Friday, June 25, 2010

Opulent Comfort Food, the Lusso Way!




Lusso Truffle Potato Crisps

Born in 1822 as George Speck of American and African ancestry, later taking his jockey-Father's professional name, Crum, found his calling to be a Chef. In a fit of frustration and anger towards a hard-to-please customer one evening in 1853 at Cary Moon's Restaurant in Saratoga, New York, Chef Crum, on his third attempt of preparing French fries, decided to over-season the potatoes and cut them too thinly so they couldn't be pierced by a fork. Voila! Chef George Crum gave the world potato crisps!

Lusso takes this world favorite to a higher level by drizzling some truffle oil on the potato crisps because truffle = drizzle that will send you to a gastronomic seductive smell to heaven!






Asiago Fries
French fries + melted Asiago cheese.
Need I say more?
I will then!

French Fries.
Location? Belgium, not France.
When? 1680.
Why? When rivers/streams froze over, potatoes were cut into strips to mimic the shape of little fish and fried them to a crisp.

Asiago Cheese
Since 1000 AD, from the Asiago High Plateau which lies within the Italian Alps, this nutty flavored cheese or also known as "mountain cheese', is produced two ways : fresh Asiago or Pressato and the mature Asiago or Asiago d´Allevo.

Who knew that there was so much more to catsup, mustard, mayonnaise dips for French Fries? Chef Gaita Fores did, that's for sure! And how lucky are we for her to share this melted cheese over the crispy fried taters strips!





Demi-Pound Foie Gras Burger
THIS IS THE ROCKSTAR OF ALL BURGER!

Half pound US Ground Beef Burger with Foie Gras bits inside the patty that melts inside the burger when it's grilled to infuse another layer of juiciness and beef-complementing taste, topped with caramelized onions in Prosecco, enveloped in a super crusty toasted hamburger bun, comes with a Cambozola Bath for you to either spoon on your Demi-pound burger or just dip into the creamy cheese sauce.
It's served with crispy fries and a simple green salad dredged with a perfect-tasting vinaigrette that harmonized it's balsamic vinegar acidity and the fresh green produce.

The caramelized onions slowly simmered in a demi-sec sparkling wine of Italy's Veneto region to give it a hint of "orchard" flavor.

Invented in the early 1970's at Bavaria, Cambozola Cheese made of cow's milk is meant to be a cross between Gorgonzola and Camembert. Chef Gaita Fores transforms this soft, creamy blue/brie hybrid with a little of mix of Bechamel Sauce, into the perfect pairing for the Half-pounder burger delight.





Laguiole Knife

The 1829 Laguiole (pronounced "Lie-yole") knives are excellent for slicing and never goes rusty. The notches on the top of the blade prevent the index finger from slipping. Said to be inspired by the Spanish Navaja knife and the French dagger, Capuchado.






Luxe Mac and Cheese
with Pancetta, formaggio trio

Pancetta is an Italian pork belly that's dry cured with salt, pepper and other spices, quite similar to how bacon is prepared for about 3 months.

This dish was mellow love with a triple cheese punch!

Yes, our childhood favorite dish of Pennette Pasta (Well, us mortals were using elbow macaroni), butter, milk or creme, egg, seasonings, spices, 3 kinds of cheese (Parmiggiano reggiano, Cheddar and Mascarpone), crispy pancetta, topped with mini toasted bread cubes and minced parsley.

I am inclined to believe that the Mascarpone is the culprit to having this delightful creamy, mellow cheese texture! Where most were using Romano or Asiago, Chef Gaita Fores decides to use this "creamy curd cheese" to get that velvety texure. What an ingenious idea!

With its origins from the Lombardy region of Southern Italy, Mascarpone is the result of a culture added to the cream skimmed off the milk, made much in the same way as yogurt.






Pot-de-Creme Chocolat
or French Chocolate Custard Cups

Chocolate is a product of the cacao bean or cocoa bean, ground and roasted, which becomes the raw material for the wonderful chocolate desserts and treats we all heart.

From it's French sweet baked origin, this rich and creamy dessert is traditionally a mixture of dark chocolate, cream, egg yolks, sugar, vanilla and salt, served in coffee cups or ramekins. Over the years, other variations could include coffee, whiskey, orange or lemon rinds and a little sugar on top that's torched to give it a caramelized topping for added texture.




Lusso, Greenbelt 5
G/F Greenbelt 5, Legaspi St., Legaspi Village
Makati City, Metro Manila
Philippines
(02) 756-5893



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Thanks, Lusso!
I will be back!
Ciao!

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

My Date with Destiny - Fireplace!

Although I've heard of Hyatt Manila's The Fireplace a number of times, it wasn't until my niece, Jin, insisted that I should try it, that it was embedded into the sensory nerves of my brain that I have to journey off to that promised grilling paradise.





