Sketch, London

Sketch (Lecture Room/Library), 9/8/2017, (8-Course, £120 incl.VAT), French, Michelin 2-Star

I was trying to select 3 fine dining restaurants for my short staying in London and found out the newly opened Sketch was a hot spot in the Mayfair section of London. It is an enterprise of celebrity chef Pierre Gagnaire, comprised of 5 units - the Lecture Room/Library for fine dining, the Pink Room for casual dining and 3 bars. 

In terms of the interior decoration, the Lecture Room is an ostentatious presentation of Contemporary Art, Avant Garde and French style with a lot of mirror, gold trimming and red color decoration. Although magnificence is an understated description, you could feel a lot of inspiration in this spectacular ambiance.

It offered a Tasting menu of 8 courses including Feuilletés (equivalent of Amuse Bouche), and Petit Fours complimentary.

1^st Course - Feuilletés

a). Parmigiano cheese ball with toasted almond powder. These cheese balls were lighter and tastier than traditional Gougère in French cuisine (a baked savory made of Pâte à choux). 

b1).Manchego cheese with quince layer and paprika. 

b2).Squid ink sheet (made with flour and egg) with goat cheese. Most of the squid ink dishes that I tasted were with pasta. This new creative application of squid ink was very delightful.

c).Deep fried spaghetti coated with donky-pinky (chopped lardo di colonata ham), condiment, coriander, black sesame, white sesame, chive, tomato sauce. At the bottom, there was a beautiful coriander flower. It was an amazing presentation.

d). Vodka jelly with Martini, lemon zest and green olive. This appeared to be a variation of the Bloody Mary sorbet (my favorite) that I had at Pierre Gagnaire in Paris.

e). Chestnut paste and dry prune wrapped in duck breast ham.

I love all of these cute bite-size Feuilleté’s, they are enjoyable visually as well as gastronomically.

Breads (sour dough and sweet brioche) were served with 3 kinds of butter (citrus, regular and caramel)

2^nd Course - Raw Sea Bream and Tuna Tartare/Shitake/Crunchy Summer Vegetables

Sea Bream and tuna tartare were at the bottom, then multiple layers placed upward with shitake mushroom, granny smith apple slices, lemon sorbet, diced red pepper, carrot, celery, fennel and shaved foie gras. It was very appetizing, especially for a summer meal.

3^rd Course - Gambas & Pig – Pan-Fried Gambas/Pig’s Head/Green Peas/Melon/Fresh Almonds

Iberico Serrano ham was from Spain, gambas (both baby and grown-up were served in the plate) from Sicily, pork was from France in head-cheese form. In addition, there were a few razor clams from Cornwall (upper England). Mustard seeds were also in the plate to give an overall more sophisticated taste. This dish has adopted some Portuguese style of cooking.

4^th Course -  Agnolotti – Mild Onion and Potato Agnolotti/Spinach Velouté/Black Australian Truffle

Agnolotti was cooked to the right texture. I have never had Australian truffle. It has a darker color than French truffle or Italian truffle. It also has a firmer texture in the mouth. However, it has less aroma and less truffle taste.

5^th Course - Scallop - Hand-Dived Scottish Scallop Mousseline/Artichoke with Mint/ Parmesan

Hand-Dived Scottish scallop was seared and served on top of mousseline with mimolette cheese. Scottish scallop was famous for its fine quality and chef prepared it tender and succulent. In addition, there were sautéed artichoke with mint and julienned cuttle fish and caramelized onions. This was a very French style dish, using cheese instead of other fruity flavored acidity. 

6^th Course - Denti – Denti “Saint-Germain”/Auergine Caviar with Black Garlic, Courgette and Rocket: Pesto

This course was comprised of two plates – one vegetable and one fish. Blanched and julienned courgette (zucchini squash), fresh arugulas, pine nuts were at the bottom of the plate, served with gorgonzola dressing and aubergine caviar. Tiny aubergine seeds were given a classy name as “aubergine caviar”.

