CHEF Mahi’s visually arresting dessert of mushroom-looking passion fruit lollipops.
IT’S NOT everyday that we get one of the world’s top chefs in town.
Chef Mauro Colagreco is literally one of the world’s best. His restaurant Mirazur in Menton, France has this year been ranked No. 11 on the World’s 50 Best list, beating even Paris’ most celebrated L’Arpege (No. 12), San Sebastian’s iconic Arzak (No. 17 this year, although consistently with 3 Michelin stars), Mexico’s Pujol (No. 16), and London’s Ledbury (No. 20).
Adding to his prestige is the fact that he is not French but Argentinian (like Pope Francis!). It is extra difficult to earn the respect of the French critics when you are not French!
But after taking over Mirazur in 2006, the restaurant landed its first Michelin star in 2007. Colagreco became the first Argentinian chef to ever earn a Michelin star. In 2012, Mirazur gained its second Michelin star and just this year rose from No. 35 to hold the No. 11 rank in the World’s 50 Best list.
It is touching to note Colagreco trained under Chet Alain Passard of L’arpege in Paris, which now trails Mirazur (No. 12) on the 50 Best list!
The good news is that Colagreco, although highly respected and celebrated in France, is a down-to-earth chef who accepted the invitation of City of Dreams’ French-Basque chef Wiliam Mahi to cook in Manila. Colagreco is in town as guest chef and will do a collaboration dinner with the Tasting Room’s resident chef and Chef Franck Salati of Shanghai’s Unico restaurant.
THE WORK of art of Tasting Room’s William Mahi—wild salmon trout with emulsified sea urchin, ornamented with oyster leaves.
The bad news is that the collaboration dinner ends tomorrow! The brief run is only from Nov. 11 to 16. I hope you read this early and can still make a reservation for tonight or tomorrow night. The Four Hands dinner (two chefs, four hands) is limited to just 50 guests per night at P7,000 or P8,888++ with wine pairing.
Colagreco at this dinner gives guests a taste of Cote d’Azur cooking. His dishes at the dinner are exactly what he would serve at Mirazur (so this dinner saves you a ticket to the French Riviera… minus the beach).
His starter is especially mind blowing as it is under the theme of corn. It reminded me of Massimo Bottura’s revolutionary dish at Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy using just one ingredient— Parmiggiano—and creating five ages and textures with just this one element. This is not quite as intense as a few other ingredients make their way into Colagreco’s dish, which is still a beautiful play on one ingredient: corn.
Chef Colagreco presents corn espuma, corn powder, corn griddles, corn chips, and polenta (from cornmeal) beautifully put together using various techniques in an elegant bowl. There’s nothing corny when the chef also incorporates an egg that breaks to your delight when you dig in, and freshly shaved black truffles! The chef achieves being heartwarming, yet sophisticated—all in one bite!
When it comes to the mains, Colagreco impresses first with his mastery of the basics. Pagre fish is perfectly cooked—tender yet succulent, an immediately impressive texture that gently directs your palate to note the hint of the sea. Later, milk-fed veal is melt-in-your-mouth soft, its crown earthy without being charred.
You can eat his creations naked (the dishes, not you), already exemplary without embellishment.
But as the best French chefs do, the sides convert the dishes to something truly extraordinary. The pagre, for instance, is contrasted yet highlighted by a strong garlic puree; while the veal is sealed with a bagna caudal sauce. Both translate the dishes from casual to couture.
If you miss the dinner, no need to mope. William Mahi held his own against the Colagreco.
I hope that Mahi’s wild salmon appetizer, plated like an abstract painting, with colors beaming, will make it to the regular Tasting Room menu. The salmon, cut as small as a row of staple bullets, bites with flavor and the oyster leaves—leaves that have the taste of oyster—are just fascinating!
Four Hands dinners seem to be all the rage now, after the stupendous collaboration dinners during this year’s Madrid Fusion. It makes for a very lively Manila dining scene. Let’s keep these “world’s best” chefs coming!
TASTING ROOM at the City of Dreams. Aseana cor. Macapagal Ave., Entertainment City, Parañaque. Call 8008080 for reservations. Wheelchair accessible. Limited slots.
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