A star-studded feast at Solaire
MILLIE: Solaire Resort & Entertainment City marks its 10th-year anniversary with a first-of –its-kind gastronomic experience from March 16 to 19.
Dubbed “Gastonomique Indulgence,” five of Solaire’s signature restaurants will each host a Michelin-star chef to offer a curated list of specialties designed to enchant every palate.
Karla and I were both lucky to have been invited to the launch, where the five Michelin-star chefs converged at Solaire’s Finestra Italian Steakhouse for lunch to cook up a star-studded feast! Truly a brilliant and enchanting event!
Enrico Bartolini: Something green and fishy
MILLIE: Chef Enrico Bartolini, a culinary legend from Castelmartini in Tuscany, runs five restaurants, including the Mudec or Museo delle Culture in Milan. His claim to fame is being the only chef in the history of the Michelin Guide to have been awarded four stars at the same time!
He ranks fourth in the global culinary scene after Alain Ducasse, Pierre Gagnaire and Martin Berasategui. Bartolini’s enchanting creations are definitely haute cuisine and one must not miss his seven-course dinner of “Contemporary Classics” at Finestra from March 16 to 19.
KARLA: Chef Bartolini prepared the first and eighth course of the meal. The first dish was a button-shaped stuffed pasta called bottoni filled with olive oil and lime, topped with thin slices of octopus. Upon serving, cacciucco sauce is then poured over the pasta. Cacciuco is a sauce made from an Italian fish stew that is native to Tuscany.
His second dish was named “Turbot in Green.” It consists of steamed turbot, a meaty flat fish with a green sauce and sheet made of chicory leaves.
Chef Bartolini’s dishes were paired by an award-winning bar expert, Salvatore Calabrese, known as “ The Maestro.”
Tohru Nakamura: Chawanmushi plus caviar
MILLIE: Chef Tohru Nakamura is the culinary genius behind the two-Michelin-star restaurant Schreiberei in Munich. He is half-German and half-Japanese and his dishes carry a Eurasian influence and depict traditional yet contemporary cuisine — modern, fresh and refined. Chef Tohru believes in celebrating meals together and combines flavors and textures to achieve the balance he desires. He will execute an eight-course dinner of culinary treasures at Solaire’s Yakumi.
KARLA: Chef Nakamura’s first dish was the Toro. It was a beautifully marbled toro, or tuna belly on a bed of koshihikari rice topped with toasted rice or okoge, freshly grated wasabi and nori. Sake Samurai Akihiro Igarashi served sake from the Kagamiyama Sake Brewery to pair with the toro.
Chef Nakamura’s second dish was one of my favorites in the lineup, chawanmushi with roasted kombu and ponzu sauce, served with eggplant, topped with a wagyu tartar that had been lightly grilled and Sturia caviar to finish. I had to excuse myself while audibly scraping the stoneware for every last bit I could get.
René Frank: Unique eggplant for dessert!
MILLIE: Chef René Frank, a renowned pastry chef trained in Spain, France, Japan, Switzerland and the USA, is featured at Solaire’s Oasis Garden Cafe. Chef Frank hails from Wangen in Germany and is head chef and co-owner of a two-Michelin-star dessert restaurant named Coda, Germany’s first and only dessert restaurant in Berlin.
Chef Frank believes that desserts need not be just the final course but also a meal on its own. He blends classic techniques with a modern, progressive interpretation. His creative masterpieces forego refined sugars and focus on natural sweetness. His creations are unique and everything is light and not calorific!
KARLA: Chef Frank’s unique Eggplant dessert was a thin slice of crunchy eggplant topped with chopped pecan nuts and a layer of pecan nut ice cream with apple balsamic, seasoned with licorice salt.
For the perfect meal ender, chef Frank surprised our palates with a refreshing dessert, simply called “Grapefruit,” with pulp bits of pomelo and tapioca and mascarpone with Savoy cabbage and thyme.
Alvin Leung: Comfort food + wagyu
MILLIE: Chef Alvin Leung, an engineer by profession, became a chef and TV personality inspired by culinary luminaries like Alain Ducasse, Joel Rebuchon and Ferran Adria. Chef Leung uses international influences in his fusion cuisine and amuses palates with his molecular gastronomy creations. His innovative food engineering garnered him two Michelin stars for his restaurant Bo Innovation and X-Treme. He has great comic timing that appeals to his audience. Chef Leung is guest chef at Red Lantern during Solaire’s 10th-anniversary celebration from March 16 to 19.
KARLA: For Chef Leung’s first dish, he prepared something familiar and comforting: chicken soup. It was somewhat close to congee or arroz caldo, a more soupy, rich and tasty version with morel mushrooms. The soup was covered in a puff pastry with the number “10” in celebration of Solare’s 10th anniversary.
Chef Leung’s second dish was thinly sliced wagyu beef topped with abalone and generous slices of fresh black truffle on a side of mashed potatoes and green asparagus.
Rui Silvestre: Saucy seafood you can wipe clean
MILLIE: Chef Sui Silvestre from Valongo, Portugal, has worked in restaurants in France, Switzerland and Hungary. His Michelin-star restaurant Vistas uses authentic flavors combined with the finest local natural ingredients and produces delicate and well balanced culinary masterpieces that are featured at Waterside in celebration of Solaire’s 10th anniversary.
KARLA: Chef Silvestre’s first dish was a Carabineiro prawn, a large deep-sea cardinal prawn with tapioca and a curry sauce.
Then there was poached lobster with masala sauce, black garlic and celery root puree served with a roll to dip into the sauce and wipe the plate clean.
The paired wines were hand-picked by Eanglebert Guina, one of the Philippines’ best sommeliers.
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For more information, you may email restaurantevents@solaireresort.com or visit www.solaireresort.com/ten/michelinstarchefs. Follow Solaire’s social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at @solaireresort for more event updates.