The 2^nd plate, with a coordinated design pattern, served Dentex. Dentex is considered the most valuable and one of the most difficult catches of fish that can be caught from the Mediterranean Sea as well on the Eastern Atlantic. In this plate, Denti was from Portugal. It was cooked in the cream sauce first, then coated with bread crumb and fried. Dentex has a texture and taste similar to sea bass in cooked version. But, it has a more transparent appearance when in raw. I personally consider Dentex is tastier than sea bass in raw condition, but taste about the same in cooked condition. In this dish, the 1^st round of cooking in cream sauce made the flesh tender and smooth. The 2^nd round of cooking made the outside crispy. The hardest part of processes was to make sure not to overcook.

7^th Course -  Lamb – Rack of Salt Marsh Lamb from Wales Roasted with New Garlic and Bay Leaves, Miso Auburgine/Chorizo/Red Radish

Boneless loin of lamb was roasted medium rare, tender and succulent, served with giro mushroom (from France), baby carrots and cabbage. On the side, there was a stuffed Swiss chard with pine nut. All vegetables were cooked in chicken soup to enhance the taste and flavor. Giro mushroom tasted almost like straw mushroom. My favorite part in this course was the stuffed Swiss chard which was cooked soft and perfectly flavored.

8^th Course -  Pierre Gagnaire’s Grand Dessert – A Combination of Six Miniature Desserts in Two Services

I love Pierre Gagnaire’s dessert. They are dessert galore.

1^st Service – 3 plates

a1). Arlette – a buttery, light and flaky puff pastry with green tea and coffee flavored,  in green and brown color design.

a2). Almond cream at the bottom.

a3). Liquid lemon glazed by apple (in green color). Diced granny smith apple and sliced pink lady apple for decoration on top.

b1). Coconut parfait with marshmallow in the center and white chocolate cake at bottom.

b2). Diced dragon fruit and aloe vera.

b3). Red currant and dragon fruit jell.

c1). Chocolate ganache made from 66% cocoa content and dark chocolate.

c2). hazelnut sponge cake, coffee jelly (in black color).

c3). Chocolate praline tart (standing vertically).

2^nd Service – 3 plates

a1). Light cheese cake cream.

a2). Fresh figs and marmalade.

a3). Fresh walnut and biscuit of almond.

b1). Red wine sorbet. One ice cream parlor in Ljublijana, Slovenia made the 2^nd best.

b2). Granité of Tequilla (Patron). This was as good as the Bloody Mary sorbet.

b3). Ginger bread crumbs and fresh grapes.

c1). Mirabelle prune.

c2). Compote with red currant.

c3). Red currant ravioli with prune filling.

These were true Pierre Gagnaire style grand dessert as I still remembered the multiple courses of dessert at Pierre Gagnaire in Paris. My big sweet tooth certainly was very happy. There was still more to come.

Petit Fours

1).Yuzu Jell with Tonka Bean and Hot Oil. I stated noticing the popular usage of Tonka Bean since March when I dined at Quadri in Venice and a few restaurants in Chicago. Chefs are craving for its spicy and fruity aroma which can be used in both savory and sweet applications, although it is still banned in US because of its coumarin content. The overall taste was almost like mild mocha, almond and caramel.

2). Puff pastry with Raspberry Purée.

3). Caramelized Olive Tart with Chocolate Cream and Powdered Nougat in Dry Foam. Nougat is a family of confection made with sugar or honey, roasted nuts and whipped egg white. In this dessert, nougat was grounded into powder to balance the slightly salty taste of olive. It was a perfect ending after all the varieties of dessert.

With all what I have enjoyed, in terms of quality, # of courses, varieties, ambiance, and impeccable services, this was certainly a value fine dining meal. The Tasting menu was priced very modestly may be because it was new for the season. I truly appreciated fine dining in “Pierre Gagnaire” style.

MAAEMO, Oslo

MAAEMO, Oslo, 9/6/2017 (17-Course, 2600 Kroner incl. VAT), Nordic, Michelin 3-Star

MAA (earth), EMO (mother) are old Finn language words, meaning “Mother Earth”. The correct pronunciation requires two syllables, confimed by the guests at the next table. It is the most northerly restaurant with Michelin 3-Star in the world. Its chef and co-owner Esben Holmboe Bang focused on building cuisine by using local produces, reflecting changing seasons and the raw nature of Norway.

