Now Cooking - Hachimaki Ramen

Hello Wanderbiters! Its good to be writing and sharing more frequently as this holiday season gave me a surplus of hours to work on new post =) This blog is indeed a labor of love. Have a jolly Christmas to you all and in case we didn't get to meet, Happy New Year as well. In that spirit, please welcome a new segment dedicated solely for newly opened food place - "Now Cooking". I'll be sharing the first bites so you'll have a decent idea of it and a certain expectations before trying =)

The lucky foodplace I visited just yesterday is Hachimaki Ramen, located at Rukan Cordoba Pantai Indah Kapuk (just across the Waterbom). I googled the word and found hachi means 'a bowl' and maki means 'volume'. So doing the math, I suppose it intends to say a huge bowl of ramen? It appears to be. Judging from the photo, you'll imagine a good portion of ramen to fit the belly of a young man in puberty. But nope, na'ah, its almost 65% soup and 30% ramen noodles and the last 5% of the meal, predictably the beef and the egg.

This Karai Ramen is rated two on spicy-o-meter. Yes, you can customize how hot you want your ramen to be (hmm, reminds me of...) Lucky I didn't tried number nine as I always do at Ramen Sanpachi cause number two is pretty-darn-hot already. They have the levels until ten, I dare not to try! Meat wise it was okay despite the un-generous portion. Presentation was very disappointing, its just too far from what I see on the menu. As for the soup, the broth has a mild meaty flavor that I can barely taste having the spicyness predominates the soup. However, getting spiced up and sweaty was what I came here for. So, I'm satisfied with this one, and I'll keep my mouth shut until I tried the other ramen.

The second menu I tried was the Chuka Wakame (Seaweed). I enjoyed this as I'm always a huge fan of seaweed. On the side note though, I felt that it was too salty. Tried to tilt the bowl, squeeze the seaweed and found a good dose of sesame oil and soysauce. Aha! In my opinion, plain seaweed already bear a distinctive flavor of its own. A sprinkle of sesame seed is more than enough. I like it raw.

Last but not least, the atmosphere here is quite enjoyable especially the outdoor section where you could sit under the shades and next to the greens. Its just nice for me, and it gave me a good natural lighting to take my photos. =) I might come back to try out some more menus, until then, give it a try on your own and have a good holiday all.

Smile on, Shine on

Rubs
Snack on my tweets @captainruby.
Email me at fellexandro.ruby@gmail.com

Grilled Pork Ribs at Warung Ubud

Sekilas mendengar nama Warung Ubud yang terbayang adalah berbagai hidangan khas Bali seperti ayam betutu, sambal matah, babi guling dan sejenisnya. Namun sayangnya saya justru tidak menemukan satupun yang berbau Bali dalam pilihan menu-nya. Hanya satu yang mendekati yaitu Iga Babi Bakar. Sudah kepalang tanggung dan kepalang lapar tetap saya pesan iganya dan tidak lupa sebotol Badak. Minuman yang sudah beredar semenjak saya kecil ini memang selalu membangkitkan nuansa nostalgia yang menyenangkan. Ditambah lagi hari itu saya ditemani salah satu sahabat yang baru kembali dari Sydney. Jarum mood kembali bergerak ke tanda positif. =)

Menunggu, dan menunggu sampai kurang lebih durasi dua lagu habis akhirnya dihidangkan juga iga ini. Panas, fresh, dengan french fries sebagai side dish-nya. Setelah meneteskan beberapa remasan segar lemon, saya pun siap mencicipinya. Untungnya, penampilannya yang menarik dan membuat lidah bergoyang setara dengan rasanya yang juga cukup enak buat saya.

