French Chinese food

A couple of weeks ago, Dyson 2000 was on her eating spree and had the same dish at Caprice twice in one week (...or was it two days in a row?) The dish looked real good, and I decided that I wanted it, too. A table was promptly reserved and I asked a few friends to join me.

For one reason or another, ALL of my friends decided to drop off at the last minute... by dinner time last night. My Birdbrain Cousin shamelessly invited herself to keep me company, and later in the evening Mr. and Mrs. Tigger decided they, too, would join us. All of a sudden it became a family dinner of sorts.

The little nibbles tonight was a little different... Besides the usual spinach filling, the other filling was white beans and chorizo.  Loved the smokiness that chorizo brings to the mix.

The amuse bouche was something similar to what I had seen on the menu:  tourteau crab tiramisu, with salsa of mango, papaya and sweet pimento, Marscapone cream.  Pretty interesting, I must say...  The flavors of the crab were pretty intense, and slightly salty on its own.  This, of course, was balanced by the sweet salsa.  The creamy Marscapone brings another dimension into the mix.

Paté en croûte: wild game, foie gras, green leaves in black truffle dressing - this is exactly what I had last year during game season.  Not gonna pass it up this year, either.  Still as yummy as ever, this blend of foie gras, venison, pork and pheasant.  I am happy.

Braised pork belly - this was on the lunch menu but not on the dinner menu, and I have been lusting after this hunk of pork ever since I saw the picture posted by Dyson 2000.  It is almost like Dongpo pork in Shanghainese food...  and it tasted just as good, if not better.  Loved every little morsel of this.  Served with sweet corn purée spiced with a little cumin.

It's been a while since I've had some good cheese, and the craving was all the more acute thanks to my disastrous experience a couple of days ago.  I decided to share a cheese platter with my Birdbrain Cousin.

Comté - forgot to ask how long this was aged for, but certainly past 3 years...  There was still some of that sweet grass flavor on the palate, so I'm guessing it's not the 4 or 4.5-year old.

Vacherin-Mont d'Or - this wasn't on the cheese platter originally, but I asked for it anyway.  Well... it wasn't presented for a reason - this wasn't ripe and runny enough.  Still yummy, though...

Colombier - this was so ripe that it collapsed on itself.  Yum!

Chèvre affiné avec au marc de Bourgogne - this was so ripe that it literally ran down the side of the wooden platter!  I took one look at it and knew that I wanted it.  Very lovely.  Perfect condition for tonight.  And yes, I used my index finger to wipe the plate clean on this one.

Époisses - very, very ripe and runny... although surprisingly not as overpowering in terms of that ammonia.

The waitstaff very kindly brought over two brand new jars of confitures  from Christine Ferber to go with our cheese:

Fraises et framboises d'Alsace

Mangues - possibly the best mango jam I have ever tasted... edging out the ones from Red On Tree (在欉紅).

Caramel ice cream with diced pear and mixed nuts - I honestly didn't have room for dessert, but this showed up in front of us...  Even Tigger, who loves the caramel ice cream at his beloved Mandarin Oriental, admitted that this was pretty awesome.

2006 Kongsgaard VioRus - lots of toast and lots of minerals in the nose.  Ripe and sweet on the palate.  No longer any hint of fresh floral notes from the Viognier... Detected a little sulfur on the nose.  A little alcoholic and slightly sharp on the nose.  Later on toasty corn showed up.

Very, very full and extremely satisfied...  The team at Caprice was impeccable tonight.