Its decoration is very Nordic style, mainly black, white, beige and grey colors of furnishings. Current dining room arrangements can accommodate up to 35 guests. Half of the premises has high ceiling and the other half is divided into two floors. Its open kitchen is on the 2^nd floor, with spiral staircase leading from dining room to the 2^nd floor. Staff are trained in military style, all team member had to be ready with plate being held by both hands and aligned, probably based on course/table, before they started marching downstairs to serve customers. 

The Tasting menu comprised of 17 courses, no Amuse Bouche.

1st Course - Chicken Feet Cooked with Grains, Chicken Liver and Fermented Lingonberry Juice

This is the 1^st time that I saw chicken feet on the menu of a Michelin 3-Star restaurant. Chicken feet have been a delicacy item in Dim Sum category of Chines cuisine for a long time. But, this chicken feet MAAEMO style is quite a creativity. Chicken feet was cooked, deboned, coated with flour and infused koji (fermented buck wheat) and then deep fried to crispy condition. Using koji enhanced the flavoring as well as the crispiness. On top of fried chicken feet was a layer of chicken liver parfait and wood sorrel which was topped by the cute oxalis leaves. Chef usually gathered the freshest wood sorrels from the forest across the bridge by MAAEMO. Above the oxalis leaves, there were drops of lingonberry juice. It was a true visual pleasure just to look at it. It had a sophisticated taste. No guest would be able to tell this is chicken feet without being informed of.

2nd Course - A Savoury Tart Made from Caramelized Onions with Aged Goat Cheese and Lemon Thyme 

Pie crust was made of caramelized onion juice which was dehydrated on silicon mat for 48 hours before mode into pie/tart shell. After pie shell was formed, it was filled with pickled lemon thyme jell and finely shredded 18-month goat cheese. At the very top, it was adorned with fresh thyme for decoration and taste. This was my favorite course in this dinner. Flavor and taste were all perfect.

3rd Course - Cornet with Smoked Vendance Row

A small brass instrument shaped roll was filled with cream of roasted yeast and smoked Vendance row (løyrom), from Kalix, Sweden. Cornet roll was the pastry shell with very delicate taste and Vendance row was not the heavy salty type. It was well balanced.

4th Course - Razor Clam with Green Strawberries and Blackcurrant Leaves

Razor clam looked smaller than the conventional ones because it was from Nordskot in the Arctic Circle region. Since water temperature is colder in Arctic, shell fish in general grow slower and require more fat content to shield from the coldness. Because of these environmental impact, shell fish from the Arctic are more tender and clean.

About 10 years ago, in the icy waters of Norway one intrepid Scot, Roderic Sloan, dived deep to satisfy the latest fjord-to-table craze at Europe’s fine-dining restaurants. He has been MAAEMO’s preferred supplier because his experience in catching only the finest quality of shell fish.

Razor clam in this course was served with green strawberry juice (dotted in green color) and blackcurrant leaves. Clam was juicy and very tender, the best quality I have ever had.

5th Course - “Lompe” with Fermented Trout and Horseradish

At the bottom, there was a piece of Norwegian pancake made of flour and potato and topped with a layer of rakfisk. Rakfisk are Norwegian fish dish made from trout or char salted and fermented for 2-3 months the n eaten without cooking. In addition to the layer of rakfisk there was a layer of sour cream, cured chicken egg yolks, pickled red onion, fresh horseradish and fresh dill. It did not taste fishy because red onion and horseradish provide the balance.

                            

6th Course -  Fresh Cheese Made 1 Hour Ago from Raw Milk from Our Very Own Cow Wood Sorrel and Summer Cucumber 

Most of the dairy products are made from pool of many cow’s milk. But, this fresh cheese was made from only one cow’s milk 1 hour ago. It looked and tasted like custard. It was served with summer cucumber juice and fresh wood sorrel (green color) which contributed to the acidic taste. This course was almost like a palette cleanser.

