Umami

Umami, Strasbourg, 9/23/2013

Umami is a true Japanese cuisine and French cuisine fusion restaurant, located along the canal bank, the prettiest part of the city, in Strasbourg. It is a small restaurant, run by the chef and a server. It served dinner only. It is considered one of the finest restaurants in Strasburg. Strasburg has grown exponentially over the past ten years because many European Union’s administrative bodies are located in Strasbourg.

I had a 5-course tasting menu. The restaurant also served a la carte at dinner.

Amuse Bouche – “Caramelized Pork Belly and Cabbage Salad”. Pork belly was cooked and browned with crispy skin and brown sauce. It was definitely a fusion of east and west. The brown sauce has slight sweet taste. Shredded cabbage salad was Asian style; I can taste the slight sesame oil in the sauce. Salad was very refreshing and balancing with the rich dish of pork belly. My only complaint was the portion could have been larger.

1st Course – “Miso and Sake Marinated Foie Gras, Pickled Plum & Spicy Plum Pulp, Dashi Gelee." I was surprised to see this item on the menu. I requested for the inclusion of this item into my tasting menu and was permitted by the chef/owner. This is a truly unusual combination. I can taste the miso and sake in foie gras. The pickled plum complemented foie gras with a unique taste on my taste bud. Dashi gelee offered a bit of seafood taste in the jelly so that sweetness from the plum was not overwhelming.

2nd Course – “ Prawn Raviolis/Lemongrass –Coconut." Prawn was wrapped in wanton dough and cooked in lemongrass-coconut sauce. Even though the wanton wrapping was very thin, prawn was still very tender. Lemongrass-coconut sauce is another fusion of east-west. Using wanton wrapping made the prawn raviolis light, balance with the think sauce of lemongrass-coconut.

3rd Course – “Pike-Perch Filet/Tomato-Ajwain Coulis."  I was happy that fish was not overcooked, skin was crunchy. Ajwain is some kind of Indian spice. It was not very strong, but I could taste it. It is more or less like the combination of curry and coriander.

4th Course – “Braised Lamb Shank, Curried Eggplant and Semolina Gulette." I also made a request for the inclusion of this dish into my tasting menu. Braised shank of lamb was very tender and tasty with strong reduced red wine taste. Curried eggplant was also very prepared, it had the moderate taste of curry flavor. Semolina gulette was a crunchy piece of bread dough that you can coat it with sauce before you eat it.

5th Course – “Queyras Blue Cheese Steamed Bun/Grapes." This is the cheese course, a rather unusual item. Before I got the plate, I noticed that guest at the nest table were studying it before they started eating it. Steamed bun is a traditional Chinese delicacy. Here, blue cheese was wrapped inside the bun. Since the bun is served hot, it enabled cheese into a half-melting texture. It was served with plum sauce like most of the cheese platter served with some kind of sweet jelly. But, the plum sauce used here is different from the plum sauce used in “foie gras” dish.










6th Course – “Quetsche Plums/Lemon Curd." This is the desert dish. It is the crumb cake with cooked plum at the bottom, served with lemon curd. It is not the most complicated dish, but it showed the chef-owner’s creativity with using plum for many different dishes. After all the guests in the restaurant were served with savory dishes, chef/owner came out to socialize. He speaks English fluently because he interned in Canada many years ago. I complimented on his creativity and fine cuisine and had a picture taken with him.

L'Epicure/Le Bristol

L’Epicure, Paris, 9/21/2013

L’Epicure is located inside Le Bristol Hotel on the ritzy rue du Forbourg St. Honore. It is a swanky hotel. Restaurant’s dining room is a rectangular shape with one of the long side facing the garden. Decoration is elaborate. It is a pleasant place to have afternoon tea or dinner.

It started with 2 course of Amuse Bouche:

I. The 1st course of Amuse Bouche was comprised of 4 items:
1). Lemoncello foam with tomato jelly at the bottom and flavored with Campari and cedrat (type of citrus).
2). Frog leg, thandori, ginger and thin mayo.
3). Foie gras with smoked eel, honey and nori seaweed and smoked walnut in a lollypop.
4). Brioche with smoked ham, olive and red pepper. Lemoncello really was appetite enhance to open you taste bud and stomach. Frog leg was the meaty part of frog on a bed of mayo. Frog leg was so tender that you wouldn’t mind to have another one. Foie gras was superb that the fusion combination created a delicate taste. The brioche was flaky, not greasy but delicious.





























II. The 2nd course of Amuse Bouche was “Vegetables jelly with potato crisp”. Veg jelly tasted almost like mousse and potato crisp was light and crunchy.










1st Course – “Shellfishes: clams, razor-shells and whelks, olive oil and oxalis, smoked eggplant sprinkled with a powder of caramelized onions." It was the 1st time that I tasted “whelks clam”. It has a softer texture and sweeter taste than the large clams. This plate is full of flavor. Smoked eggplant was a perfection of flavor and texture. Clams were tender and flavored without losing their own character.