Daging babi-nya lembut seperti hasil presto, kaya bumbu dan rempah yang meresap, walaupun agak sedikit didominasi oleh wangi merica, namun semuanya masih flattering untuk lidah saya. Apalagi setelah dicocol dengan sambelnya. Wow. Saya harus nih ngomongin sambelnya dengan lebih detail karena fungsi dia cukup menentukan. Sambal terbuat dari potongan-potongan cabe rawit yang dihaluskan, dicampur dengan bawang, merica, dan beberapa rempah lainnya sampai berbentuk sedikit padat kemudian dilarutkan dalam saus kecap kental manis. Deliciously sinful! Haha =P

Anyway, untuk harga yang menurut saya cukup murah, 70K, kalian akan mendapatkan at least tujuh slices ribs dalam satu rack. Good value for money. Lokasinya pun cukup strategis, di deretan Rukan Cordoba Bukit Golf Mediterania, tepat di seberang Waterbom PIK. Nah, boleh tuh bermain air seharian lalu ditutup dengan iga ini, serasa di Bali yah. *ngarep.co.uk*

Overall, saya cukup puas dengan menu ini, walaupun sebenarnya masih berharap kalau mereka lengkap dengan menu-menu khas Bali lainnya. Alrighty, let me know what you think of after you gave it a try.

Smile on, Shine on,
Fellexandro Ruby
Food Blogger & Photographer
Twitter: @captainruby
E-mail: fellexandro.ruby@gmail.com

Pengampon, Gang Sempit Dengan Harta Karun Kulinernya

Menemukan lokasi ini lumayan mudah tapi enggak juga, penampakannya yang seperti gang buntu pada umumnya, tanpa banner atau penunjuk jalan, membuat mata mudah melewatkannya. Untungnya saya ingat pesan mama, "malu bertanya sesat di jalan"  =P dan akhirnya setelah diarahkan petugas parkir, ketemu juga Pengampon Gang Dua. Gangnya boleh sempit, tapi di sini tersimpan salah dua kuliner khas Surabaya yang nikmat. Kenapa salah dua? Tadinya saya kira cuma satu, eh ternyata ada dua harta karunnya, yaitu Nasi Empal Pengampon dan Kue Pancong Pengampon. Mari kita singkap satu per satu.

Nah, dasar saya emang wajah Cina, =P hehe, dan tidak mau rugi alias inginnya "sekali merengkuh dayung dua pulau terlampaui" saya putuskan untuk memesan Nasi Empal Babat. Yes! Bukan empal saja, bukan babat saja, tapi dua-duanya. In other words, two in one. Enough joke, let's get down to business.

Empal ini bisa dibilang adalah salah satu empal terenak yang pernah saya coba. Ketika melihat proses pembuatannya yang open kitchen saya sudah meliur mencium wangi bumbu dan padatnya ramuan yang dipakai untuk memasak daging sapi si cikal bakal empal. Sampai di piring, daging sudah tersuir-suir, bisa terlihat seratnya yang terasa lembut dan empuk di lidah tanpa mengurangi tekstur kasar dari daging sapi yang khas. Rasanya mirip dendeng tapi empuk dan manis. Babatnya sendiri as I expect memberikan variasi dengan kenyal-kenyalnya, tetap dengan sensasi rasa yang sama dengan kakaknya, si empal. Jangan lupa buat yang doyan pedes, dicocol sambalnya, semakin wualamak enak.

 

Yang satu ini hidden secret inside a treasure. Terjebak diantara pilihan menu yang banyak, beruntung sekali saya yang memang dasarnya Neophile memutuskan mencoba si Kol Nenek yang ternyata very pleasing to my tounge. Apalagi yang doyan pedas, ini pedesnya 'ngajak berantem' klo boleh quote istilah dari teman saya. Ditambah lagi dengan bumbunya yang seperti perpaduan tau-co dan kecap manis, membuat setiap kali nyedot si kerang selalu diakhiri dengan "aaaahh.. ssshh.. aaahh.." ENAK! Very recommended.


Belum selesai menikmati enaknya dua menu itu. Datanglah si menu dessert, Kue Pancong Keju & Coklat yang menjadi klimaks yang sempurna di sore hari itu. Lain dengan kue pancong umumnya, yang satu ini cukup inovatif dengan menambahkan rasa baru seperti coklat dan keju yang membuat sensasi berbeda. Terbayang kan, wangi kelapa, seratnya, yang panas dari cetakan, lalu diolesi keju yang memberikan aroma buttery, kombinasi yang pasti bikin drooling. Untung saya menulis post ini di siang hari, kalau malam cilaka-dua-belas. Hehe.

