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2014-10-23
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I have not been back to Gaddi's ever since my first commentary on Openrice... and here tonight I came again, for his birthday dinner. This time, we did not dine at the neoclassical restaurant with beautiful chandeliers. I made a reservation for its chef's table instead. Gaddi's is actually the first restaurant which offers chef's table in the city since 2001. Seated right in front of the kitchen, we see Chef Teddy and his team were already conscientiously prepping for the night. We were invited
Gaddi's is actually the first restaurant which offers chef's table in the city since 2001. Seated right in front of the kitchen, we see Chef Teddy and his team were already conscientiously prepping for the night.
We were invited by Chef Teddy to take on a kitchen tour before our dinner. There were different sections for appetizers, main, pastries respectively; and kitchens for other hotel restaurants were all close by.
My favorite spot in the kitchen was the chocolate room! You were immersed in such fragrant aroma once you entered the room, and there were delicately crafted products in the fridge for different festive occasions.
Happily walked back to our table, our journey began. The server, Mike, swiftly presented to us the bread platter and introduced one after one. I picked a brioche and an olive baguette out of the four. There were 3 kinds of butter to choose from - Salted, Spice & Herbs, Unsalted. My brioche was quite soft but it would have better if the bread was served hotter; anyhow, I still like the butter with spice & herbs, that possessed a faint hint of curry flavor! Quite interesting it was!
Our amuse bouche was a Terrine of French Chicken Breast, Potato & Duck Liver with Balsamic Vinegrette. Well, I was not a huge fan of terrine, as I thought amuse bouche could be lighter and more refreshing to stimulate your appetite.
Followed by our first course from the tasting menu - Saint Jacques scallop tartar with lime, shellfish mousse, and French Imperial caviar. The scallops were lightly seasoned with salt and lemon zest, which was a great idea to further bring up the natural sweetness of the scallops. The shellfish mousse was actually prepared from crab soup, which was lovely to be eaten separately or along with the tartar and caviar.
Then another favorite of the night arrived - Fine Puff Pastry with Duck Liver, Bacon & Baby Salad. There was a bit of onion salad on top with caramelized onion sauce. The thin slice was made of bacon chip and black truffle sauce was sprinkled around the dish. The sweet caramelized sauce was the highlight and did its job well to neutralize the heavy texture of duck liver, while the diced duck liver cubes provided greater surface areas to be served with the sauce. The thin pastry sheets and bacon chip gave a dimension of textures to the course.
Our first main was a fish course - Wild Guilvinec Turbot, Chive Gnocchi & Red Wine Sauce. A cappuccino foam of chive was also prepared. The turbot was pan fried then baked lightly before it was served on the plate. Turbot had a stronger flavourful taste which required little seasoning, and the moisture in the meat was well maintained. I liked it how it was paired with a savory red wine sauce, which was not very common in a fish course.
The second main was Slow cooked Veal Chop, with wild seasonal mushrooms. The French Veal was cooked at 54C and the slices were very pink indeed. Well, the meat was tender, of course, but it just seemed to us that either the jus was too watery or the veal did not absorb the jus well, that it tasted rather bland.
However, this bone-in section offered a completely opposite experience that it was both juicy and tender, and the meat flavor was much richer.
Creme Brulee has been one of my favorite desserts at the Peninsula. I used to love visiting the lobby lounge for its orange creme crulee as a light night sweets; and this time, for our tasting menu, Chef Teddy made us Coffee Creme Brulee with Chocolate Meringue and Cappuccino Ice-cream. Maintaining its creme brulee standard, it was very coffee rich but it did not overpower the caramelized surface.
and it was time to light up the candle for the birthday boy =) On the birthday plate, we had a mini Mango tart, Cherry Financier and Passionfruit Candy. The candy was too sweet for my liking, whereas the cherry financier was a surprise, since I had the admonition that quite a lot of cherry desserts tasted like cough syrup.
We were given another set of Chocolate Petit Fours - Caramel, Citrus Lemon & Cocoa respectively. Loved lemon flavored chocolate as always, and cocoa had further enriched the taste and texture of the chocolate itself.
We were served by Mike for most of the time during the night, who was very helpful, attentive and friendly. Since we were able to witness all the behind-the-scenes happening, he was very patient to elaborate to us on food, the most popular dishes, the seasonal recommendations, and showed us the press which was designed for the traditional Pressed Duck.I certainly think the Michelin has owed Gaddi's Michelin stars for too long.
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