A belated introduction

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I was discussing dinner venues yesterday with Mrs. Tigger when she suddenly wondered why I haven't  ever brought them to On Lot 10, especially given that it's one of my favorite restaurants in town.  Well… the truth is that I didn't think Tigger would go for some of the more interesting ingredients served up by David whenever I show up, hence I've always let the Tiggers pick the venue and avoided this place.  That changed tonight.  Because this was such a last-minute decision, I shamelessly begged David for a table.  Thankfully I can get away with it…

I showed up at the restaurant with very little appetite, having eaten a lot of pizza dough over the last few hours… and was also still kinda inebriated from drinking wine during the day.  This was really not the state I wanted to be in when I go to On Lot 10…

As usual I left it up to David to figure out what he wanted to serve us, although we were advised to choose our own starters.

Locally grown seasonal organic vegetables 'crudités' - the kitchen sent this out for us to start the evening.  David is big on local produce, and we really loved this!  Bitter melon, radish, squash, purple carrots, cauliflower, cherry tomato…etc.  Mrs. Tigger really enjoyed the dip.

Serrano ham 'Raimond Le Coq', half wild pigs from Extramadura region - this also came with compliments of the chef.  A very nice change from all the 45-month Joselito jamón ibérico I've been having lately…

Spaghetti with bottarga and clams - had to get my bottarga fix in, since I didn't get to have any bottarga pizza earlier in the day.  Soooo yummy with the intense flavors from the two ingredients coming together.  At that point I was ever-so-slightly annoyed at Tigger for taking my ration of mini baguette, since I wanted some bread to soak up the leftover sauce…

Spring pea soup, morel, cured egg yolk and bacon - this arrived with just the (egg yolk?) foam on top of the different ingredients, and I was a little stunned at first…

…until the actual soup was poured into the bowl.  Very, very delicious.  The peas were still crunchy and very sweet.  The soup itself was just like the peas, with a surprising level of sweetness.  Of course the morels were delish, and what's not to like about bacon?

Whole steamed extra large artichoke, truffle vinaigrette - Babu has a real fondness for artichokes, so we ordered one up for her.  This baby was HUGE… and I think there were a couple of happy faces around the table.

Pan-fried fourfinger threadfin - WOW!  This was one big threadfin (馬友)!!  This is a delicious fish that is in season, but I never expected to get something this size!  As it happened my old friend Cha Xiu Bao was dining a couple of tables away, and we each had half of the head…  Our plate also included a cross section from the body.  The fish was very soft and succulent.  Pan-fried with lots of butter, clams, strips of ham, potatoes and greens.  Very different from how the Cantonese would do the fish, but no less delicious.  The Tiggers were very, very happy, and packed away the leftovers.

Roast Bresse chicken AOP 'Mieral', green pea 'a la française' - WOW!  It's been a while since I last had Bresse chicken (OK, I admit… it was only a month ago but seemed like forever), and I've really missed it.  The chicken was delicious despite the absence of fat underneath the skin, and even the breast was really tender.  Done served over a bed of really sweet sugar naps, carrots, pearl onions and sprinkled with lots of herbs.  Soooo yummy… if only I had Doraemon's pouch for a stomach…

There was no room for dessert, but David sent us the usual pear tart and chocolate tart anyway.  Miraculously these disappeared in no time…

2007 Jos. Joh. Prüm Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese - classic mineral and petrol on the nose.  Palate was a little sweeter than I expected, after drinking so many bottles of this wine.

What a great evening!  The Tiggers absolutely LOVED the food at On Lot 10, and I was chastised for not bringing them there sooner…  Oh well… waddaya know?!  One of my favorite restaurants just gained a few more fans.