Café & Brasserie Paul Bocuse

Paul Bocuse他老人家似乎只偏愛日本, 在日本開了fine dinning restaurant, patisserie, cafe, 甚至在大阪的大丸梅田有熟食外賣店, 連上海都有烹飪學校, 就是不肯來香港開店。老實說, 我覺得香港的culinary scene毫不失禮, Joel Robuchon, Pierre Gagnaire都已先後登陸, 怎麼我們仍未得Bocuse青睞。所以我的Bocuse experience全部都是在日本。

在計劃金澤的行程時, 意外發現了原來Paul Bocuse在此跟ひらまつ亭合作開店, 就在地標しいのき迎賓館之内。這館是大正年間留下的洋式建築物, 所以別有歷史感及高雅。
 

樓底高, 用上大幅落地玻璃窗, 自然光照得一室光潔明亮, 最佳的裝飾就是落地大窗外的金澤城石垣及草地。

麵包籃的都是無漂白麥粉造的法包baugette, 拿在手上暖烘烘, 外脆內軟。可惜我不太喜歡baugette, 因為一向怕食外皮硬的麵包。中間的橄欖油是看得見的優質, 質地極濃厚而且香氣醇和。

左邊裝飾成小盤栽是蒜頭茄子蓉蘸醬。蒜頭味輕淡, 故茄子的甜香仍在, 兩者都是煮熟透後質感變柔滑的蔬菜, 是別出心裁的配搭。

Saffron & shrimp mousse, deep fried shrimps, seasonal vegatables & pasta in kale sauce

說實在的, 作為一個light lunch的主菜份量也真的太少, 意粉只有聊聊幾條, 令我想起在Ammo的午餐。

味道方面, 蔬菜及芥蘭汁無疑是非常新鮮, 蕃紅花及蝦做的mousse亦滑不溜口, 但整體好像沒有焦點, 沒有一個突出的主角。 

Lemon in 3 ways

極精彩的甜點, 肯定是我迄今吃過最好, 印象最深刻的一道。表面看只是一片餅及一碗乳酪, 其實下面有三層不同的檸檬味甜食 - 先是大半碗奶香及果香平衡絕妙的檸檬乳酪, 中間稍薄一層是微甜的檸檬果醬, 最後是清新檸檬及香檳果凍。三層各自精彩, 而混和著吃又出奇配合。上面一片餅是日式曲奇捲造成半圓一片, 灑上開心果蓉, 蘸乳酪或果醬都好吃。真想可以再吃一次!

Warm dark chocolate tart

食肉獸點的暖朱古力撻。餅皮薄如蟬翼, 朱古力暖得來又保持形狀, 入口即溶。朱古力香味逼人但不苦澀, 加點whipped cream就恰到好處。

咖啡

遺憾是不能吃飽 (這不是個過份的要求), 不久後要找家餐廳再填肚子。

Café & Brasserie Paul Bocuse, 石川県金沢市広坂2-1-1, しいのき迎賓館内

Isola Bar + Grill - 2

有一段時期, Isola 幾乎成了department聚餐的飯堂, 因為其位置在公司附近。我也樂得吃多幾頓免費美食。

老闆點的紅酒。我對紅酒沒有什麼認識, 這杯帶點 dry, 很男人口味。幸好我喜歡比較苦和烈的酒。

Roasted scallops wrapped in pancetta on white polenta with black truffle

這道帶子伴玉米粥 (polenta), 雖然配上pancetta (煙腩肉) 及黑松露, 還是保守地換上白酒比較好。
事 實上這決定是對了, 此前菜的味道很溫和, 如配上述的紅酒, 味道就會如泥牛入海。玉米粥的香味淡薄; 帶子是新鮮的, 很彈牙。用pancetta包著, 令帶子吸收了點點煙燻味和脂香, 使其味道添上一點層次。最後用上面的炸蔥和著pancetta吃, 濃厚得來溫和。

Whole sea bass baked with sea salt crust and vegetables

分享鄰座同事的海鱸魚。鱸魚頗肥美, 皮下有一層豐腴的油脂。同事怕肥我不怕, 將一大片魚皮讓給我, 也就不客氣吃掉了。因為是鹽焗的, 魚皮有點鹹, 但魚脂夠香。魚肉則算嫩滑。

Spaghetti Martelli ‘aglio e olio’ style with fresh sea urchin and bottarga fish roe

傳統南部意大利菜的一道意粉。Isola意粉出了名是 home made的, 得用這道傳統意粉來試試這店的功夫。
意 粉是做到al dente了, 仍帶著麥香  - 不少店子做到al dente的意粉, 但極少能在煮後仍保留麥香。 拌海膽下得很慷慨, 有些已跟忌廉完全調和, 包著每一條意粉; 另外有很多呈半糊 / 半溶狀態, 還有一點點鮮海膽的筋膜, 但入口即化, 有香濃甜味。此外辣椒碎和烏魚子粒添上了另一種刺激鮮香, 這道意粉就是很地中海的滋味。極力推薦!

