heads is richly flavored and is absolutely a divine treasure from the sea. I also quite enjoyed the 2 other appetizers that followed - foie gras with fresh figs and balsamic reduction, and tuna tartar with matchstick granny smith apples and wasabi foam - though I think I could live with a slightly less-cooked foie gras and a more distinctly-flavored wasabi espuma.

One must start wondering the chef's creativity (or lack of, to be exact) as we were served a crab veloute with crab meat and roes after our three appetizers. It looked almost identical to our first appetizer, and sure it did smell good as the soup's poured into the dish by the waiter from a little ceramic bottle, but it tasted rather bland, especially compared to the rich shrimp head sauce we had moments ago.

For our 6 course degustation menu, we had a choice of crayfish and beef cheek as our main course. I picked the latter and it's quite decent. Beef cheek's cooked sous vide (for 48 hours, as we were later told by the restaurant manager) and served on a bed of onion confit. It's tender and rich but just something I would at least expect from a restaurant and chef of such caliber. On the side is 2 little piece of potatoes cooked a la boulangere with sour cream and bacons. Well, give this a French name all you want, I was quite disappointed to find a baked potato with the predictable condiments from a degustation menu by a chef whose past experience included time at the kitchens of Essex House and Plaza Athenee.

The crayfish main, which i didn't try personally, was nicely assembled with cut white asparagus, green asparagus mousse and sea urchin royale. It didn't receive high marks from our dining companions though - that's evident as much of the sea urchin royale was left on the plates almost untouched. When our friends commented that to the manager, the rebuke we got is "well, other people have similar comments before, but we thought it might be because Hong Kong people are not used to such French cooking method and texture". If such attitude persists I really can't see how we can see any improvement in here any time soon, and wonder why they even bothered to ask for our opinions in the first place.

Desserts, like other dishes of the evening, were nicely presented, but once again didn't have as nice a flavor to match. As much as people says food's a form of art one shouldn't forget it's still the taste that counts most. The portion of my lemon tart was pathetically small - even for a tartlet, and I can't taste much other than the sharp sourness. I am tempted to say Maxim's probably do a better job but drawing such comparison would have been an insult to Maxim’s. And I really don't understand why making the fuss of matching a lemon tart (topped with lemon custard and rind) with hmm... lemon mousse. There's no complement in flavors nor textures by putting these two on the same plate - they might as well pass us a bigger and better prepared lemon tart than trying to impress us with a "fancy" dessert done 2 ways.

Am I being too harsh on a small restaurant like this? Well, not if they are charging as much as their more established counterparts. Throughout the dinner, we kept saying “we have had better food at so-and-so…” – guess that pretty much summed up our verdict for this evening. A friend of ours who came here a few times did mention it’s a hit-or-miss for this restaurant, and I guess we must have come on those “miss” day. There are some good moments here and there, I did appreciate some of their efforts, and we definitely enjoyed the great company and all that, but we can’t help but feel the inconsistency in food quality and service throughout the evening.

It's unfortunate that we left with a slightly sour taste in our mouth - I am not sure it's more because of the lemon tart that we would rather forget, or just a let-down of the overall dining experience. Guess it’s going to take quite some effort for dragging us back for a second try, not that we are able to score a reservation at any time soon.

when? April 25 2011
where? Mirror restaurant, 6th Floor, Tiffan Tower, 199 Wanchai Road, Hong Kong
drinks? Domaine Louis Max Clos Vougeot Grand Cru 2001
menu highlights? Shrimps “rafraichit” with golden oscietra caviar and head sauce
web: http://www.themirror.hk/

You can also check out more pics on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/g4gary/sets/72157626450366261/

Barcelona: Boqueria Market

Well this is easily the best part of our trip: a morning stroll in the Boqueria Market. It's a food market just off La Rambla, some 15 minute walk away from our hotel. It's almost like Borough Market in London but a bit less touristy, or like Tsukiji in Tokyo but more diversified and cleaner. We can easily spend ours just hanging out there - which we did. Just walking around, glancing and smelling all the food and interesting ingredients on offer, is such an eye-opening and amazing experience.


I will let the pictures speak for itself... - just don't look if you are hungry cuz they will probably make you more so. (except one picture some people may find it gross - but hey it's still food and people actually eat them!) At least you have been warned.