The woodsy interiors with leather banquets, high burnished copper ceiling, animal-style striped rug, spattering of round and square tables all over the room and the gracious smiles of the restaurant staff warmly greeted me as I enter The Fireplace.





Chef Nelson and Chef Noel standing proudly in front of their Copper-finish custom-made Australian Beech Oven!

http://www.beechovens.com.au/gallery/custom-oven/custom069/





Roldan makes sure that the restaurant's prized possession is brushed, cleaned every night so their dining guests won't get those bitter charred bits.





Sourdough Bread

The Fireplace's Sourdough bread is served to you warmly toasted straight from their fire oven with Balsamic Vinegar & Extra Virgin Olive Oil while you wait for your food to be served. The crusty-ness of the bread lives up to what a sour-dough bread should be - CRUSTY! I couldn't help myself and asked for some unsalted butter to spread on the crusty exterior and the soft, warm inside of the bread dipped in the vinegar+oil! I prefer unsalted butter since it uses fresher cream than salted butter for a higher quality of creaminess.





Lobster Bisque

In Jin's blog (Sign up to her food blog - Jin Loves to Eat! She has quite an extensive food posts and her recommendations have never led me astray. I'm so proud of my niece!), she warns that this is not available in the menu, so beg, if you must.

Marian, The Fireplace's charming restaurant Supervisor, helped me talk to Chef Nelson, for a serving of this must-try crustacean soup. I didn't beg but then widening my small, slit eyes as big as they could, I squeaked out my desire to have that soup with a matching pleading look and the sweetest smile I could manage on my lips! Chef Nelson then agreed if I was willing to wait.

Victory!

I've had my share of Lobster Bisque! Everytime I see this in a resto's menu, I make it a point to order it. But I must say this is probably one of the best Lobster Bisque I've tried. Perfect balanced seasoning harmonizing with the sweet lobster taste and tender pieces of lobster meat! No wonder the lobster is the King of Seafood!

That same night, I met Hyatt Manila's debonair, ultra-friendly and wonderfully receptive Executive Chef Josef Miklavc and declared to him that it's a sin not to have it on their menu as a regular item. Hope this yummy savory soup will make it back to their menu! And I promise to take his photo next time and add it here!





Chilled 10oz. US Angus Ribeye, medium-well

The ribeye steak, usually taken from the rib section, has extra fat which makes this one of the juiciest, more tender, heavily marbled cut of beef. And everyone knows that fat = flavor.

Chilled steaks are ideally vaccum packed and chilled at around 1'C to 4'C for several days up to 3 weeks. This process "ages" the beef until it achieves an intense beef flavor and uber tenderness.

The Fireplace's secret dry-rub is coated all over the ribeye before it's grilled in the fabulous Beech Oven to a perfectly-charred, medium well-done meat! Not all restos can cook a perfect done-ness; this resto has that nailed to an art form.





I'm a "purist"... so I didn't actually need the sauces, but they offered me 3 sauces: Red wine glaze, Mushroom with thyme and Bearnaise, which all tasted good.

A red wine glaze is a reduction of fond or the steak drippings mixed with red wine, stock, seasonings and spices.

Mushroom & Thyme sauce that goes with Steaks are made from fond mixed with mushroom, stock, sherry, thyme, seasonings and spices plus a little flour to thicken the sauce.

Bearnaise is a classic French hot emulsion sauce made from clarified butter, egg yolks with a bit of vinegar and tarragon.





Please sit up straight, look, listen and learn!!
THIS! THIS is the correct done-ness for a medium well steak!
Don't let other restaurants fool you otherwise!

Internal temperature should be around 65'C to 70'C.

Meat should be pink in the center, without any blood. Feels firm with the slightest springy-feel.





Gratinated Potato

Gratin, with its French culinary origins, is prepared in a shallow dish topped usually with either breadcrumb crusts or grated cheese and baked to form a golden crust on top.

While it took them about 30 minutes to prepare this carbo-loading dish, it was worth the wait.
The potatoes were cooked just right. Not soggy or undercooked. Just right with great Parmesan flavors!





Chocolate Soup

Think of your favorite cocoa drink. You know, the ones made from cocoa tablea with a batirol and an egg is added after achieving it's thick, frothy consistency?

The Fireplace prepares this using dark German chocolate, baked to form a thin layer of crust, served warm with Hyatt's very own Vanilla ice cream sprinkled with Black Pepper powder.

For serious dessert-lovers! Not for the faint of heart.

Oh! But just in case, Fireplace will generously give you another scoop of their ice cream if you want it a more milk-chocolatey taste. A perfect ending to a perfect meal!


The Fireplace, Hyatt Hotel & Casino Manila
5/F Hyatt Hotel and Casino, 1588 Pedro Gil cor. MH del Pilar, Malate
Manila, Metro Manila
Philippines
(02) 245-1234



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Thanks, The Fireplace!
I will be back!
Ciao!