2nd Course - Large Langoustine: broad beans in a langoustine heads broth perfumed with lemongrass, ginger, coriander and shiitake mushrooms." This large langoustine taste almost like lobster. It was half cooked, with a texture more close to being raw than cooked. It was closed to the taste and texture that I had last year at “Fratzen and Lindeberg of Stockholm”. These two were definitely my two favorite lobster dishes that I have ever had. The broth perfumed by other ingredients yielding a light and luscious taste that I did not waste any broth in the bowl.

3rd Course – Saddle of lamb from Aveyron, nori crust roasted, fresh herbs gnocchi, cabbage puree." I have found out this dish is L’Epicure signature dish. I knew I wouldn’t be able to eat a whole order. I, therefore, requested for half of an order. The chef used 5-month old baby lamb like the lamb dish at L’Astrance. Here, the style was fusion and creative. The sauce was the best lamb sauce that I have ever had. It was made of lamb juice from baking and chopped candied lemon peel. The manager left the small pot of sauce on the table and suggested to me to use the bread piece dip into the sauce. I wouldn’t deny the fact that I love baby lamb. They are so.. good. But, I felt guilty about eating them. I have stayed as a vegetarian for a week after I came back from the trip. Heirloom cabbage puree was so smooth it taste almost like cream. Fresh herbs gnocchi was the right texture and flavor.

Palate Cleanser – Current jelly with orange sorbet and lavender stick. The lavender stick, tasty and fragrant, was unbelievable. I wouldn’t mind to have a dozen of them.

Cheese Platter - I was too dedicated to enjoy the food that I forgot to take the photo of the cheese platter. I remembered that I had some real good goat cheese and 36-month aged Comte again.

Desert

1). Guanaja chocolate, crunchy of puffed rice, iced meringue of farm milk infused with Tonka beans. It was vanilla ice cream covered by warm chocolate biscuit with Tanka bean sauce. When the server asked how I like the dish, I responded with my honest opinion that the bitterness in Tanka bean sauce was a bit too strong. They were eager to make it up with an additional course of desert.

2). Fig covered by strawberry jelly with cinnamon cracker ice cream. I thought I had the best fig desert when I was at Le Meurice. But, the fig desert at L’Epicure was even more elaborate and tasty.

3). Lemon-lime Balls with lemoncello liquor. They are semi-transparent and looked adorable. Of course, they are very delicious. I was so full and satisfied that I asked the server to pack the petit-four for me. When I opened the box I found out varieties of chocolate and some currant macaroons. I enjoyed them on my journey to visit the wine producing regions in the following week. L’Epicure was nearly another perfect dining experience. Although the dining room was not a snapshot of Versailles, it was magnificent. It offered impeccable services as well as timeless creative fine cuisines. I would like to go back anytime when I revisit Paris.

Le Meurice

Le Meurice, Paris 9/20/2013
The restaurant, located at the very heart of the famous luxury Le Meurice Hotel, embodies all you can imagine of a grand restaurant in the French style. The eminently luxurious dining room draws its inspiration from the royal apartments at Versailles. Waiters with their silver trays serve to satisfy their guests, while the cuisine is one of excellence and timelessness. Le Meurice restaurant is located on the famous rue de Rivoli not too far away from Le Museum du Louvre. While you are dining at Le Meurice, you can see the beautiful Jardin du Tuileries across the street and feeling you are inside the royal apartment at Versailles. The decoration is ostentatious and luxurious. The dining room floor was made of mosaic tiles.

I ordered a lunch tasting menu. It started with Amuse Bouche – two courses:
1). Smoked ham, mustard and sliced cepes mushroom bite size sandwich. I had cepes mushroom two days ago at Guy Savoy, it must be in season. I hate to admit this is a delicate and delicious sandwich. Waiter was very considerate that he brought some fresh cepes mushroom from the kitchen to satisfy my curiosity. It is larger and has a more yellowish color than the straw mushroom.













2). Steamed vegetable with chervil sauce. It was served in a pot. Inside the pot, there was a steam plate to hold all vegetables place on a bed of salt. The steam plate was a few inches higher than the water level so that the vegetable were steamed not cooked in water. Through the steam process, vegetables will absorb essence from the salt to produce the flavor and texture unlike other conventional cooking method. Vegetable varieties included carrots, string beans, potatoes, artichoke hearts, yellow squashes and cauliflower.





















Appetizer: Bonite, Aubergine. It is a dish of semi-raw white tuna served on mashed eggplants flavored with balsamic vinegar and garlic sauce. Eggplants were roasted and mashed; fish was just a touch in the pan. The vinegar and garlic sauce was superbly well-balanced resembling Chinese cooking of fish. This definitely was a fusion style dish.

1st course – “Legume et Fruits." It is a combination of baked pear, baked and mashed avocado, radicchio, and baby collard green in sauce made of balsamic vinegar. It was a very well-made vegetable dish. Both texture and taste were just right.

