Hopefully the location and website get updated for this Yelp page (if this indeed is the 2-Michelin star restaurant located next to the hotel)! Overall review: incredible dining experience, nothing I have ever had before. It felt like an immersive art experience in which our palettes were challenged and our minds were provoked about the flavors chosen by the chef. Service and ambiance were professional and clean.
See below for my dish-by-dish experience and personal thoughts:
1. Initial appetizer assortment.
2. Bread with garam (fermented anchovy butter), acorn flour sourdough, polenta bread stick, potato focaccia. I was careful not to stuff myself with too many carbs, but the acorn bread with the garam was my favorite pairing. Elevated take on bread and butter.
3. Red Prawn and oysters on a bed of ewe milk kefir foam and fig oil (pictured). Garnished with wild strawberries. This was by far my favorite dish in the course - the prawn was so creamy and rich and the oyster was also fresh and buttery. Delicate and rich all around, textures cut by the whipped kefir and light fig oil.
4. Grilled red mullet, heart of duck, candied cherries, served with green onion oil consume (pictured). Fish was salty and skin was crispy, I forget the sauce used but it was concentrated and paired well with the savory fish. Not a huge fan of heart of anything, but the small portion and preparation was good enough. There were a lot of cherries in the entire course, not sure I liked it with this dish.
5. Onto the pastas. Borage squid ink, squid carpaccio, chorizo oil (pictured). In general, I was not sure I liked the pastas as holistic dishes, but the individual components of this dish were artistic and quality. Squid capaccio thinly sliced and buttery texture, pasta was green and cooked to a chewy al dente. Chorizo oil was almost non-existent as a taste profile, but added a vibrant orange dash of color. The sauce tasted familiar, incredibly creamy - not sure if the flavor came from the squid ink or another sauce.
6. Unfortunately my least favorite of the dishes. Sweet corn pasta, leek powder, sea urchin, peated whiskey (pictured). Ultimately I appreciate what the chef was going for - the uni and smokiness of the peated whiskey are essentially long lost best friends and there was clearly a stroke of genius from the chef in this thoughtful pairing. However as someone who isn't used to peated whiskey and the strength of the "fumes", it gave me the experience of whiffing gas at the pump.
Sweet corn taste was hidden.
7. Fried artichoke slices thinly and arranged in a flower, resting on a bed of artichoke purée and paired with a dark and concentrated chocolatey sauce made with artichoke skin (pictured). The delicacy of the artichoke reminded me of radish, and it was topped with a refreshing mint and herb sauce dollop. What an homage to and celebrate of the artichoke! One of my favorites.
8. Grilled mushroom blanketed in a white sauce made of sweet radish purée, topped with eggs of sea snails. Mushroom was an absolute delight and was accompanied thoughtfully by the fresh and light foamy texture of the white radish purée. Just as I thought the mushroom and radish took the cake for me, the sea snail eggs provided a kick of tartness that tastefully cut through the cream and added another layer of complexity. I felt this dish was thoughtful crafted and celebrated the versatility of vegetables once again.
9. Guinea fowl, date sauce, monkfish paté, grilled red onion, fermented fig leaf. A marriage between land and sea. While I am not a huge fan of pâté as a presentation of meat in general, the monkfish pâté was light and savory, and I appreciated it with the earthiness of the fowl. Fowl didn't taste anything too special, like duck with crispy skin.
10. Pre-dessert! White chocolate mousse and chunky peach preserves sandwiches in-between fluffy white (wonder?) bread. Served with elderflower sorbet. A light bite with a chilled cream that cued the start of the 3-course dessert set. A nice intro to the dessert "main course" masterpiece...
11. "Dry soil" dessert. Radish cream and black garlic mousse under a thin black licorice and vinegar meringue (pictured). Peak creativity from the chef, but as a Chinese-American, tasted eerily similar to my childhood snack li hing mui (dry sour plum). My group was not a fan of this, but the black garlic as an incorporation of into a black dessert was a bold and respectable move.
12. Closing dessert ensemble: Tarragon lime sorbet, caramel vanilla cream puff, ricotta cheesecake with cherry, baklava topped with pistachio cream, and a delicate bite of dark chocolate with espresso ganache filling. All enjoyable, but we were stuffed by this point.
If you read through this, thank you! You didn't have to. Wishing everyone that enjoys elevated and creative food experiences something similar to the delightful 3-hour adventure I had in Rome! read more