A cooling breeze and a glass of Perrier-Jouët Champagne welcomed us to the terrace of the Blue Grill restaurant at Yas Island Rotana Hotel. Chaîne member, Luciano Scelza, Executive Assistant Manager, and his team, had planned a superb evening for us.

Executive Chef Alan Snyman, and Chef de Cuisine Damian Kasperczyk presented us with a wonderful menu with wine pairings from by our Échanson Elect, Sandeep Sathees. Chef Damian explained the menu to us, followed by Sandeep who led us through the wines.

MENU

Oyster
passion fruit jelly, lavender, horseradish cream
Champagne Perrier-Jouët Grand Brut NV

Pulled duck
seared foie gras, celeriac crème
Kenwood Sonoma County Pinot Noir, California

Charcoal shrimp
avocado spread, cilantro, yuzu pearls
Picrariello Greco Di Tufo, Italy

Sous-vide venison loin
onion chutney, orange miso essence
Côtes du Rhône, ‘à l’Ombre des Fontaines’, Rhône Valley

Seared sea bass
mascarpone, white asparagus, basil seed buerre noisette
Julien Schaal, Hemel-en-Aarde Valley Chardonnay, South Africa

Lemon mint sorbet
raspberry caviar72-hour Wagyu beef short rib
smoked potato puree, pumpkin butter
Cacciacone Super Tuscan IGT, Italy

Avocado chiboust
paired with warm Fuji apple Tatin, marbled cheesecake
Sepp Moser Riesling Beerenauslese, Austria

As you can see the courses ranged from oyster, duck, shrimp, venison, sea bass, to short rib and dessert, but the combination of light touch and well-considered portion size left us with nothing but praise for the dinner, with some members declaring it had been the best they had experienced.

As our evening drew to a close, Chargé de Missions Elect, Wolfgang Johannson, gave well-deserved appreciation to the kitchen and service brigades.

James W McIsaac
Conseiller Gastronomique