7th Course - Emulsion of Raw Norwegian Oysters from Bømlo Warm Sauce Made from Mussels and Dill 

Flat oysters are available from Bømlo, Norway in all seasons. Oysters and mussels were made into a layer of jell (in transparent color) sitting on top of mussel broth. In addition, cream sauce and dill oil were floating on the top. No solid piece of oyster or mussel was present in the dish, it was the flavor through different way of preparation made the taste stand out.

8th Course - Scallop from Above Arctic Circle Fermented White Asparagus and Seasonal Flowers 

Scallop was from the Arctic Circle, caught by the best fisherman Roderic Sloan. It was served in fermented white asparagus juice by fermenting white asparagus in whey for a year. Scallop was seared in organic butter and brushed with another layer of butter while resting. Scallop has a slightly firmer texture (still tender) than the conventional ones, I am not sure it was due to its origin in Arctic or the cooking method. This is the 1^st time that I have fermented white asparagus juice. Even though I don’t like whey’s taste, whey-fermented asparagus juice was delicious.

9th Course -  Skate Cooked in Salted Butter and Aromatics Chanterelles and Unripe White Currants 

Skate was cooked in salted butter and deboned. Chanterelle cream was served at the bottom of the plate. In addition, unripe white currant, fresh Chanterelle mushrooms and butter sauce were served on the top. Butter sauce was used to smooth taste of fish flecks because skate doesn’t have much fish fat.

10th Course -  Our Bread and Butter – Freshly Milled Norwegian Heritage Wheat and Our Very Own Butter

Bread was made from spelt wheat from Oland, Sweden. Spelt wheat provides higher protein content and more nutrients. Bread dough was rested overnight to provide more acidity. Butter was house made with slightly different processes. Ordinarily, during the process of whipping butter, butter milk was whipped out. But, MAAEMO added part of secreted butter milk back to make the butter more flavorful and a bit softer.

11th Course - “Rommegrot” – A Porridge of Very Sour Cream Smoked Reindeer Heart and Salted Butter with Plum Vinegar

This course involved a lot of molecular gastronomy. It started with reducing sour cream until it cleared away, separated the fat. Then, added flour and house-made Balsamic vinegar to thicken it. This layer was at the bottom of the dish.

Separately, to cure and smoke the reindeer heart. Dried it and grated it finely.

Lastly, pour the fermented plum juice in brown butter over the dried reindeer heart before serving.

With all the state of the art molecular gastronomy, no clue indicated this was reindeer heart.

12th Course - Quail Egg Gently Cooked in Roasted Bone Marrow, Cured Mutton and Charred Onions 

Quail eggs were half-cooked, prepared in roasted bone marrow, hidden at the bottom. Then, there was a layer of transparent jell made of pickled charred onions. At the top, there were Fenalaar (lamb leg part) and tapioca soup.

Fenalaar is one of the Norwegian’s favorite dish, also a traditional X’mas dish in the western part of Norway. Fenalaar means lamb leg, you will become a fan if you are a dry cured meat lover.

13th Course - Grilled Beef Aged 40 Days, Cep Mushroons, Feermented Garlic and Greens from Bergsmyrene Farm 

Beef, aged 40 days, was acquired from a special butcher Daniel Bergsmyrene. After grilling, beef was brushed with miso butter and served with reduced bone marrow soup. Since this is the season of cep mushrooms, sautéed cep, was added into the condensed bone soup. Lastly, purée made of Chanterelle and garlic were also incorporated into the bone soup.

Although aged 40 days seemed to be a long time, beef did not have a strong aged flavor. There could be a few reasons such as the breed, climate and method used. I was expecting a thick piece of steak, but what served in the plate was just a piece of filet.

14th Course - Frozen Blue Cheese with Pickled Black Trumpet Mushroom

This is the palette cleanse. Blue cheese was frozen in liquid nitrogen before blended into powder. Then, trumpet mushroom was frozen and grounded into powder which was sprinkled on top of blue cheese powder. It had a very pleasant taste even though blue cheese is usually considered a strong-taste cheese.

15th Course - Raw Milk from a Single Cow, Rhubarb, Flowers and Fragrant Rhubard Hazelnuts

Raw milk sorbet (without egg) made from milk produced by a single cow, was served with honey crumb, rhubarb juice, rhubarb root oil and lovely violet and barrage flowers.

