One Sunday cookout

HK doesn't  really have house party culture.. i am not talking about the let's get high and drunk with a whole bunch of strange people house party, but really the wine and dine at one's apartment and friendly conversation type of house party.

Don't know what got on my nerve I suddenly craved for cooking at home. It was originally a small family dinner turning into bigger group ultimate cook-out. I have to thank big charcoal head for fast thinking and magically created two delicious dishes with short notice.

Me - love cchw's paella recipe, I decided to make this again.. turned out I cooked for too long and didn't get the al dente texture of arborio rice, but that's perfect for bb chu. the taste is very addictive, the turmeric and saffron did give a kick to the flavor.

Big charcoal head's creation - steak salad and parma ham and fig salad with reduction of balsamic vinegar. Yummy!

I also made sangria and side dish of saute mushroon, and ming siu's signature chicken wings.

It was so much fun although the preparation part could be somewhat choatic with too many people cramping into a small kitchen.. I am so going to do this again.....yet I am starting to realize Sunday is not a holiday anymore while reviewing the current schedule.

Lunch at Joel Robuchon

Please don't judge me...yes, I went fine dining again.. this time at joel robuchon of HK, and no, I didn't pay for it myself.. =P

Amuse buche - super refreshing asparagus jelly and I forgot what's the red paste is...too busy talking.

Mushroom salad with foie gras shavings and chives

Asparagus salad with parmasan
Ricotta and spinach raviolo with parmesan cheese flavored with chives
Grilled fillet of sea bass with aromatic red wine sauce
Black forest with almond mousse and gingerbread sauce
Dill flavored cream cheese soup with mango sorbet and fresh raspberry
Seriously I do think joel robuchon's creativity trumps all the french restaurants in HK, and it does give you a lot of surprises and takes you to a different level of gastronomic experience. However when it comes to price/quality I definitely prefer Pierre where they serve you substantial portion and the cooking method is much more homey while maintaining the same level of delicacy, plus t is more fun to dine at Pierre and they provide excellent service.. I am looking forward to my next meal at Pierre.

Fashion + Tea

It seems like being a tai tai (aka wealthy housewify) is back in trend again. It's undoubtedly discriminating working women for ferragamo to host a runway show during weekdays... even if you are a big ferragamo fan and spend x amount of dollar each season.. oops sorry, tai tai exclusive only, unless you take a day off from your busy worklife which pays for the shoes and handbags....

It was last tuesday afternoon that i went for the fashion show + tea at clipper lounge. It was quite a fun event if they didn't rush too much trying to squeeze two seatings in one afternoon.

We were served with the traditional tea set wth their signature scone and rose jam.

I didn't really pay attention to their clothing line in the past as most of my memories are wool cardigans with silk floral prints. They really surprised me on the upside with trendy pieces and feminine cuts which nicely shape the female bodies.... i wonder how many of their loyal customers will buy into their clothes as some of them are actually quite revealing.
I love this tight fitting white suit, it fits the model perfectly.. love the black and white pump with ankle strip unfortunately they run out of my size ALREADY! have i mistaken it is the worst recession since the great depression?!




After the show we were served wth unlimited supply of dessert with the signature ferragamo ribbon. I was so pleased with their creativity and attentiveness to details... chocolate lipsticks, chocolate cake with measuring tape, chocolate lips, pearl handbags...  what a collection of edible fashion items!



So happened I bumped into a distant unfriendly family friend who would turn up in every hotel buffet, high tea, fashion event, or anything assorted with taitaidom... one tangential thought on whether one will feel sufficient with this type of highly desirable housewife lifestyle.. I have never seen her being with her husband and everytime I bumped into her she was with other tai tai having high tea and I bet the topics of obama's stimulus package, global warming, financial crisis, notorious AIG bonus payout, more than half of the world population below poverty line would not be on the table, while they were most likely discussing about scandals and gossips and who gets the biggest rock while zipping that cup of royal tea. All of a sudden I felt the loneliness behind the fancy outfits and glamorous diamond jewelry... I wouldn't doubt that's the every girl's dream of becoming a tai tai with a stress-free life, but wouldn't it be boring to live a life without a goal, reading tabloids as the daily reading, and having high tea at hotels become a routine? It is a fantasy when you are dragging yourself to work a 8-8 job, but it would be clumsy and meaingless if you are living in a fantasy every day.

Gastronomical week

Before I felt sick again and had to eat congee for two days straight... I have the most gastronomical week with continuous dining with friends.

