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2010-06-20
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...........If you listen enough to Mr. Choi Larn, someone whom I do admire to an extent and is quite knowleagable yes (at least better than me overall), yet sometimes I think I disagree with him on certain issues as he's slightly biased and gets facts wrong sometimes. I remember on the odd occasion I read one of his articles, when he mentioned that when it comes to Sydney vs Melbourne's food - he claimed Melbourne is far more famous for fine dining than Sydney. In that same article, he even
Anyway, I'm not old-fashioned like Choi Larn and I certainly wouldn't bring tourists to Vlado's in Melb for a steak, that place is ho-hum, way out-dated compared to the newer and much better steakhouses. The world has shifted, but he is caught unaware. His general comment that Melbourne has better fine dining foods than Sydney is also pretty seriously false - Sydney has much more capable fine dining venues infact charging much higher prices, this fact is supported by the number of 3 Hatted Restaurants far out-numbering the Melburnian ones by around 7-8 to 2. To me, what's interesting about Melbourne is that there are so many Hearty Restaurants everywhere which makes great tasting food - they are not the Haute Cuisine type, because people there are too laid back and relaxed to really enjoy those (but if you really desire them, count on Vue De Monde and Royal Hotel at Dunkeld to deliver, which are seriously world-class acts, perhaps even Jacque Reymonds during Winter when he's less susceptible to making Japanese-Westernised fusion dishes as when he always does in Spring/Summer, due to his Japanese training!), but anyway, its more about the down-to-earth dishes that you eat day in and day out there that you become addicted to but which are impossible to find in places like HK. Union J's Food, operated by Eric Johnson and Jason Casey, the two talented chefs who had once worked in the Michelin 3 Starred Jean-Georges, kind of reminds me of those hearty dishes but in an Americanised way. Union-J does the approachable and Bistrot type of food which suits everyone every night..... Pity it will be closing soon, due to the landlord kicking them out soonish.
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The Food here are not as simple as it seems on the surface either. When I got to bite into each dish and then talking to one of the chefs, I realised that a lot of extra thoughts have been injected into each individual dish and dessert than is apparent on the surface, esp. compared to how its printed simply on the menu - there are always hidden, secretive ingredients which were added in to elevate your bistrot styled dish to another level. If you ask my honest opinion, I think the complexity of the dishes here are even more sophisticated than say the dishes served at Michelin Starred French restaurants such as Petrus and Caprice (which are rated using the Traditional French System), even Cepage or Drawing Room - its a pity not many eaters or Michelin reviewers will ever understand the extra-thoughtfulness and complexity mixed into each dish to create more tasting layers. But as a wannabe cook myself I certainly suspected there's something more going on in the background than is perceivable on the surface. We're really receiving a bargain here. Every single dish probably consists of 10+ or more ingredients combined which are far too subtled to be picked up easily, but they really do make a micro-level difference in the end, but only if you look out for them.
I REALLY WISHED UNION-J WILL STAY OPERATING IN THE LONG RUN TO ASSUAGE MY HUNGER, I HOPE THEY FIND ANOTHER SPACE FOR ACCOMODATION AFTER HERE. ALTHOUGH THE EXTRA PRESSURE OF OPERATING A HIGHER CULINARY LEVEL RESTAURANT, ONE CLOSER TO HAUTE-CUISINE STYLE COULD BE MORE INTENSELY STRESSFUL, I REALLY FEEL THAT THE TWO J'S, "JOHNSON AND JASON" REALLY DO CARRY MORE THAN ENOUGH THE TALENT TO PULL OFF THIS STUNT MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE. PLEASE COME BACK AND SURPRISE US ALL IN THE END IN YOUR FUTURE ADVENTURES IN HONG KONG....
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