16th Course - Brown Butter Ice Cream with Molasses and Roasted Hazelnuts

Caramelized butter was cooled down and mixed with raw milk to make ice cream which was served with brown butter sauce on top. There was hidden treasure “molasses” in the middle of ice cream. In addition, a piece of crumbled toasted hazelnut cook was at the bottom.

17th Course - Warm Norwegian Waffles made with Beef Fat and Koji Grains Brown Cheese, Preserved Berries and Whipped Romme 

This is considered an authentic Norwegian desert, mainly based on Norwegian waffles. They were made of flour and Koji grain for the flavoring and taste. There were 4 varieties of accompaniments – cloudberry jam (from 1 year ago), blueberry jam, brown butter and whipped sour cream. At present, it was the season of cloudberry (in yellow color). I have never had cloudberry before. It had a very mild taste, not too sweet, not too sour. It is definitely not the tastiest berry type.

This was the 1^st time that I started understanding the meaning of “using local products”. I was not too interested in having Norwegian waffles as the main desert and inquired of the possibility of have an alternative such as chocolate based desert. I was informed the restaurant doesn’t provide any chocolate based desert because Norway does not produce cocoa beans locally.

Although portion of serving was moderate, MAAEMO procured only high quality local products, accomplished by sophisticated preparation and creative cooking. It was a pleasant fine dining experience. Since MAAEMO only used the local products, don’t forget to wish the preferred fisherman luck on catching quality shell fish from the Arctic around the time of your scheduled visit.

Tru, Chicago

Tru, Chicago, 5/13/2017 (8-Course, $158 excl. Taxes & Grat.), French, Michelin 2-Star

Chef Anthony Martin offers Progressive French cuisine, at Tru, showcasing the most pristine ingredients with creativity and presentation. With an elegant ambiance of white draperies punctuated by a museum-quality contemporary arts collection including Gerhard Richter and Andy Warhol. Tru has a dressing code policy: jackets are required for gentlemen and elegant-casual attire is required for ladies. It is located one block east of the Magnificent Mile in a prime location of Chicago. Known for its signature offering, coral caviar, a selection of up to ten types of caviar sitting on coral-like tray. The coral-caviar tray reminded me of the Beluga caviar that I had at Da Vittoria in Milan. No other caviar in the world can beat the taste and flavor of Beluga.

There are two types menu, the abbreviated menu ($125) and expanded menu ($158) which includes two additional dishes - scallop and pastry. I chose the 8-course tasting menu with scallop and pastry and started with Amuse Bouche.

1). Comté Gougère – Comté (Greyère de Comté) is a French cheese made from the unpasteurized cow milk in Franche-Comté region of eastern France. Its aging time ranges from 8 to 36 months. I had 36-month old Comté in France twice, but only the less aged are available in US. Its texture is hard and flexible and taste is strong and slightly sweet. It is ideal to use it for soufflé, quiche and gougère. Gougère, in French cuisine, is a baked savory made of Pâte à choux (egg, flour and cheese.) I can easily eat ½ a dozen if served warm.

2). Cookie – A roasted pine nut cookie with apricot jam, mildly sweet and crunchy.

1^st Course – Mache, Celery, Summer Truffle, Green Curry

It was a salad with quite a few ingredients, including Mache (French name of the edible salad green), celery in three forms (raw, blanched and purèe). What was special in this salad was the truffle vinaigrette and the summer truffle (in lighter color with dark-brown edges). Summer truffle was from Burgundy, France and tasted lighter than the ordinary dark color truffle. But, it was still quite delicious.

2^nd Course – Chanterelle Mussel Velouté, Green Curry

A bowl was placed on a wooden board with an empty mussel shell on the side for decoration, Inside the bowl, soup was slightly thicker than broth and thinner than bisque. Soup was cooked with green curry (sweet green curry, a central Thai variety of curry.) Chef used Thai curry because its less pungent and spicy taste complement better with mussel’s seafood flavor. In the soup, there were also beach mushroom, chervil and shredded baby ginger. Even though soup was sumptuous, mussels were still tender, Chef probably used other shell fish for the soup base.

