Tag Archives: luxury food

REVIEW: Chef Wai at The Library presents new seasonal menu

It’s time to bid adieu to 2019 and open a new chapter in the new year. The notion of starting afresh with a clean slate is also felt at Chef Wai at The Library. Drawing from his extensive culinary experience as well as his travels, Executive Chef Wai Look Chow has put together a wholesome carte du jour that emphasises on the ingredients.

His latest seasonal menu is streamlined. It discards all complex seasonings to bring out an authentic taste, and thus creating dishes with the qualities of lightness and freshness. It is, in a way, an extension of Chef Wai’s award-winning cookbook Two Friends – One Cuisine — a collaboration with Austrian celebrity chef Johann Lafer — where he utilised the freshest produce.

“For this menu, I very much focus on seafood. I find the shellfish from Japan, especially the mollusks, are very rich this time of year. The sea bass that we source from the northern hemisphere has delicate texture and the flesh is so rich with oil, you can really taste it. Though it is a sustainable fish, this is still the best period to have it,” says Chef Wai.

True enough, the pan-fried Japanese sea bass served here indeed feels tender upon the first bite and the hint of nutty scent and flavour from the beurre noisette gives an almost sinful mouthfeel. It’s a fine continuation from the appetizer medley of surf clam, whelk and geoduck that leaves a silky texture on the palate as it’s seared in crustacean-butter emulsion.

With over a dozen options on the table, diners may opt for the carefully curated Menu Dégustation with a wine-pairing option featuring tipples from the diverse wine collection. An evening at The Library is accompanied with classic cocktails, wines and cognacs, freshly cut lamb prosciutto and a live classical quartet at The Library Lounge, offering the perfect ambience to celebrate the festive season.

Visit ritzcarlton.com to find out more.

 

This article was originally published on www.lofficielmalaysia.com.

At USD25,000, This Taco with 25K Gold Flakes is the World’s Most Expensive

Shrimp, caviar, truffle and gold flakes aren’t standard ingredients in Mexico’s popular tacos but for the price tag that this taco boasts, it should be expected. But chef Juan Licerio Alcala uses them to create the world’s most expensive taco at $25,000. No one has ordered one. Yet.

The handheld dish made of a corn or wheat tortilla folded around a filling is low-cost fare in Mexico. Licerio, the chef at the Grand Velas Los Cabos Resort, a luxury vacation destination in Baja California, told AFP he decided to think outside the box. “People are excited and a little surprised about how you can eat a taco for $25,000 (497,000 pesos) when you can find one on the street for 10 pesos,” he said.

“Then I explain the delicacy, the technique and the harmony that they will lift from the plate, and that it’s worth it.” To make the over-the-top dish, the chef takes a corn tortilla speckled with 24-carat gold flakes and fills it with Kobe beef, shrimp, Almas Beluga caviar and black truffle Brie cheese.

The taco is dressed with a salsa based on Morita chiles and civet coffee, a pricey liquid made from the fermented droppings of a civet which has eaten the berries of a coffee plant. For good measure, gold flakes are sprinkled on top.

A week after the outrageously pricey dish hit the menu, no one has ordered it, the chef admitted. But he said many have shown interest, mostly US customers who like to “push the boundaries.”

Ordering the world’s most expensive taco has its own particular method. First, a customer has to put down a $12,500 deposit and already be staying in the presidential suite. The dish is presented in the middle of the desert encircled by motorcycles, or during a marriage proposal. “We can adjust to the guest,” Licerio said.

If money is no object, the chef has just the tipple to complement the taco: the luxury tequila Pasion Azteca, at $150,000 a bottle.

Words by Vimi Haridasan.

From: Luxuo

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