Pork scratching with purée of apple: apple, sage and herbs - OK, so this was definitely NOT on the nutritionist's list of permissible foods... but who the hell cares?! I'm cheating tonight. I looooove pork rinds, but this was a little too big and became awkward to eat gracefully... and I didn't want to break it up with my hands and scatter all the espelette powder everywhere. Pretty nice and interesting.
English breakfast - there are a number of new-fangled versions of English/Spanish breakfasts around, deconstructing the various elements into something else. This was a pretty cool presentation, and also very delicious. Potato espouma, tomato purée, diced mushrooms and bacon bits on top. SLURP.
Carpaccio of scallops: lemon peel purée, frozen pink grapefruit, black olive and sea herbs, radish (1st try) - loved the sweet taste of the scallops, especially with a light touch of acidity from the lemon peel purée. The sprinkle of black olive dust added the savory side to the flavor profile. The small radish provided a little crunchy texture while the larger piece was slightly softer. A very tasty dish.
Carpaccio of scallops: lemon peel purée, frozen pink grapefruit, black olive and sea herbs, radish (2nd try) - honestly, I didn't get it. The frozen pulp only deducted points to the original dish, not added. First it drastically lowered the temperature of the ingredients in my mouth, whereas I thought it had been perfect without the pulp. Then the added acidity threw the flavor balance out of whack, so that I could no longer taste the combination of sweetness, mild acidity and the mild savory notes from the black olive dust. I was now mainly tasting some cold, somewhat acidity grapefruit pulp. The harmony was gone.
Roasted blue Scottish Lobster, girroles, artichoke and Iberico ham ragout - yes, Pineapple, they spelled "girolles" wrong on the menu, but it doesn't matter. The lobster was AWESOME. I don't know how else to describe it. The lobster was fresh and had the right amount of bite and bounce. There were girolles and cubes of ibérico chorizo, and the delicious sauce was made with chorizo. It didn't take me long to inhale the claw and the tail of the lobster. This was seriously good.
Roasted Charolais duck, beetroot and potatoes, smoked beetroot juice, cabbage purée - perfect execution. I loooove duck, and yes I ate the fatty skin, too. This time Chef Atherton came in fairly quickly to drizzle smoked beetroot juice and duck jus on the plate, before any of us had a chance to touch anything. Yes, I like my duck pink and a little bloody. There was also compressed pear (which didn't taste so compressed after cooking), slices of beetroot and purée. A most excellent piece of duck that also disappeared from my plate in no time.
Peanut butter, pickled cucumber, pineapple - this was delicious! Cubes of cucumber and pineapple served with some pressed peanut butter powder, and a surprisingly sweet scoop of cucumber sorbet, with a hint of ginger to give some kick.
Nuances of red: yoghurt ice cream, raspberry, orchids and elderflower - the yogurt ice cream was pretty good, and the combination of apple, raspberries, elderflower jelly, hibiscus and orchids added both acidity and sweetness. A very good finish both visually and taste-wise.
What an absolutely wonderful evening! The food was fantastic. Other than the frozen grapefruit bit, I could not find fault with a single dish, from the canapé to the last dessert. I haven't had the pleasure of visiting Pollen Street Social, but if Jason can do this in Hong Kong with a few chefs he flew up from his restaurants in Singapore, he has definitely set the bar pretty high!
One must also give thanks to the generosity of Curry, who showed us a group of truly amazing wines - quite of few which surprised on the upside! The bottle of '84 Jayer Brulées just goes to show what an amazing magician Henri Jayer was... to be able to make such a delicious one in a disastrous vintage. Wow!
As I mentioned somewhere else earlier... THIS is definitely an evening worth cheating on my diet for!!