Mon - Cepage
Tues - unfortunately it's canteen

Wed - Pierrre 

Thurs - chez patrick 

Fri - Roka

Cepage is the talk of the town lately.. everybody praised for how good the place it...hum. i wonder if the rave if justified, the food was good but not great and I did see them cut corners here and there which i can understand from a $360 3 course lunch perspective.. but the setting is very businessy and you know they are here to make money instead of providing good food to hkers. ravioli with beef consumme
risotto with tiger prawns... where're the tiger prawns?!?! 
apple crumbles tart and creme brulee.

Another day at chez patrick - a great deal for lunch and food was pretty good except the sea bass rolade is a bit too salty. the chef also is super nice to check on the diners and of course we delievered our comments on the fish and were given complimentary dessert wine for tasting.. 

Cooking at pierre

This is my longest break from the blog..I haven't fallen off from the earth nor abandoned this blog for good.. just that work was overloaded and my tiredness has finally kicked in and tore my body apart.

I went on a gastronomic experience with g at pierre two weeks ago. It was supposed to be my bday surprise, of which I do think this is excessively extravagant. Not that many people can afford a hkd>3000 lunch （especially in this current economic environment, even jean georges is offering a $58 4 course dinner!!) nor they care to spend the precious weekend with a celebrity chef. At first I walked in with the guilt of overspending but I ended up having the most fun and enjoyed every second of it!

It was a bit misleading to promote it to be a cooking lesson with Pierre but was actually a cooking demonstration instead. The group involved a couple of japanese country club housewives, food loving couple, and pretentious local girl who is trying hard to climb up the social ladder..a pretty good crowd of professional eaters who had great chats after a few glasses of wine.

We met at 11pm and undoubtedly pierre as a frenchman was fashionably late for 30min, we were greeted by the restaurant manager Herve and Pierre himself and then guided to the kitchen where we were given the MO apron and a notepad for notes taking. On our way to the kitchen our adrenaline was pumped up as we saw a long dining table was beautifully set up with flowers and dining plates...that's how it looks like - the ladies who lunch w/ style and class.

It was a bit disappointing that we didn't get to chop chop chop, it was rather a cooking demonstration than a lesson with pierre gagnaire. anyway, that was fine iwth me that meant we got to have decent food rather than some crappy ones done by the amateurs. It was very interesting to see how pierre cooks, this is such a contrary to a chinese kitchen where people are screaming and swearing to each other and drown with sweats and heat. Everything was at ease and people were happy and chatting at his kitchen, and it was obvious that he was passionate about cooking even though this is his daily routine. Not to meantion the sous chef phillippe and patissier Nicholas were of great help in answering our loads of questions with limited english... and most importantly nicholas is super cute and shy!

Food was amazingly exquisite and the best I have ever had in HK so far. people always criticize the high end restaurants for overpricing and a big portion of the cost is restaurant setting and services. Yes it's true that services and rental are expensive..but it is also very time consuming and complicated to produce something miniscule and insignificant to normal people.

appetizers - in martini glass: champagne jelly and endive mousse with orange sorbet and black truffle; whatever mousse i don't know the name with orange compote.

entree - butter poached sea bass with broccoli and red cabbage puree and a touch of paprika; slow-cook lamb with sweet and sour butternut squash salad.

dessert - apple tart with vanilla cream; strawberry sorbet; coconut ice-cream with passionfruit puree; grapefruit puree

My favorite dish is the lamb dish.. Looks simple but you can't believe the amount of work that put into the lamb. Haha.. i am here to disclose the pierre secret on the web! first using lemon, garlic, orange juice, mint and curry (yes! curry! surprise!) to marinate the lamb overnight, then slowcook with celery, carrots, leeks, laurel, and thyme. For the sauce is the combination of cummin, alise, white pepper, white rice vinegar, sugar and mix with butternut squash to create the salad. The combination of flavors is phenomenal.. that's makes it difficult to describe as something tasty by words, because it would sound gross as sweet and sour and spicy sauce.

For the apple tart, I asked why they didn't put in cinnamon and brown sugar, pierre said it's too arrogant...he seems to despise the american style cooking which makes food rough and unrefined. Coconut ice-cream is a big surprise, i am not a big fan of coconut but this one blew me away.. it doesn't have the asean flavor but very light and fruity to my surprise.

The sommelier pierre served us 2007 sigalas santorini white wine, 2006 Condrieu Les Terrasses du Palat, and another 2004 red which i forgot the name. Love the condrieu.. dry and complex with a lot of spices.


We definitely had our blast at pierre, because as I returned to pierre the next week for a broker's lunch, the whole team was there I was being greeted by the sommelier and servers.. and of course we had our perks of additional amuse buche and free dessert wine...hohoho...=D

For my lunch at pierre the following week, I had foie gras with oyster as appetizer, scallop for entree and 9 conduit (apple sorbet and pistachio cream) for dessert. Love everything offered at pierre.. wouldn't i ask for too much to make myself a regular?...i probably need to make 10x more money in order to do so.