One Convivial Dinner at Vin Plus Arcadia

Dimmed light, lines of wine bottles, used corks and oldhouse bricks welcomes me with its warmth. Soon after a few fellow food aficionados came in time: Jenz from Jenzcorner, Dino from Good Food Good Life, Imel Budiman and Erza ST. I had a hunch then and there that it would be a great evening. And all the signs along the way lead me to that very conclusion. 

The first of them is the appearance of Ashbrook Estate Semillon 2011. I've always been a huge fan of white wine, and this particular wine came out with a fresh fruity aroma that tickled my appetite, followed with a sweet palate and a rather crisp end. What makes it even better is the pairing that comes together with it. This Crab Salad is one of a kind. The play of texture with the carrot jelly, crab meat, and salmon egg is a feast in the mouth.

Crab Salad with Carrot Jelly & Salmon Egg

Following it is for me personally the opening climax. A very well cooked and presented foie gras in two ways. Munching the pan seared and the terrine in turns was such a pleasure, cause I had the best of both world. And I'm speaking as someone who don't usually attracted to foie gras. I would come back for this and the Madonna Riesling Kabinett that befriended it. 

Pan Seared Foie Gras & Foie Gras Terrine with Lemon Coulis & Date

Halfway through the dinner, as we were expecting the most awaited Pork Belly, time flies by with half-tipsy conversations. Erza was shocked finding out that I worked in heavy equipment and I can even drove Excavator and Bulldozers. Jen was happily bullied on R-Rated jokes. And many others that I couldn't recall as my brain slowed down that hour. I can only remember the laughs and noises. 

Two toilet visits after, here it comes.

I have to say, this 140 gram, 6-hour slow cooked pork is worth to try. Crispy outer skin, and almost-melt-in-your-mouth lower layers. Fat has never been this deliciously sinful. The only setback was that some find it skewed to a sweet end, while my sweet tooth find its okay. That being said, you know what to expect. 

Crispy Roasted Pork Belly with Baby Spinach & Honey Marmalade Sauce

Coco Jala

At this point of the evening, I had almost lost it to alcohol. My head felt so light and heavy at the same time. But I kept my neck straight and mouth opens for a palate cleansing dessert. Coco Jala. Coconut jelly made from pure coconut water, peeled coconut meat, and topped with vanilla ice cream. It was a B+. I had an A- somewhere, but I'm having a hard time remembering it. 

All sober and clean now. I can sum up the night as I titled it. What a great way to spend my first time ever at Vin Plus. Honored to be invited with the pleasure of your company. I'm looking forward for more in the future. 

In the mean time, if you're up for some dose of my non-food articles you can pop out at Captain Ruby Its my new sandbox. My playing field. I can't promise I'll be sober though. 

Cheers, 

Fellexandro Ruby 

Food Conversationalist & Photographer 

Munch on my #Livebites tweets @Wanderbites

Foie Gras Discovery with Rougie and Bosch

Prior to this event, I have no idea whatsoever toward Foie Gras. The only thing I know was that it' has something to do with duck, it's French (i'm not even sure if its french, but it sounded french) and that it is expensive. This event with Rougie then is like opening up a new horizon of knowledge. So, are you ready to learn? Cause I'm ready to share. Let's!

Mr. Thomas Pellegrini, the manager of Classic Fine Food and Chef Jocelyn Deumie as Rougie Culinary Advisor took stage after a short introduction from Mr. Chairul Sugiharto, Bosch' Director of Sales & Marketing.

Foie Gras in essence is a duck's liver. What makes it interesting is the process it has to go through to 'create' this fine food. A duck in its nature have the ability to double, or triple its liver size as a migratory bird. That means, there's a season in a year where they would move from one part of the world to the other through a loooonng journey, and to survive this, they accumulate a large amount of fat in their liver. This natural process is what people adopted to condition ducks in cage to increase the size of their liver. How? Force feeding. I know its always an open debate whether this technique is morally ethical. I'm not gonna touch that. Everyone's entitled to their opinion.

What I'd like to say though, that Foie Gras is indeed a delicate subject matter for the taste bud. On my first try, I hated it as I hated all other kind of animal liver. But then I was introduced with these new inventions by Rougie, meet the Japanese version, Foie Gras with Seaweed, and the classic version, Gingerbread Foie Gras. The latter amuses my tongue oh-so-very-much. Let me put in a simplest way, previously it was hard for me to have any kind of liver in my mouth, not to mention swallowing it. This time however, it manage to intrigued my mouth a bit but then everything goes downhill from there. I liked the crunchy tiny bits texture that meets with super soft foiegras. It slowly melts in my mouth.

Among other menu presented was the Foie Gras Creme Brulee and the Duck Leg Confit Salad which I find extraordinary.

I liked the tender texture of the meat, the fact that it wasn't smelly, and their use of wine salt for seasoning. It felt light but fulfilling at the same time, and it kinda took me time travel to my four weeks travel in Paris. The further appearance of nice white wine made it even more nostalgic. I remembered having wine at lunch time for almost every day of the week in Paris. I was so soaked into the culture that I lost my allergies toward alcohol after the trip.

 Enough episode of Back to The Future. We were also served with other interesting menu, Pan Fried Foie Gras with Cherry and Balsamic Vinegar. 

I find the mix of cherry and the vinegar wasn't very appetizing for my liking, but good thing we get to close our lunch with a selection of Valrhona fine degustation chocolate. Classified into more than twenty diverse formula, each gourmet chocolate was meant to bring out different outcome as in acidity, bitterness, flavor, intensity, fruit & nuttiness.

I ended up trying most of them, but couldn't find the real difference among them. =p My bad, my tongue wasn't that sensitive when it comes to chocolate I guess. I fall easily to any kind of chocolate.

At the end, no event is complete without the proper goodbye photo shoot. And so we did with my fellow food blogger, Natasha, Imel and both Chef Jocelyn and Mr. Thomas.

We look happy didn't it? Well I was happy, who wouldn't. Two hours of good french food, good company, good wine, and a pleased ear and mind.

Thank you Rougie, I'd definitely visit you Chef Jocelyn the next time I make a trip to Japan. Thank you Bosch, for making it happen.

Cheers,

Fellexandro Ruby
Food Conversationalist & Amateur Foie Gras Lover

Munch on my tweets @Wanderbites