A little more sheltering

Everyone knows I'm an asshole. I didn't get called the Arrogant Prick for nothing, and I've got a few ongoing feuds with restaurant groups and chefs. Most PRs in the business have the good sense to stay away, so I'm always surprised when I get approached for an invitational meal. I am always nice enough, though, to remind the PRs of my reputation... and ask them to make sure that they really want me at their client's restaurant.

So this was how I came to be at Arbor tonight. I waited about a year before making my first visit here 5 years ago, and returned for an MNSC dinner a few months later. While I had enjoy some of chef Eric Räty's dishes on those 2 visits, I didn't think I really "got" the cuisine. And the restaurant's corkage policy - at least in the old days - kinda put me off from paying them more visits.

I had asked for the shorter, 6-course menu instead of the full 9 courses. As I'm dining out on a few nights this week, it would be best to keep things simple. And the poor PR would, presumably, spend less time suffering in the presence of my company.

We started with the restaurant's signature brioche, with seaweed inside. Served with some mentaiko (明太子) butter just like it was years ago.

Karelian pie and caviar - this was my first introduction to karjalanpiirakka, a Finnish pastry made of rye crust with milky rice porridge filling in the middle. To make it more "luxe" the chef has decided to also give us some "egg butter", steamed egg whites, and Daurenki caviar.

We loaded the egg and caviar onto the pie before chomping down. The porridge stuffing was kinda dense and sticky, while putting egg and caviar on the pastry kinda evoke the traditional service of caviar on blinis, I suppose...

To complete the dish, we were advised to drink the fish soup with dill oil. The soup made with fish bones was really flavorful, and the dill oil was very fragrant. Definitely showing some Nordic touches already with the first course.

Ebisu oyster - in the bowl we see a slice of tomato floating on top of some tomato dashi, with seasonal seaweed, watershield (蓴菜), and a ball of wasabi meant to be mixed in.

Then we have homemade somen (素麺) flavored with green tea, and an Karatomari Ebisu Oyster (唐泊恵比須かき) hidden at the bottom. This was a nice and refreshing dish, BUT the acidity from the vinegar (or tomato dashi or whatever) pretty much overpowered the flavors of the noodles as well as the oyster. Having said that, I still enjoyed the dish, and it kinda reminded me of the "sea noodle" dish last year at Sushi Tsubasa (寿司つばさ) in Fukuoka.

Scallop - the steamed Hokkaido scallop came capped with a disc made of crème fraîche and horseradish, which was topped with a slice of sudachi (酢橘) and dill flower. Served on a bed of sweet peas with buttermilk and lemon. This was... just very Nordic. Lots of acidity in the buttermilk, but that worked very well with the sweetness from the peas.

Truffle dashi - then we switch gears to a dish that was just very Japanese. A chunk of Japanese radish had first been cooked with rice in order to remove any bitterness, then braised with soy sauce. Served sitting in a dashi made with kombu and katsuobushi (鰹節).

The dashi came with shredded wood ear and diced black truffle. I have to admit that the radish now tasted pretty sweet, and this seemed like a dish that would work really well on a cold day.

Pigeon - the breast of the pigeon from Loire Valley had its skin caramelized with some Okinawan kokuto (黒糖), and topped with some sansho (山椒) pepper - just like the last time I had it here. The large quenelle of onion chutney was very sweet and dense, and we also had some black garlic mousse, lingonberries, and marinated Arima sansho (有馬山椒) peppers.

The man could always cook pigeon, and this was wonderful.

The Brussels sprout came stuffed with confit pigeon leg along with giblets.

Apricot - with Chinese almonds and fresh French almonds. The mousse was made with white chocolate and Chinese almonds, apricot jam, apricot and Chinese almond sorbet, cloud ear fungus, almond syrup, vanilla marshmallow, fresh almond, osmanthus jelly, plum wine, and meringue. Very refreshing, and I loved tasting both the Chinese almonds and the fresh almonds... especially since this reminded me a little of the ubiquitous almond tofu (杏仁豆腐) that I loved as a kid.

Madeleine - better than 5 years ago and no longer dry.

The team very kindly poured me three glasses to go with my meal:

R.H.Coutier Cuvée Henri III, dégorgée en Janvier 2024 - yeast nose that was nice and caramelized.

François Rousset-Martin Aligoté Aligatõ, vintage unknown - big toasty notes on the nose, reductive and definitely smelled like a natural wine, and for sure this was aligoté. Very soft on the palate at first but then comes the grippy acidity. After a while this was surprising as it was a bit buttery on the nose the way a white Burg would be.

2003 Henri Bourgeois Sancerre Le Chêne Saint-Etienne - a very interesting wine. Very minty on the nose, and in that sense this seemed more like a cab franc from Loire. Pretty smooth on the palate now, but the nose was much more gamey, animal, and leather.

Very happy to be back here after such a long absence. The Japanese flavors are still present, but I was happy to see more Nordic influences in the dishes as it's not something we get a lot here. Very grateful for the kind invitation, and always happy to see Timothy doing well. Last but not least, happy to have such pleasant company and to bond over dinner being dog/cat slaves...