Yesterday I had my first round of this year’s Restaurant Festival. I dined with 2 friends, so you don’t have to rely only on my opinion, if you trust me to loyally refer the opinions at the table. Not that we disagreed, because we were...all very happy with the meal and are looking forward to the next round. Will anybody be able to top, what we had last night?
The first thing to be put in front of us was to portions of bread and some spread – a total of 4 rolls. Between 3 persons we wondered how they came up with that number, but the extra roll came in handy later, when one of us didn’t want one tiny drop of sauce to be wasted on the plate. The spread wasn’t very interesting, to be honest. It was a bit sour, like a dairy product, and the flavours weren’t distinct. We weren’t able to figure out what they were. It was dull, and we would have preferred some good quality butter with flaky salt on top. The bread was fine but didn’t stand out.
The starter was chicken liver pate, dried beef, ginger gel and apple-celery salad. On top there was a thin and crunchy piece of toasted baguette. This dish set the bar for the rest of the meal, and also the general theme for how we experienced the courses: all components on the plate complimented each other, every ingredient made sense and helped highlight the other parts of the dish. We found ourselves concluding that after each serving. It must have been composed by somebody brilliant, probably Roman Paulus.
Here the subtle and not overpowering ginger gel elevated the dried beef, which was tender and full of flavour. The sweet and tart apple-celery salad was a brilliant contrast to the rich, fatty patê with a clear flavour of chicken liver. I must say that I found the patê slightly grainy as if it had been frozen, but my friends didn’t agree. It wasn’t a problem at all. Judge for yourself, if you decide to go.
Unfortunately I wasn’t able to make notes of the wines that were served – they were presented a bit hastily. But the white wine served with the starter was a perfect match – full bodied and able to carry the rich patê elegantly.
As an extra (maybe instead of an amuse bouche), we were served a creamy carrot soup garnished with carrot and sellery brunoise. Again we were impressed by the way the elements complimented each other. The vegetables had been marinated and added a bit of tartness in the background, and that just went extremely well with the sweetness of the carrot soup. We loved it, although it could have been heated for a bit longer – it was only lukewarm.
The main course was fallow deer back and sausage, sweet potato mash, smoked beef marrow, Brussels sprouts, barley and pickled walnut – served with a demi glace.
I know I’m repeating myself, but again we were delighted to taste the elements of the dish together. There were sweet notes in the sauce as well as in the sweet potato mash (of course), but when they met the smokiness from the very thin slice of bone marrow and the discreet bitterness from the perfectly prepared Brussels sprouts, it became a match made in heaven. Also the fatty marrow helped highlight the lean meet of fallow deer. The sausage was delicious as well and I was happy to eat it – but it was the only element of the dish that didn’t really rely on other elements to stand out. Nothing wrong with that, of course, and sometimes there’s an uncle at a party who doesn’t actually belong but still ads to the fun.
The demi glace was like liquid gold, and here the extra bread roll came into play.
The dessert: Vanilla flavoured white chocolate bar, salted caramel ice cream, cocoa bean chips, milk chocolate cream. Before it was served, two of us agreed that white chocolate isn’t very interesting and shouldn’t be used in a good kitchen. Then we tasted the dessert and had to retract this harsh opinion. The chocolate bar was airy and delicate, perfectly enhanced by vanilla and a crunchy base of coconut biscuits. The caramel flakes on top and the salty caramel ice cream on the side (the latter served at a perfect temperature) once again proved the brilliance of the chef creating this combination!
We liked the service. Two different waiters served our table. One of them seemed a bit shy and didn’t say too much, but of course he was correct. The other waiter was extrovert and a bit flamboyant, and he took over more and more – being funny and correct at the same time. He was great!
I love being wowed by food, but it is rare that 4 courses all contribute equally to the experience. Yesterday they did, and we couldn’t stop talking about how satisfying it had been. Well, the bread spread could have been nicer and the soup warmer. But where’s the joy, if we can’t fault just two tiny details?More
