Neighborhood madam

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I had the pleasure of entertaining someone special tonight.  Big Sister Madam has been out of town for a while, and I felt pretty privileged when she agreed to let me take her out for dinner over a bottle of wine.

Our dinner reservation was a late one, so we met up at the Amber Bar for a drink.  I was curious about their wine cocktails, and ended up ordering one using Stonier's Pinot Noir as a base while adding crème de cassis, crème de lychees, and orange.  Not surprisingly this tasted very sweet, and with a few chunks of orange peel floating on top, this tasted a little like a very sweet sangria...

Having been responsible for introducing Big Sister to On Lot 10, it was no surprised that she requested to go to Neighborhood.  It's actually been a while since I was last there, and I was ever so happy to show my friend David Lai some love!

We weren't in the mood for a feast, so we just picked up a couple of "simple" dishes that struck our fancy...

Rocket/pigsear salad - I wanted something with veg, and at the same time I could never resist the lure of pig's ears... especially when there are also croûtons and chopped bits of lardon thrown in.  Love the sharp acidity here.

Wagyu tartare/oyster aioli - very interesting presentation... but it made sense given the oyster aioli.  The texture here was much finer than the hand-beaten beef tartare that David used to serve at On Lot 10, and I really liked having the oyster flavor come into the mix... because it kinda throws you off, but in a good way.  Add some chervil and black truffle shavings, and croûtons for texture, and you got yourself a pretty tasty dish.

Bone marrow risotto - I could never resist something like this... and Big Sister definitely wanted some bone marrow.  Rich and just a little sinful, this was pure comfort food to me.  A little black truffle shaving never hurt anyone...

Daily fish "bouillabaisse" - just gotta have a taste of one of David's classics.  I didn't ask what the daily fish was, but there was a nice big piece of bread at the bottom soaking up almost all of the bouillabaisse...

We were both pretty full, and passed up David's kind offer of dessert.  I was just as happy eating 3 of the canelés by myself...

I initially offered a bribe of wine to get Big Sister out, and asked her what she wanted to drink.  She was pretty specific in her requests, and since I just happened to have this lying around in the office...

1999 Coche-Dury Meursault - served warm at the request of my friend, which opened up the nose but also meant the palate was less crisp, resulting in a slight bitter finish.  Nose-wise this was classic Coche-Dury, with plenty of toasty oak, roasted corn, and buttery corn.  Always a beautiful wine.

It was so good to catch up with my friend and welcome her back to Hong Kong.  Looking forward to sharing more wines...