World Gourmet Summit - Alain Ducasse Dinner

Well, i was lucky to be invited to attend the Alain Ducasse Dinner held last nite at The Fullerton Hotel last night. Very grande setting with guest wearing cocktail dresses and gowns. As for drinks, they serve Australia Champagne all around, sadly only 1/3 fill were the flutes, my dinner companions and i had to take 3 flutes to make it one complete one. Mind you, it is probably a $400 per head, 5 course dinner.

We started going into the ballroom proper at about 830pm, not exactly starving with our share of Champagne and other liquids we had at our pre-drink session @ Post Bar. We were seated and handed us the Menu. Here's the menu:-

Appetizer - Mushroom tofu, green condiment, enoki & shiitake (as shown in photo) - This one was yummy

Top starter 1 - Ice tomato soup, spider crab
Top starter 2 - Soft boiled egg Chachouka with fava bean breadsticks - my fave of all 3
Top starter 3 - Raw marinated scallops, light citrus/wakame jelly

Main - Fish - Spit-roasted turbot, primavera condiment, asparagus/morel muchrooms - too cooked
Main - Meat - Filet Mignon of veal, "vitello tonnato" condiment, en gratin macaroni - too cooked with an ordinary sauce

Top desert 1 - Bubble gum ice-cream
Top desert 2 - Cheesecake
Top desert 3 - Strat'tatin
Top desert 4 - Choco/Pim's

My conclusion: Alain Ducasse is a great brand name to have attracted a hugh crowd to such an expensive dinner. The starters are always great and when it comes to the mains, it is always disappointing. I was toying with the idea that maybe the sous chefs are not their own and the guest chefs are in a foreign kitchen, maybe all these variables affect their ability to perform.

So i don't really think i have tasted "An Alain Ducasse" yet, i will still find an excuse to do Spoon in HK or Paris. Cest La Vie !

Rainy wednesday at the workplace

It has been raining and raining in the afternoon in Singapore almost everyday now. Doesn't really motivate one to work on a airc0nditioned cold office and looking out of a gloomy window. Anyway, took the chance to start my own blog at blogger.com. Interestingly, before you start one, you think you got plenty to blog about but once you're in, you are lost for words. Just one more of life's ironies ....