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| The Vask team welcomes Raymond Lim of Singapore's Les Amis (left) and Leisa Tyler of World's 50 Best Restaurants (right). |
Vask hosted a dinner Monday night for the speakers of the Nespresso Food Forum (held Tuesday March 25 at the Raffles Hotel Writer's Bar).
Chef Jose Luis "Chele" Gonzalez outdid himself with a menu that was well thought out, merging the techniques he has learned throughout his impressive career (he has worked at Mugaritz, Noma, and El Celler de Can Roca) and incorporating the latest worldwide trend: using local produce. What is great is that a lot of the items we had are already part of his 2014 menu so go book your table now for the experience.
Instead of the usual amuse bouche-soup-salad routine, we were given a lot of starters. And he had us at hello with these elegant cheese poppers: a Manchego cream cheese dumpling, a Parmesan xiao long bao, and a bleu cheese "dimsum".
What's fun, aside from the surprising taste of cheese when you pop those "balls" is that the thing that looks like plastic on the right side of this photo is edible! Parang White Rabbit paper!
To contrast with the cheese, we were served an "apple wonton". "There's a lot of popping going on," noted Raymond Lim, manager of Les Amis, who was seated beside me.
Then we were given tuna. For a contrast not only of textures but of temperature, on top was lemongrass ice cream.
Next: beer urchin. On the left is a foie gras powder (can you believe it?) but the joy of this dish is underneath. You have to work your spoon to the bottom to pick up the urchin. This was my favorite dish.
Next was another brilliant one: it used King crab, local crab and aligue. And to contrast against that, Chef Chele used coconut: coconut meat and coconut soup. This would be my favorite if I didn't simply love sea urchin so much.
The next offerings are also on Vask's 2014 menu. The kitchen has named them after elements:
Wood. If you order this, remember to eat the black paper-like sheets as these are the representation of wood here. They are onion "chips".
Metal. I confess I don't get why *gulp*. It's sous vide Iberian pork and okra and an oyster breaker. Maybe the cool utensils that are like giant keys? Hehe!
Earth. I guess because cattle graze? Hehe. This was a beautiful Wagyu but what struck me was the cilantro - they were dehydrated and deep fried. And for a unique touch, the sauce is miso and beetroot!
Water aka Atlantic. This is sole fish. But they also used this truly unique green: pancit pancitan. They have kitchen staff who are tasked to go out and explore the markets and come back with their unique finds - this is one of the curious ones!
Of course what's a fine dining meal without foie gras? (Although Raymond and Leisa, who do not eat foie gras anymore, were served scallops). Check out the emulsion - it's earl grey and barley. And the plums were accented by mirin, a Japanese rice wine used for cooking. I love how European trained chefs have recently been embracing Asian flavors.
A funny icebreaker before the end is the Roger Rabbit. Guess it's because rabbits eat carrots? Roger that!
And before the dessert proper, we were given taho. Sosyal na taho. And do you remember this game? We used to play this when I was in first grade ... I can't remember what it's called though!
And then dessert ... LOVED the chocolate poppers! (Lower right photo.)
Vask Modern Tapas & Gastronomique Cuisine.
11th Avenue cor 39th St, Bonifacio Global City/Fort Bonifacio, Taguig
Lunch Service: 11:30 AM to 2:30 PM
Dinner Service: 6:00 PM to 10:30 PM
After Dinner Service: 10:30 PM onwards
Reservations (Call only from 11:00 AM to 8:30 PM Monday to Saturday)
(632) 217 6563; +63 917 806 5292
Major credit cards accepted
Parking in the building (steep!)
Wheelchair accessible
