Somehow I’d ended up with a few bottles sleeping at home, so I threw a small wine gathering with some members of my club. My cellar is tiny, so wines that are ready to drink need to be drunk quickly before I can buy any more. I’m thinking of making this a regular thing from now on.
I visited 2chef not long ago. They cooked seasonal ingredients just right and I really liked it, so I picked it as the venue. But this evening, maybe because they had a lot of reservations, the service was very slow. The service hasn’t quite found its feet yet, so I wondered whether a big meetup had been a bit too much to ask.
The wine setup
The lighting was terrible, so the white balance is a mess and a lot of the photos came out shaky. I really ought to get a better camera, but well, there’s no real need, is there. I’m aiming to be a club-music blogger rather than a food blogger, after all.. The wines I brought are the ice wine on the left and the 1989 Château Canon in the middle, which is being decanted. Another member kindly contributed a pricey Italian wine (which he apparently got as a thank-you for playing matchmaker).
Champagne
The restaurant treated us to one of its own wines, a Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Rosé. There were a lot of treats that day. The more a gathering is like this, the more you lose out by not coming ^_^
Cheers
The bubbles in the rosé are lovely.
Bread
As you can see, nothing special. It was past 7 p.m. and I was pretty hungry, so having the bread come out late was a bit much. The service felt rather lacking that day.
Tuna tataki
It came out round, so I thought it was chicken, but apparently it’s tuna. It’s a fun dish, but for someone used to Japanese food like me there was nothing unusual about it. Taste: so-so. It suffers in comparison with the starter last time.
Foie gras
Good-quality foie gras. I was busy taking photos so I couldn’t eat it right away, and it seemed the plate hadn’t been warmed enough, because it went cold fast, which was a shame. With the sweet ice wine it was decent enough to eat, but.. the more delicate the dish, the more the way it’s served makes a huge difference to the taste, so it was a pity.. Also, the ice wine wasn’t in as good a shape as when I drank it before, and I don’t know why. Can a wine actually taste better while it’s in bottle shock..
Red wine, 1989 Château Canon
It was my first time with an old-vintage French wine, and it had a strong leathery nose. A cigar-like aroma kept creeping up, and I felt, ah, so this is what the charm of old vintages is all about.. That said, it didn’t go well with the food, and I suspect it was a bit hard to appreciate for people just getting into wine. So for the next gathering I’m thinking of preparing something relatively easy to understand. (No, actually, I already have..)
Sea bass
Maybe it was the quality of the fish, but it was nicely grilled and tasty. You could almost call it the best of the night, but it isn’t the complex style of dish I like, and the wine match was just so-so, so I was a little disappointed.
Sea urchin pasta
Slightly overcooked. Not bad, but just ordinary.
According to my (unreliable) memory, this is about when we opened the Italian wine from Banfi. It’s a fairly well-known one, but it had the rough edge typical of a young vintage. It would have been better with a bit more aging.
Lamb steak
This was the main they clearly put their heart into that day.. but it had almost none of lamb’s typical gamey funk. It was easy to eat and tasty, but not tasting like lamb left me slightly dissatisfied. The duck last time really brought out the character of duck, mind you. On top of that, even after the main had come out, the portions felt a bit small. Considering the formidable appetites gathered that night, I doubt it even touched the sides..
Tenderloin steak
I didn’t try this one, so I can’t really say.. People said the lamb was better.
The restaurant’s dessert
They say they make their own desserts here, and for something the chef makes himself it’s pretty decent, but it lacks presentation that leaves an impression, even a small one. Something like cutting into a fondant au chocolat.. The chef is surely busy enough with the cooking alone, so it can’t be helped, but if they ever have the leeway I’d like them to put some thought into dessert presentation too. Well, that said, that day I had brought a whole dessert course -_- myself, so no special dessert was needed.
Sakura mizumochi
The outside is wrapped in a jelly-like layer, with sweet red bean paste inside. It’s sold only in the spring season, so I bought some. The cherry blossom on top was harvested the previous year and salt-pickled for a whole year; its saltiness puts an elegant accent on the sweetness of the bean paste. Usually when you say sakura mochi, it’s pink dough and a cherry leaf rolled around bean paste in a half-moon shape, and I remember mostly eating them as a snack with sake -_- while watching the cherry blossoms…
Cake & Hanabatake Bokujo nama caramels from Hokkaido
The cake was brought by a lovely member who came to the gathering. She said it was from somewhere in Hongdae, but the name escapes me.. It was very rich, and I felt a twinge of guilt, thinking every bite would go straight to my waistline..
At this point we opened the last contribution, Château Clarke, said to be something like Lafite’s younger cousin. The nose was really wonderful. Compared with Lafite -_- it’s a simpler wine, but it’s been getting a big reputation lately as unbeatable for the price. Everyone drank it happily. But where did the photo go..
Sake jelly, out of focus
A jelly made with carefully selected sake. It looked unusual so I bought it, and it was very popular, maybe because many of us love a drink. Rokurinsha ramen also came out as a souvenir that day. I tend to buy all sorts of things on impulse whenever I travel, and since I traveled a lot this month, it was a bumper crop of souvenirs..
I felt it again this time: hosting a gathering is harder than you’d think. There’s the location issue, but I also still lack experience. This time, without meaning to, a lot of the talk was about iPhones and other IT gear related to my field, so people not interested in that may have been bored… In contrast, at the wine gathering the next day, the host ran things perfectly and we had a great time. I should work hard so I can host gatherings like that soon.
2chef seems to be doing good business lately, so no need to worry about it closing for a while ^_^ It seems to have become a go-to spot for blind dates; it was couples all around.. So jealous..