Best seat in the house

Two chefs at the Radisson Blu Hotel Cebu, Executive Chef Marco Amarone and Korean Chef Lee Seung Joon gave a live cooking demonstration to select members of Cebu’s media and we were seated at the Chef’s Table. Rare are the times that we are invited to such an event and you feel like royalty to have two chefs to serve you dinner.

These days however, with all this talk about PDAF, there are new standards to make you feel like a king or queen. If your cash on hand will fit your vault, you are not yet rich because you have not use, excuse me, your bathtub.

Amuse Bouche was Avocado Gelato with Ponzu Tuna & Quail eggs. Cybill Gayatin asked me what “ponzu” was and I said it was a type of Japanese citrus fruit. I forgot ponzu is a kind of citrus-based sauce used in Japanese cuisine and it is made with rice vinegar, dried tuna flakes (katsuobushi), sea weed (kombu) and a citrus fruit like “yuzu” is added. Well, ponzu and yuzu sounds alike and my mistake and apologies to Chef Lee Seung Joon who answered it was a kind of sauce. In fact, the ponzu tuna tasted so good, that your favorite food columnist just had to have a second serving!

Salmon Sashimi-Bruschetta with Baby Sprouts Salad & Honey-Ginger Dressing was the second course and they said that those sprouts were made with alfalfa sprouts and having live like a goat because of an earlier food allergy, I was treading on very familiar grounds.

Soup served was the Leek and Potato Soup with Sea Urchin & Chive Creme Fraiche and these was followed by a fusion dish representing the origins of these two fine Chefs, Italy and Korea: the Kimchi Risotto with Lobster, Arugula & Smoked Ikura. Ikura refers to the eggs (roe/caviar) from salmon and I was lucky to dine on lobster that night since I had no allergy to any type of seafood.

Main dish was Surf and Turf: Charcoal-grilled Tataki beef with Gamberi sous vide & Vegetables spheres. Tataki beef is not a variety of Japanese beef like “Kobe” but a type of cooking with the meat seared, sliced very thin and served very rare.

There are always claims that this or that beef is the very best until I saw a variety of beef in a video from Iron Chef Japan. It claimed to have the very best type of Japanese beef called Mishima beef, named after the island of Mishima and this breed has remained “pure”, meaning it has never been crossbred with cattle from Europe. It is said that it is “a type of beef that makes the better known, and highly priced, Kobe breed look positively like McDonald’s”. You should take note that Mishima beef should not be confused with “Mishima Ranch beef” produced in Boise, Idaho.

Dessert was very lovely; Caramel Espresso Corretto with Lychee Mochi Ice Cream and you need to remember there are certain procedures to eat the dessert… pour the contents of the top vessel into the lower vessel, mix thoroughly and enjoy.

All my beloved readers should note that special arrangements can be made with Radisson Blu Hotel Cebu for you to invite your family and love ones for an intimate group celebration or close an important business deal with your business partners or potential investors with excellent food and wine at the best seat in the house. [email protected]