The Peninsula Manila welcomes another spectacular man to their kitchen as guest chef of the month, Chef Patrice Martineau."Gaze," Pen PR Garch instructed as he introduced the rather dashing Chef Patrice. "Easy on the eyes, isnt' he?" Pilyo talaga.
It is Chef Patrice's cooking that is refreshing. Quite the departure from the usual salty-sour-sweet that we have here in Manila.
He is French but his influence is very much Japanese, as he has been based in Pen Tokyo for the last more or less fifteen years.
He is here only for a week, just up to June 30. On Thursday, he offers a wine pairing dinner for a whopping P8,000. But check this out: the menu will have a Red Wine soup, among other surprises.
Another item that will jack up the prices for that dinner is this Champagne-poached French heritage label chicken that is flown in from France. Think Wagyu for beef and Kurobuta for pork. In France, there are stringent requirements for raising chicken so that it can achieve red label status. It even comes with an Appelation de Origine Controlee, just like red wine. And just like Kobe beef, the chicken are fed a specific diet and raised in a manner that would allow them utmost juiciness and flavor. The result is chicken that is ... sarap to the bones!
Chef Patrice shared that Japan taught him to present very refreshing flavors, as demanded by the Japanese. For the soup, which has a citrus and very watermelon-y broth, while the umami of the scallops were highlighted, the freshness of the watermelon was equally outstanding. For the chicken, the addition of a celery trio was a definitive touch. And for his fish dish, the introduction of caramelized figs took out the boredom from the repetition of salmons.
Peninsula Manila
887-2888
peninsula.com
