Lemuria and Pinot

Congratulations to Lemuria on its 1st year anniversary. I had the privilege of writing about Lemuria when it opened to share the great experience. Chef Golda Ranada is continually improving the Mediterranean menu - here's the new list for the curious:

Menu

APPETIZER

Beurre d’escargots
(Baked French snails flavored with parsley butter or ala Bourguignon)
Spiced Scallop, German asparagus sorbet and gratinated asparagus with brown butter
Salmon Gravlax with wild flower honey
Crayfish Bolognese, homemade lemon spaghetti in crayfish cream and truffle oil
Cannelloni of duck, ragout, plum sauce and chestnuts
Seared Foie Gras and beet ravioli


SOUP

Bouillabaisse with rouille, flavored with saffron, orange and tarragon
Chowder, cream of seafood with Pernod, Manila clams, scallop and Spanish chorizo


MAIN COURSE

Glazed Halibut, rhubarb puree, cabbage and horse radish
Kurobuta Pork, twice cooked belly with aged balsamic and sage risotto
Squab, roasted and stuffed with duck liver
(Served with stewed grapes, onion and cabbage)


DESSERT

Lemon soufflé, lemon scented chocolate macaroon and Lemon cello shot
Mango pie with spiced ice cream rum
Mille fuille of valrhona chocolate, banana cake and caramelized bananas
Lemuria ice cream selection with sugar dusted bombollini
(Truffle ice cream, Vanilla almond crunch, Basil and Hazelnut)

From the old menu, I see she's dropped the gazpacho and the steak, but I'm sure it's all in good taste. Gotta eat there a few more times though to give a fair review, so I'll stop at the menu display for now.

Had the privilege also of attending the One Year Anniversary cocktail party where I enjoyed not only the cocktail menu but the five minute crash course I had with a jolly dude named Arnie on Pinot Noir. I'm not a wine person, never been (I get loopy too easy with wine so I avoid it, despite my name being Margaux), but when he said the Noir had a peppery taste, I really felt quite challenged to dissect the flavors of this red.

So before I left, I purchased a Special Reserve Prahova Valley 2000 Pinot Noir from the Dealu Mare Region. Mariebel, another food writer (Manila Bulletin) and professor at Enderun College instructed me to get this Romanian favorite of theirs, and the wise salesman at the cellar told me not to settle for the regular, instead get the special reserve.



So I have it with me now, appreciating some after my Prison Break marathon (I'm using this blog as therapy because episode 22 of season 2 on our copy was cut halfway and now my sister says I have to wait til fall for season 3 boo). I'm on a quest to get to know Pinot Noir. So I'm drinking, reading, drinking, reading (it's a lazy Saturday), while wondering if Sarah and Scofield will ever find each other again, or whether T-Bag will get out of prison or not.

I came across this beautiful write up on the P.

The most magical of all grapes is Pinot Noir. It takes on an ethereal shimmer when it ages. It is often likened to autumn woodlands, and the gentle scent of decay - leaves rotting into damp earth - becomes a part of its flavour. It can feel like drinking ghosts, both life and death at once.

Younger Pinot Noir picks its way across the palate like a tightrope walker. It tastes as the sap of a cherry tree ought to, or a strawberry leaf. There is promise and vibrancy, but never anything so flagrant as blowsiness.

For some winemakers, it is the "holy grail" - hard to grow, hard to produce good wine from, and therefore viewed as a "test". It cleaves to cooler vineyards, thriving most notably in Burgundy and New Zealand. It is no swiggers' drink.

While I wouldn't go as far as the life and death bit, I do agree with the "gentle scent of decay" and "tastes as the sap of a cherry tree ought to" descriptions. I think she hit the nail on the head there. And she's right, this is no swigger's drink. I could have a bottle like it was ordinary prune juice. And I would even match it with fish. Although, ... I just experienced now, from more reading from Victoria, that you get more noise from the Noir when you go through "swilling it around your gums and swallowing." Now I know you gotta SWILL - just not sure what the ordinary date would think of THAT.

But this particular Pinot is just not capturing my heart man. I don't know why. Maybe it's the year? So I read more, wondering if I was alone in this underappreciation. Well, clearly not. Same author as above actually had a few experts do a tasting and the verdict: It's great everyday drinking, but not something they'd buy themselves.

But I'll still check out the 99. I did buy a 00 and maybe it just wasn't as good a year.

---

Back to the party. I forgot to mention that THE highlight of my night was meeting Anton Diaz of OUR AWESOME PLANET. I've always liked this simple, straightforward blog of a guy who simply likes to eat out with his family. How can you not be a fan of a guy who appreciates the simple joys of life like this one does. Family and good food ... as Prison Break shows, at the end of the day, it's really all that matters in the world ... but I digress ... It was really great meeting Anton and his lovely wife Rachel. He and my friend Marti had a great discussion on where to find good steak in this country and the dude's simply got LISTS. What can I say, I'm a fan.

---

Lemuria.
+63 2 724 5211
+63 2 722 2185
The Winery, #5 Julieta Circle, Horseshoe Village, Quezon City.
Open for lunch and dinner, Tuesday to Sunday.

By the way, they accept reservations for proposals, renewal of vows, other big events. There's a new section that can fit 30 heads, the rate's P20K flat, all in, on a weekday, P30K flat on weekends.

Of course, the cellar of Klaus and Kitt Schroeder boasts of one of the best wine collections in the country. You can get your Pinots from there.