Amuse - Baby Banana, Green Apple Watermelon Radish with Jamon De Verde
We start off the night with a little amuse, the banana is coated with sugar, reminds me of a cream brulee, mildly sweet and appetizing. The Ham is a delicious buttery delicate. I couldn't taste the watermelon/green apple, but the ham itself is great so I didn't mind.
Amuse - Quinoa Chip, Dehydrated Date
The Quinoa chip is delicious with a little cheese flavor. The dehydrated date is like a candy, mildly sweet. All in all, the amuse are a great start to our night.
Atlantic Cod - Osetra Caviar, Lychee, Chive, Mushroom Vinaigrette, Yuzu
For our first course, we're instructed to open up the lid and lick it. There's a little yuzu puree on the lid to lighten our pallet. The fish is nicely cooked and it's smooth, buttery and sweet. The caviar adds a little brininess to the dish. What's more is the broth that goes with this dish, it's earthly, flavorful and a little smokey.
Alaskan King Crab - Kalamansi, Cucumber, Lemon Mint, Golden Roe, Thai Chili
For our second course, we are instructed to crack the coated sugar, which holds the roe and Thai chili, and eat it along with the king crab and cucumber juice beneath. The resulting mixture is a combination of alot of flavor. The crab is perfectly cooked and its sweetness is magnified by the refreshing cucumber juice. The combination of roes, chili and cucumber juice make this a nice, yet, refreshing bite.
6-Herb butter and Rosemary Bread
Our first round of bread is a rosemary bread and we were offered a herb butter. These two goes really well with together as they are both quite "herby".
Scallop - Tamarind, smoke, Flavors of Licorice, Coconut cream, "Scallop Chip"
The scallop is superbly cooked as it's sweet, light and flavorful. It goes well with the tamarind, which tastes like the licorice flavor (think black jelly beans). The licorice flavor is quite strong and not very attractive by itself. However, it goes well with the creamy coconut. The coconut is sweet, milky, creamy and carries a nice dose of coconut flavor. There's also a scallop chip, which is actually the skin of the scallop and it's quite tasty.
Fennel Seed French Rolls
Lamb - Artichoke, Smoked Paprika, Frisee, White Anchovy
The lamb is juicy, flavorful and carries a bit of the gaminess from the lamb. The anchovy is a nice little addition it adds a little crunch and carries a bit of brininess. The artichoke is fun to eat as it's crunchy but not necessary for this dish. My only complain to this dish is that there's too much going on and my brain is getting confused by all the different element.
Another bread we were offered
Sweetbreads - Ten Grains, Caperberry, Sage, Veal sauce
The sweet bread is smooth, flavorful and tender. I like the veal sauce here as it's a little hearty and goes really well with the grains. The fun part is all the crunchiness that comes with the grain combined with the mushiness of the sweetbreads turns into a hearty, flavorful, fun bite.
Miyazaki Beef - Romaine, Peanut, Vietnamese Herbs, Rice Puff, Tom Yum soup
There's two ways of eating the wagyu beef, pan seared and sashimi style. The wagyu sashimi is flavorful and buttery, which goes really well with the crunchy rice crispy. The pan seared wagyu beef is also flavorful and buttery, in more of a cooked beef way. The Tom Yum soup is actually all flavor and no heat, which I like as it can be very spicy. It's got a nice lemon grass kick to the soup, which provide a nice round up for this dish.
Whole Wheat Waffle with Wagyu Beef Fat butter
Passionfruit - Pomelo, Prune, Lavender cake, Grapefruit, Cocoa Butter
Our first dessert course & pallet cleanser comes with alot of fruit. We were instructed to crack the sphere in the center to let the juice runs through the dish. The juice is actually a prune juice, which is quite citrusy and strong, but goes really well with the grapefruit. My favorite part is the combination of the juice, grapefruit and a bit of the cocoa butter. It's sweet, refreshing and light.
Rhubarb - Red wine, Cream Cheese, Lemon Verbena, Lime Ice
Our second dessert course is a play of a deconstructed cheese cake. The lime ice is a bit refreshing, while the cream cheese ice cream and the lemon cake offers a nice textural bite. When everything is eaten together, it really reminds me of a nice cheese cake though it's a much lighter and "cleaner" version than the original.
Chocolate - Huckleberry, Whisky, Bergamot, Chocolate Cake, Sunflower Seeds
The Chocolate shell actually holds all the bourbon cream, which is smooth but quite strong. It reminds me of whisky infused chocolate. The chocolate cake is light and dense, which goes well with the bourbon cream. I do like the chocolate as it's not too sweet.
Mignardise
A little sweets to end our dinner.
My trip this time to Grace is definitely interesting. Chef Curtis Duffy's dishes definitely has progressed. Dishes are more creative and, at times, aggressive. I do like alot of the flavor combination here, such as the Cod, King Crab, Sweetbread and the Beef. They're quite original and fun to eat. However, I have to say, at times, my pallet is being too worked up because there's too many component in each dish. It's fun to have so many different flavor, but at times, it overwhelms me. I would've preferred less components and just really focus on specific flavor. All in all, I enjoyed my visit and will look forward in coming back in the future.
