An exquisite four-hands dinner
MILLIE: When two brilliant chefs come together to curate an outstanding four-hands dinner at The Peninsula Manila, sheer perfection happens.
Over the weekend, we were honored to have witnessed and tasted the excellent culinary creations of The Peninsula Manila executive chef Remy Carmignani and visiting chef Anne-Sophie Nicolas from the legendary Gaddi’s Restaurant at The Peninsula Hong Kong.
The elegant three-hour fine-dining experience began with a welcoming bubbly, nothing less than a Baron de Rothschild “Concordia” Brut Champagne NV (note that NV stands for non-vintage) served with amuse bouche selections, the first with a lightly salted fish roe I can only find in Paris called tarama in a bite-sized cannoli with caviar, and the second, a smooth salmon mousse with Jerusalem artichoke.
KARLA: Le King Crabe was a stunning dish featuring a light tart shell with a generous filling of king crabs and smothered with caviar and gold leaves. It was also served with a lobster jelly beautifully decorated with heirloom radishes and chervil.
MILLIE: Our French wine sommelier from Cork Mademoiselle Eloise Chappard was quick to pour the Grand Bateau Bordeaux Blanc Sec 2023 which was chilled, light and refreshing, perfectly paired with the King Crab tartelette.
KARLA: The next course, Le Fagettini d’Agneau, was probably one of the most surprising dishes for me. Homemade fagottini pasta stuffed with shredded Moroccan tangia-style lamb shoulder. It was presented by pouring the lamb consommé upon serving followed by droplets of coriander oil. The consommé was so clear and clean yet had subtle flavors of the lamb. It wasn’t overpowering at all.
MILLIE: The Chateau Branas Grand Poujeaux Les Eclats de Branas Moulis-en-Medoc, Bordeaux 2017 was a perfect match to this very light and delightful pasta dish.
KARLA: The fish course, Le Turbot, was probably my favorite of all. My first thought was “turbot with a Beaujolais?” but it actually worked out and paired really well. The entire fish was used in this dish where the turbot was poached and served with celeriac, mushrooms and a rich beurre blanc. The beurre blanc was so rich that it was the perfect balance to the light acidity of the Beaujolais. I enjoyed it so much that I even asked for a second piece of their house bread to swipe the sauce off my plate.
MILLIE: Pairing off a light Beaujolais with the fish course was not a bad idea and it highly complemented the dish. Karla could not resist having a second glass.
KARLA: Le Pigeon was a roasted pigeon breast, well-seasoned, tender, juicy and perfectly cooked to medium. It was served with the leg confit, pommes puree and salmi sauce with pigeon liver.
MILLIE: A classic! Nothing like a Mondot Saint Emilion Bordeaux 2021 paired with a gamey pigeon! I haven’t had a Saint Emilion in years and it was heavenly!
KARLA: The pre-dessert was served to wash our palate before the main dessert. It was a vanilla bean sorbet with orgeat topped with candied orange rinds. Mom and I were discussing it and I kept saying I could taste hints of floral and citrus in it; Mom kept saying she could taste roses. True enough, orgeat, we learned, is an almond syrup with orange and rose.
Le Vacherin, Millie’s kind of dessert, arrived soon after. It was a ricotta gelato and lemon gel, covered in drops of meringue and Sicilian pistachio Chantilly cream. This was paired perfectly with the Pizzolato Moscato Dolce “Muse” Veneto NV.
MILLIE: The real dessert came as chefs Remy and Anne-Sophie came and sat with us at our table to chat. We learned that once upon a time, they have both worked together as chef apprentis at celebrity chef’s Guy Savoy’s restaurants and this is how their skills were honed, learning the same classic French techniques. Chef Remy narrates how his travels abroad inspired his delicious creations as well as experience working with some of the best culinary minds of this century like Philippe Groult, Guy Savoy and Daniel Boulud.
Chef Anne-Sophie, the first female chef de cuisine in Peninsula’s history, shares her flawless artistic dishes perfected from her stints with other esteemed Michelin-starred restaurants including Espadon at The Ritz and Le Meurice in Paris and recently at L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon in Hong Kong. Both chefs' unique styles created an extraordinary dining experience.
We ended the evening with promises to see chef Anne-Sophie and dine at Gaddi’s on our next visit to Hong Kong and, of course, come back for another culinary adventure with chef Remy at The Peninsula Manila.
It was a most pleasurable evening, both Karla and I appreciated the time dining together without having to rush through the meal. The ambience at Old Manila was quite elegant and the service was impressive and flawless. The food was exquisite and the wines provided by Cork were superb. I came out a bit tipsy but grateful for the marvelous time spent with my only daughter as a kick-off to her 40th birthday celebration.
