Wednesday, 9 March 2011

David Varley, Washington

Menu of Guest Chef David Varley at the Four Seasons Marunouchi
My fave parts of the dinner: Uni, Chopped Fatty Tuna with Osetra Caviar & Alaskan King Crab
Roasted Chestnut Soup with Foie Gras & Spiced Marshmallows
Loup de Mer with Nori emulsion & Venison with Matsutake Mushrooms
Passion Fruit Panna Cotta & Michael Cluizel's Chocolate Pot de Creme

Wine and dine is my joie de vivre. It manages to combine all that I love into one very enjoyable activity. Not only do I get to indulge my sensory receptors, I get to play dress-up too. Ah yes, I am both a vainpot and a glut!

The following post is a tad late but hey, better late than never, as they say.

David Varley of Bourbon Steak, Washington DC was a guest chef at the Four Seasons Marunouchi last autumn and we were honoured to be able to sample his cooking. Menu for the evening came with wine pairings though I can't for the life of me recall exactly what we had drank. The only memorable liquid still etched in my head is the sparkling wine from Portland. It was unusual but a very pleasant aperitif as it came very close to the real thing.

Dizzily happy from all the pre-dinner bubbles, I thoroughly enjoyed the Uni crostini, the chopped fatty tuna with osetra caviar and Alaskan king crab with edible shell. It was Japanese fusion at its very best. The roasted chestnut soup with Foie Gras and spiced marshmallows was as rich and creamy as one could imagine though I didn't quite care much for the marshmallows. Would have been better if they had been replaced with MORE Foie Gras! I know, fat hope, like I can exchange 10 packs of marshmallows for one slab of Foie Gras! Hah!

Anyway, I do often find myself drooling over a whole page of appetisers rather than mains whenever I studied a menu. And at some of our patronised-till-they-are-sick-of-our-faces places, I even started to skip the mains entirely, opting to conserve instead all my calories count for the appetisers. Therefore, am not sure if it is just mere prejudice but I didn't find myself tucking in with the same gumption when the fish and meat courses came. One reason, as my other half put it, was that I didn't get a taste of the venison. He was all praises though. I think I might have been scarred during my childhood for till today I staunchly stand by Bambi and refused to even part my lips to put a morsel of venison through.

Desserts came and went and I didn't care for them either. We found the Michael Cluizel's Chocolate Pot de Creme so rich to the point of being sickening.

It just proves my theory yet again, appetisers rule.

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