Rooted in Bangkok

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I received a message from The Great One asking me to join her at lunch today. Our friend Vincent Thierry is back in town for a few days, doing a collaboration with the team at Racines to celebrate the restaurant's second anniversary, and he's invited us to come to lunch. Although I've had a couple of chances to catch up with Vincent over the last 2 years in Bangkok, it has been 5 years since his eventful trip to Hong Kong - when the Hong Kong International Airport closed down from protests and he had to return to Bangkok by detouring to Macau.

Romain Dupeyre had worked with Vincent from their time together at The Lebua in Bangkok, and has now done a second collaboration with the head chef from Caprice. I was curious to see what these two would cook up, but I had full confidence in anything Vincent chooses to stick his hands into.

"Oreo" - this version of the famed treat comes with Parmesan cream sandwiched between two Parmesan cookies made with truffle jus. The cream in the middle had really nice milky and cheesy flavors.

The bread had a really nice crust.

The smoked Espelette butter came with plum jam on top. Funny I didn't notice on my last visit that the dish bearing the butter had red speckles as if it had been sprinkled with piment d'espelette.

We have a trio of amuses bouches done the Racines way, but today we have different flavors which remind us of Thailand:

Potato croquette with smoked eel and coconut cream - this was very creamy, with nice spices and kaffir lime. Pretty mild. The lemon paste and balm on top was a nice touch.

Pigeon liver pâté - topped with a salad made of corn, chili, and coriander. There were chunks of peanuts inside the pâté and I could taste the bitterness from the liver, but this was balanced by the acidity from lime juice on top.

Spicy mussel tart - on top of the feuille de brick we have lime jam, a ball made with mussels and spicy Thai sausage, and topped with some coconut. This was not anywhere near the spiciness that we were warned about... just a tad, in fact. I could taste the distinct flavors of both the mussels and the sausage.

Tarbouriech oyster / babaganoush / escargot / ceps - the oyster tartare came with babaganoush made of barbecued eggplant and "Brittany curry" (would that be Kari Gosse, par hasard?), poached oysters, shallots, marinated ceps, escargot... all topped with a squiggle of cep purée, buckwheat, and fresh mushroom slices. The diced oysters were slippery while the diced escargot were clearly more chewy. The babaganoush was very smoky, and we've got toasty notes along with the crunchy texture of the buckwheat. There was also a little bit of acidity to go with with the creaminess of cep purée on top.

As expected, this was a complex dish... and it took Romain about 30 seconds to rattle off all the ingredients.

Quercy foie gras / ginger / marigold / carrots - the foie gras was poached in duck consommé infused with lemongrass. Accompanied by carrot purée, ginger, and marigold.

The foie had a lovely texture... very light and fluffy. The duck consommé was a little heavy in terms of consistency, but this was helped by the ginger and marigold. Delicious.

Scottish scallops / Jerusalem artichoke / onion foam / white truffle - the scallop came in a foam that was made with onion and Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise. We've got a condiment made with Jerusalem artichoke cooked en papillote and mixed with shallots confit, herbs, arugula; Jerusalem artichoke purée; Jerusalem artichoke chips on top of the purée.

The "James Bond of the truffle" came over to shave some white truffle on top of the dish for us. The condiment on the left side had some great acidity to contrast with the sweetness of the purée, and the herbs also hid some tiny crunchy croûtons in the middle.

The execution on the scallop was excellent. Browned on the side with a very thin layer of crunch, but mi-cuit inside.

Markrin dark chocolate / chantilly / Thai herbs / sorbet - the chocolate came from a family farm in Chiang Mai, and the herb coulis delivers a dose of acidity along with the fragrance which reminds one with a touch of Thailand, and worked really well with the crunchy bits in the middle. A beautiful chocolate dessert that I enjoyed without being overwhelmed with richness.

Just as it was last time, the petits fours came in a tin with Nice on the lid.

Madeleine

Chocolate with hazelnut and almond praline

We were treated to a few glasses of wine, and The Great One poured most of her glass into mine...

Perrier-Jouët Blanc de Blancs - very toasty nose.

2021 Camille Thiriet Bourgogne Chardonnay Cuvée Confidentielle - the nose showed lots of flint and especially tropical and stone fruits, very fragrant. Very light and refreshing.

2020 Gros CH et Fils Aloxe-Corton - a bit of smoke on the nose with ripe and sweet fruit like black cherries. Still plenty of tannins here but the acidity balance was quite nice.

A very nice lunch with Great company, pun intended. And so wonderful to see Vincent back in town. Must return to Chef's Table at Lebua on my next trip to Bangkok. It's been way too long.