Many of my friends know that I am a big, big fan of Chef Sato Hideaki (佐藤秀明). I was only introduced to his cuisine when he first helmed the kitchen at the now-shuttered
Tenku Ryugin (天空龍吟), and I got more excited when he opened
Ta Vie 旅 in 2015. In its eighth appearance in the Michelin Guide, the restaurant was promoted to the coveted three-star status, which necessitated a visit by Geruhage on this trip.
On his last trip to Hong Kong, Geruhage had paid a visit to the restaurant on his own. He said that he was "more or less forced" to go by yours truly, but reported that he was happily surprised to have had good, "maybe even great" food. He rated the experience highly, so when the promotion happened a few months ago, it became the impetus of making this journey. I was only too happy to come back with my friend this time so he wouldn't have to dine alone.
It's China's National Day today, but we are having dinner in a restaurant with absolutely no view whatsoever, so we were not able to take in the first fireworks display in quite a few years. Oh well... it's the food that matters.
30 months aged Parma ham, and "aori" lardo squid, on deep-fried focaccia - a really interesting dish, as the fried
focaccia came with chunks of radish as well as butter and rosemary. The real surprise, though, were the thin strips of bigfin reef squid (アオリイカ) placed on the two edges of the Parma ham. If one closes one's eyes, one could easily be fooled into thinking there were two strips of fat attached to the pork, because the texture was really, really similar to
lardo di Colonnata. A really nice way to kick off our meal.
Nukazuke (糠漬け) bread - always so happy to have this. Such a unique creation.
Homemade butter and
ricotta - after all these years, I'm still amazed that these are made in-house.
House-made fresh pasta with "aonori" sauce topped with premium Hokkaido uni - well... is there is a dish that is quintessentially Ta Vie, this would be it. Still love the fact that Sato-san uses seawater sea urchin (海水雲丹) as it just packs more flavor and works so well with the
aonori (青海苔).
Roasted "free range" Bresse quail, stuffed with porcini risotto, with fresh Yunnan porcini and chestnuts - an updated presentation of the dish I had two months ago. We've still got the porcini from Yunnan Province (雲南省), chestnuts from Jilin Province (吉林省), and hazelnuts... but now we've also got a crispy ring made of risotto.
The quail has been stuffed with porcini-flavored risotto, and this went very well with brown butter quail jus made with a little Whisky.
Pain de rustique - I love this bread, and that crust was still incredibly thin and crunchy.
Japanese octopus lightly cooked "a la ajillo", served with fruits tomato terrine - the Japanese love their fruit tomatoes because they are always served incredibly ripe and sweet. We've also got some tomato salsa with radishes and red onions on top.
The North Pacific giant octopus (水蛸) from Japan was cooked in herbal oil, and the flavors of the oil were just so, so nice... with a tiny hint of spiciness just enough to tingle the tongue.
Pan-seared langoustine, with pied blue mushroom, "tubu clam"-Japanese whelk, and "gobo" burdock - the langoustine (赤座海老) from Suruga Bay (駿河湾) came with some Japanese whelk (つぶ貝),
pied bleu, long strips of burdock, and thin wafers of mushroom "chips". The sauce was made from the four ingredients which come from the oceans as well as the mountains. Of course, there was something a little special about the sauce that was poured into my bowl... which glittered under the lights.
Pain de campagne - the third and last piece of bread. Even though I knew there is a lot of food tonight, I still couldn't bear the thought of not finishing this bread.
Next came a hunk of meat, which was the rack of Fassona veal. Geruhage was very happy seeing this big piece of meat, as he feels that it's a rare sight these days in fine dining establishments.
Roasted "Fassona" veal from Piemonte, with black truffle gnocchi - the veal came with some
chanterelles, baby corn,
gnocchi flavored with black truffle, spinach, and sage butter veal
jus. The
gnocchi had pretty intense black truffle flavors, but when it came to the veal, I must have gotten an end cut... as my piece was still tender but no longer juicy.
We were wondering what happened to the bones we saw earlier, and of course Sato-san didn't think it was proper to plate the bone at his restaurant. Well... those who know their meat know that the tastiest part is always closest to the bone, so a few of us got our wish. I loved picking it up with my hand and stripping it clean with my teeth.
Roselle tea - the palate cleanser is always so wonderful and refreshing, as the fragrances and flavors of the orange infused with the roselle bring that extra something.
Golden peach compote with almond flavored mousse, coconut yogurt sorbet covered with peach jelly and meringue - so we have a disc of
meringue on top...
... which hid a layer of peach jelly covering the rest of the ingredients underneath. Wouldn't you know it, Sato-san had covered my piece of jelly completely in gold flakes!
So we actually have coconut yogurt sorbet, almond mousse, peach compote, and peach jam. This was very tasty... and no, it wasn't because of the gold.
Classic "tarte tatin" caramelized apple on crispy puff pastry with vanilla ice cream, served with roasted apple sauce - I do love Sato-san's
tarte tatin, which came
à la mode. The sauce was made with roasted apple infused with cinnamon, vanilla, ginger, and Scotch whisky.
And this, too, came covered in gold flakes. That's three dishes tonight that have been decked out in bling! And make no mistake, this was as tasty as ever.
Simple Kaffa Tano Batak Mandheling - from around Lake Toba in Sumatra. These days more often than not, I choose coffee over the beautiful herbal tea served here because I am just the biggest fan of what comes paired with the coffee...
Chocolate pudding - my favorite chocolate mousse in the world - infused with the fragrance of kaffir lime leaves - continues to be beautiful. In fact, Sato-san served an extra portion for Geruhage so that he could try it, despite my friend having asked for the herbal tea. I could see the expression on his face when he tasted his first spoonful. Of course, his serving did not come with any gold flakes on top...
I just could't resist dropping some gold flakes into my coffee to bling it up.
That was a lot of gold tonight!
Per SOP we had brought along our fair share of bottles, but DaRC was seriously in distress when two of the bottles he brought - both Burgs - turned out to be off... We had to take a bottle from the restaurant's wine list.
2002 Krug, Krug ID 115009 - nice and floral nose, and this was very seductive and alluring. The acidity was a little high but the palate was also a little ripe now.
2004 Ponsot Clos de la Roche Cuvée Vieilles Vignes - popped and poured. Nose was showing more leather and animal notes. Still got the fruit here but this was more muscular and rustic, not an elegant wine. Later we also got some toasty notes on the nose.
2010 Domaine Roulot Merusault Luchets - good fragrance on the nose. Ripe on the palate but still got a good level of acidity on the finish. Later on this opened up to show a little buttery nose.
2010 Etienne Sauzet Chevalier-Montrachet - wine was pre-moxed and flawed.
2011 Bachelet Charmes-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes - pretty rustic. A bit rough and animal on the nose. Frankly this was kinda flawed.
2019 Taupenot-Merme Chambolle Musigny - nose of pine needles, potpourri, along with black cherries and blueberries. Young and vibrant.
1989 Trimbach Riesling Clos Sainte Hune Vendages Tardives - served about 3 hours after opening. Good ripeness here but the wine wasn't really sweet on the palate. Acidity was still here, but the wine was just more mature. Classic petrol on the nose. Drinking pretty well.
Another happy evening spent with Sato-san and Takano-san. I'm glad I continue to taste new, seasonal dishes with each visit. There have been some issues with ingredient sourcing lately, but the kitchen still manages to deliver. Many thanks to the team for always taking good care of us... and all that gold Sato-san isn't charging me for!
thank you for those remarks on your last visit and the pics. I/we look forward even more to our visit there in December.
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