Where East meets West

THE OKURA Prestige Bangkok is inviting diners to enjoy the gastronomic delights of two worlds – traditional Japanese and Western modern cuisine – next week when its two top chefs will alternately present contrasting yet balanced dishes in a special dinner set that’s being dubbed “Living Kitchen”.

Shigeru Hagiwara, the master chef at Yamazato restaurant, is known for his exquisitely prepared traditional Japanese cuisine with a variety of textures and delightful flavours while Henry Jordan, chef de cuisine of Elements restaurant, focuses on modern Western dishes. The two, however, share a talent for creative interpretations with both visual and textural appeal.

The Living Kitchen set menu will be served for just two days – September 5 and 6 – at Elements. The restaurant, which offers diners the chef’s table experience, lives up to its name by featuring the best of nature’s elements from rust-coloured plates, charcoal wall partitions, hardwood furnishings and blue LED lighting at night. Perched on the 25th floor, it also boasts an alfresco deck that gives a great view of the vibrant city skyline.

The best spot though is the chef’s table, which can accommodate up to 12 guests. From here you can watch the chefs and their team at work in the kitchen, an experience that requires reservations to be made well in advance. The wooden table in a private area has translucent curtains that can be closed for privacy and is separated from the kitchen by a glass screen.

I had a chance to taste the dishes before the promotion starts and thoroughly enjoyed the experience, which was pleasing to both the palate and the eyes.

Hagiwara’s first dish, Japanese Seafood Impressions, is light and whets the appetite. Served in a tall glass with chopsticks, it features scallop, octopus, surf clam and imitation crab stick cooked with lotus root, pomelo, okra, tomato, miyoga ginger and Suizenji seaweed and doused in a delicious seasoning of onion balsamic. 

Next up is chef Jordan’s creation – Duck Foie Gras – layers of pistachio cake, genoise (rich and delicate Italian sponge cake), foie gras terrine and jelly made from blood orange. On top is the blood orange in the form of caviar and pistachio brittle. The dish is flavoured with maple gastrique sauce and dressed with edible violet.

 

 

Hagiwara returns for the next course with Grilled Alfonsiono. Japanese food normally leans toward natural tastes but as the dish is served after foie gras, the fillet of alfonsino fish on a bed of kamo eggplant is dressed in a strong tasting dashi and Chinese spicy sauce, and topped with kaiware sprouts and shredded miyoga ginger. 

A sparkling sake sherbet cleanses the palate before Jordan’s Progression of Wagyu MB 9 is served. A must for the beef eater, the white porcelain plate is laden with grilled rib eye with a marble score of nine topped with baby carrot and pink radish, beef tartar dressed with frisee, and beef cheek ravioli. Wagyu beef consomme and gravy are served on the side.

The meal ends perfectly with Hokkaido Cheesecake, a sweet and sour delight of sudachi creme and yuzu macaroon. Sudachi is a citrus fruit that has a zestier flavour and aroma than lemon and lime.

 

ORIENT FUSED

>>> The Living Kitchen set is available for dinner on September 5 and 6 from 6 to 10.30pm at Elements restaurant, on the 25th floor of the Okura Prestige Bangkok. 

>>> The six-course menu, plus amuse-bouche and petite fours, is priced at Bt3,800++ per person.

>>> Reservations are recommended by calling (02) 687 9000. Visit www.OkuraBangkok.com.