We began with welcome sips of Ivan's brew of cold oolong-chrysanthum tea. On the way to Ivan's, the man sheepishly told me, "I'm really excited about lunch!" So was I! The stomachs quivered in excitement at the thought of ingesting all the goodness to be brought to the table. WOOT. I'm not sure what was the main of the day. They could all be mains for me. I can't decide which was the star as well. Everything was sterling. We began with S's refreshing salad of basil tofu with
I secretly wished that there was more of the lightly cured hamachi with furikake and edamame wasabi sauce. Initially, my eyes grew wide when Ivan said he used a dash of Sichuan pepper to cure the fish. I was like, what!!! You know how I feel towards that numbing sensation of Sichuan pepper. Upon first bite, thankfully, it was not too discernible. Just a dash of that in the aftertaste. It was delicious. Sashimi-like, I could eat A LOT of it. The nasu gratin with miso tofu sauce was heartily appetizing. Nom nom nom. Cheese included. Cheese and miso, a surprisingly savory combination. However, in view of the day's menu, more crunch within this dish would add some bite to it. Tough for the nasu to remain firm in view of the high heat baked in a ramekin. Potatoes are boring. Chestnuts perhaps?
Ivan tweeted, "I predict a slight shower of mushrooms today in the early afternoon around lunch time." Couldn't say no to mushrooms, many varieties oven-baked in lemon butter sauce! Since the chef really wanted to know, I'll venture to say...ummm....less oil please! Yummy things. There was a splendid uni pasta. I regret not getting Osetra caviar to top it. While the taste of the faux-caviar-non-fish-roe Arënkha tasted okay, there wasn't enough oomph of pop and salt (brine) that the actual caviar would provide. There was bread. A sleek dark rye and a giant loaf glob of semolina. Uni butter on toast? Brilliant idea, Ivan. We were so stuffed, but we had to eat it. It was divine.
The first bite of M's pear and hazelnut cake elicited a delighted squeal from me. It came with dark chocolate sauce. (Was it the Valrhona Araguani you used?) Sugar had clearly been brutally reduced, and the cake wasn't the least bit cloying. Most of the sweetness came from the slices of pears. Nom nom nom. I let the ice-cream melt. Not into it, so just a touch of the vanilla bean to complement the flavors would do.
Whisky. Definitely. Never mind that it was 3pm in the afternoon. It's been a while since I last had anything from Tullibardine. So I had 2 long drams of the 1993 (bottled in 2008) in sherry wood finish. Mmmmm. Lovely end to the meal. What a comfortable and lavish afternoon of food, drinks and easy laughter. On Trinity Sunday. Thank you so much, gentleman, and lady, and lovely partners.
2 comments:
My my that menu looks mighty impressive! Everything sounds and looks so delicious!! :)
ladyJ: it's gorgeous, including the thought that went into preparing the stock and base ingredients.
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