2nd course – “Sea Bass Fillet in Fenouil and Citron sauce." The sauce tasted excellent. Although fish was a bit overcooked as I specifically ordered fish to be “medium”. I hated to return it to the kitchen because sauce tasted so good. But, I did mentioned it to the waitress after the cheese course was served. She apologized for the imperfection and offered me an extra course of desert to compensate.

Cheese plate – I chose a variety of cheese including mild-flavored goat cheese and pungent-flavored goat cheese and 36-month aged Comte. The most aged Comte that I have ever had was 18-month old. This 36-month old cheese offered such a sophisticated taste, it was a bit nutty but smooth. I just loved it.

Desert – Included in the menu was “Roasted Figs and Marinated Cherries on Almond Ice Cream." The size of figs was quite large. I haven’t seen this large size before. Almond ice cream was quite tasty.

Since I was offered an extra course of desert, I got Baba Rum. I was offered 3 different types of Rum sauce, one strong, one medium and one mild. I took the suggestion from the server and chose the medium one. Even it is medium, the alcohol was strong. I understood why he did not want to recommend the strong one. Baba Rum was the best that I have ever had, the dough was light and spongy, Rum sauce was just strong enough to feel the potency but not overwhelming.

After the 2nd course of desert, some paper-thin wafer was brought over. It is crispy and you can almost see-thru even though it has got some chopped nuts in the wafer. You can munch a lot if you don’t have a full stomach by then already. Le Meurice was nearly a dining perfection. The room is a snapshot from Versailles, with impeccable service and cuisine is one of noble excellence and timelessness. But be prepared to pay for this gastronomic bliss.

L'Astrance

L’Astrance, Paris, 9/19/2013
On the way to L’Astrance I could see the full view of Eiffel Tower cross the Seine River. L'Astrance has about no more than 25 seats in a very contemporary setting consistent with its menu of a more modern style of French and Asian fusion.

I chose the lunch tasting menu. Started with Amuse Bouche which had two items: 1).Brioche wafer with egg cream – it doesn’t really taste like brioche. Although flavor wise, it is light and crispy with a very mildly flavored egg cream.
2).Almond wafer with green apple cream – this item has a slight almond flavored taste complemented with the refreshing green apple taste.
Both items have achieved the important function of serving as a wake-up call to your appetite.

The 1st course was their signature dish “Foie Gras and champignons de Paris, lemon confit and hazelnut oil."  It was a sandwich layered with multiple layers of sliced green apply, foie gras and sliced Parisian mushroom. It was served with hazelnut oil and candied lemon juice which also served as decoration in the plate. The hazelnut oil and candied lemon juice are two critical ingredients in this dish. When you coated the sandwich with these two enhancements, it delivered a very powerful effect on your palate.

The 2nd course was “Sole with Herb Bed, Tajete, Pineapple foam with Sole and Crab." This course was presented in a large plate and a bowl. In the plate, there was a slice of sole served on a combination of various green herbs. Fish was tender and flavorful. In the bowl, fish chunks and crab meat were served in the pineapple foam with thinly shredded lemon peel. What in the plate and what in the bowl were done with two different style of cooking and with different taste complementary each other. One thing seemed to be clear was Chef like to use citrus for flavoring.

The 3rd course was “Lamb with Miso-flavored Eggplants and Pepper.” The quality of lamb was the best that I have ever had. It was slow roasted with low temperature using 5-month old baby lamb. Its texture is different from the ordinary lamb. Baby lamb is really like melt in your mouth type of meat. This dish, beautifully presented, was accompanied by a bowl of sautéed Paris mushroom and lamb kidney. I would still rate the texture of the baby lamb as the best even after I had the baby lamb dish in another fine dining restaurant.

Palate cleanser - mashed potato with vanilla ice cream. It seemed to be an odd combination, but, again it tasted good.

Then, sorbet with chili pepper, ginger and lemongrass was served. This sorbet was a very amazing creative product. The combination may sound odd, but, the flavor was sensational. After the meal, I found out from the chef that he has created it more than 15 years ago.

Desert – Raspberry and blackberry tart with jasmine.
Rose and raspberry sorbet on iced marsh mellow
Jasmine flavor was powerful but not overwhelming. The berries were very fresh and tasty. I have found out it was rather difficult to find the fresh raspberries as tasty as my home grown ones. But, the berries in this dish were as good as my home grown ones. Rose and Raspberry sorbet, a very good combination, was served on iced marsh mellow to bring a visual contrast.

After the principal plate of desert, server brought over the final course of desert. It had a bowl fresh berries and fruits, Madeline of chocolate and chestnut and eggnog with jasmine. The berries were very fresh and tasty. I have found out it was rather difficult to find the fresh raspberries as tasty as my home grown ones. But, the berries in this dish were as good as my home grown ones. I am not a big fan of eggnog; I was usually tired of drinking it before I even finished it. However, eggnog with jasmine makes the eggnog more refreshing that I actually enjoyed the eggnog for the 1st time.











I was granted the opportunity to visit the kitchen and spoke to the famous chef/owner Pascal Barbot. I had a photo opportunity and found out he is not interested in expanding his operation for quality control concern.