Tuscan cheese platter

吃意大利餐, 飯後該來個芝士拼盤。分到兩種硬芝士, 名字已經忘了, 味道分別不大, 都是奶香強烈的品種。配搭的是合桃和槐花蜜 (arcadia honey), 稱職地帶出芝士的奶香。如果能換上一種軟芝士就更好。

Isola, Level 3, IFC Mall, 8 Finance Street, Central, Hong Kong

Isola Bar + Grill

It's a lovely afternoon and we're off for lunch at Isola in IFC, Central. This restaurant has got a great harbour view. It would be great to enjoy a long lunch and sunshine in the outdoor section. This time we were sitting indoor and the interior is still very spacey and cozy.

For lunch, the weekend lunch menu is available, in three course options. We all chose buffet appetizer and never considered the salad and soup options, because the starters buffet was serving a lot of interesting food.

After the starters we were already half full, but still we strived to finish the mains!

Deep fried kurobuta pork loin

Crispy outside but tender inside. The aroma of kurobta is kind of reduced as the pork loin is a very thin slice. But still mouthwatering whenever I think of it!

Roasted free range chicken with spinach and baked potatoes

Free range chicken's texture ace. The meat was juicy and soft, I wanted to take this dish to my area and monopolize it~
The potatoes were baked to slightly dry, so the aroma all came out, making the potato dices appealing as chips.

Grilled wild Norwegian salmon with mashed potatoes and tomato sauce

Home made tagliatelle with Italian tomatoes, herbs and ragout of beef

I could not resist this pasta! Love the the tagliatelle which was cooked to al dente and still carried nice smell of egg yolk. It was richly flavoured with a mix of herbs, tomatoes and ragout of beef. Excellent.

Risotto with mixed wild mushrooms and blue cheese

This risotto was really rich and thick. We tried our best to finish it but we gotta leave some place for the desserts, so we were forced to leave it...

Isola, Level 3, IFC Mall, 8 Finance Street, Central, Hong Kong

Fettuccine and mushrooms in cream sauce

I cooked the mushrooms with a bit of oil only, in a way like roasting the mushrooms on the pan. And I consider this is the best way to cook mushrooms (if, on pans) because it can effectively enhance the unique fragrance of the mushrooms.

Fettuccine and mushrooms in cream sauce

In the cream sauce, I added flakes of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and a dash of butter. I also intentionally made the sauce thicker so that sauce can stick to, and cover the pasta and mushrooms thoroughly.

sardine with mentaiko stuffing, fettucine with tomato sauce

Sardine with mentaiko stuffing, fettucine with home-made tomato sauce

Cooking is fun because you can have your very own way on everything you cook and create your taste, without boundary. This time I added some japanese elements to this pasta - the sardines were stuffed with mentaiko (明太子), which is a marinated cod roe and also a common ingredient of Japanese cruisine.

I gave a dash of the uncooked roe on top of the pasta, as well as in the tomato sauce. The mentaiko delivered a complicated flavour of sweet, slightly spicy and fishiness.

Spaghetti alla Carbonara

To know whether an Italian restaurant is good or bad, people say the easiest way is to try their aioli. And I think carbonara is another good measure.

To make a good carbonara, all the ingredients should be of high quality: from pancetta, olive oil, a big organic Italian egg, grated parmesan cheese, pasta to sea salt.

I especially love the idea of using the remained heat in the pan and pasta to briefly cook the egg-and-cheese sauce. Spaghetti alla Carbonara.

Pancetta from Capri Flavors
Spaghetti from Pastificio Morelli

Misato

ミニラザニア (Mini Lasagna)

This mini lasagna was small but very rich indeed. It had layers of cheese, lasagna sheets, tomato sauce, a soft-boiled egg, fresh spinach, ham and cream sauce. I think this restaurant 'Misato' has closed down, so this delicious mini lasagna is not available anymore.

Misato, 東京都目黒区自由が丘

Penne rigate con calamari al nero di seppia

Got a fresh squid which was full of roe.
Penne rigate con calamari al nero di seppia.

I added calamari and dices of tomato and onion which were later blackened by the squid ink. As the squid exuded a pleasant fresh sea water smell, the squid ink was the best seasoning for this pasta.

Squid ink from Riunione Industrie Alimentari
Penne rigate from Pastificio Morelli