Bread – Sun Flower Seeds Bread and Sourdough Bread Served with Butter and Goat Butter

This was the 1^st time that I saw a real bread basket after a week’s fine dining in Chicago. Being a New Yorker, I am more used to the New York style of re-filled bread basket.

3^rd Course – Diver Scallop, Lily Bulb, Yuzu Koshu Sauce

A large size of scallop from the East coast, topped with lily bulb which is the root part of lily flower. It is considered a very healthy type of vegetable, tasted a bit like sliced watercrss. Yuzu koshu sauce (mixture of lemon zest, grapefruit zest, lime zest and related citrus juice, Thai chili, salt and pepper) was served to balance scallop’s seafood taste and flavor. Scallop was juicy, a bit crispy outside and tender in the center.

4^th Course – Roasted Halibut, Barigoule Sauce, Parsley

Barigoule sauce is a traditional Provençal dish of artichokes braised with onions, garlic and carrots in a seasoned broth of wine and water. In addition, artichoke was also included in blanched and fried forms along with celery, parsley and sun-dried tomatoes.

5^th Course – Veal Tournedo, Chanterelle Mushroom, Black Garlic, Mustard Blossom

Two pieces of veal were roasted to medium-well done, served along with chanterelle mushroom, black garlic, mustard blossom and potato purèe. Sauce was made of wild mushroom reduced, cooked tapioca, and rosemary. The veal was tough and chewy, it was overcooked regardless my specific request for rare-medium. I signaled my server and he took it back to the kitchen.

A little while later, the replacement dish was brought back to me. Its kitchen has replaced one small piece of flank steak for 2 pieces of veal. I did question my server why the replacement did not come in two pieces.

6^th Course – Green Asparagus + Morels in Pastry

This item is only available if you order the expanded menu. After I had the truffle croissant at Acadia, I was sort of expecting something similar.

This dish came with a puff pastry with sautéed asparagus and morels on the side. Sauce was made of cream, sherry and chive). It was not as spectacular as what I expected, although it was still delicious.

My server offered me a cheese course as a complimentary. I had 5 varieties ranging from mild to strong, my favorite was goat cheese with rosemary. I chose honey instead of jam. Oddly, the cheese selection did not have Comté which one of the most popular cheese selection in French restaurant.

7^th Course – Ruby Grapefruit, Fennel Consommé, Aged Balsamic

This is the palette cleanser. Ruby grapefruit sorbet was served with fennel leave and aged balsamic balls made with the molecular gastronomy technique of dipping sodium alginate into calcium lactate. Sorbet was quite good and refreshing.

In addition, there were a few orange-flavored Madeleine. Chef made extra efforts to bring up the taste and flavor by sprinkling powder sugar and orange peel on top of them. The texture of Madeleine was excellent. 

8^th Course – Dulce de Leche, Banana, Dark Chocolate

Banana purée was at the bottom, dulce de leche mousse was served in frozen condition, covered by dark chocolate. Vanilla powder was dusted all over the plate. It was a rich in flavor and light in texture desert.

Petit Fours – Black Cherry Soft Candy, Cannelé and Chocolate Candy

1). Black cherry jelly candy was full of flavor.

2). A cannelé is a small French pastry with a soft and tender custard center and a dark, thick caramelized crust. It takes the shape of small, striated cylinder approximately five centimeters in height and is a specialty of the Bordeaux region of France. It tasted especially good when fresh while outside is crusty and inside is 80% done. It requires more technique and labor to make than madeleine. I had it once in NYC two years ago, this was the 2^nd time that I had in US.

3). Chocolate sheet was rolled and filled with bourbon infused sugar, ginger, black currant and lemon grass. It rendered a very sophisticated flavor.

4). House made sumptuous chocolate truffle.

 Petit Fours was my favorite course for the evening, especially the chocolate candy.

I started my fine dining week in Chicago at Boka and liked its savory dishes more than its desert. I ended my fine dining week at Tru and liked its desert more than its savory dishes. At present, in Chicago there are more fine dining restaurants focusing on American Progressive style instead of French (Progressive) style. I wish there would be more restaurants focusing on French Progressive style in the future in Chicago.