Wis ah, cukup menulisnya dan membacanya, tidak ada yang lebih enak selain datangi tempat ini next time kalian di Surabaya. Don't miss it, oh, satu lagi, rumah makan ini juga hanya buka di jam tertentu, pagi jam 8 sampai jam 1, dan sore jam 5 sampai jam 10. Selamat berburu harta karun. =)

Smile on, Shine on,

Fellexandro Ruby
Writer & Photographer
E: fellexandro.ruby@gmail.com
T: @captainruby

Melumat Nikmat Filipina

Melumat makanannya maksudnya =P, walaupun memang bersamaan dengan kesebelasan Indonesia yang berhasil melumat Filipina 2-0 secara agregat. Siang saya makan, malamnya Indonesia menang. What a coincidence. Tapi cukuplah sudah Filipina dengan kekalahannya, kali ini justru saya mau menceritakan keberhasilan Filipina memenangkan lidah dan perut saya. Yuk!

Kedua menu yang saya coba di bawah ini adalah hasil spontanitas ketika berjalan mengelilingi fX mall. Maksud awal hanya ingin menikmati muffin favorit dari Muffin House, eh ternyata ada restoran Filipina di dalamnya, namanya Manila Connexxion. Melihat beberapa Filipino yang duduk dan sedang menikmati makanan di resto ini menambah rasa penasaran saya. Pasti original nih rasanya, atau paling tidak mendekati original, kalau ada Filipino yang makan di sini.

Banyak pilihan menu otentik Filipin tersedia dan beragam mulai dari appetizer, main course, dessert sampai minuman. Jempol. Namun kali ini baru Beef Adobo dan Chicken Tocino yang saya cicipi. Dari segi rasa, sekilas lidah saya menangkap Beef Adobo standard, tidak ada spice khusus yang stand out. Dagingnya memang empuk namun tidak ada nuansa baru yang menandai ke-filipin-an masakan ini. Beef Adobo taste in the same level as any chinese beef stew.

Menu kedualah yang membuat saya kembali tersenyum. Chicken Tocino terbuat dari daging ayam yang dibumbui dengan berbagai macam spice yang dicampur dengan sari buah nanas yang memberikan nuansa manis asam pada lidah. Hasil gorengan daging yang merata dan meninggalkan sisa hampir burnout di beberapa bagian memberikan rasa sedikit pahit dan garing yang saya personally suka. Ditambah dengan kombinasi garlic rice yang wangi, Chicken Tocino officially menjadi salah satu menu yang akan saya sambangi berkali-kali.

Cuma satu kurangnya Chicken Tocino yaitu menunya yang cukup kecil, belum puas mengunyah nikmatnya daging ayam, tidak berasa sudah habis. Hehe. Tapi ya memang, kalau makanan enak tampaknya berapapun porsinya tetap kurang puas. =P Oh, dan telur mata sapinya juga saya masih rancu, tidak menambah keunikan apapun pada masakan, tapi dasarnya lapar dan doyan telur, tetap saya lahap. =D

Sejauh dua menu ini, saya cukup menyukai masakan Filipin, dan tentunya akan kembali lagi untuk mencicipi menu lainnya. Tapi sebelum itu saya mau melumat makanan Malaysia dulu ah, supaya niscaya agar semoga timnas Indonesia bisa turut melumat Malaysia di final AFF. Nyam! *mengunyah nasi lemak*

Tersenyumlah, Bersinarlah

Rubs
Food Enthusiast & Photographer
Snack on my tweets @captainruby

Shanghai Foodgalore (Or The Misadventures of The Chinese Looking Guy That Speaks No Chinese)

Stranded in a city where you don't speak the language but having the face looking like the locals is one hilarious torture. Things like random people on the MRT asking directions to me in Chinese and when I answered them in English, they return it with a confused and demeaning look that almost like saying "Whoa! So you're so effin cool that you only speak English? Where's your nationalism?" Seriously, I laugh at each of my encounters with the local chineses. 

However, let's put that aside for now, and allow me take you to the place where the foodventure began, Chinese Fast Food. Bump into this place halfway back from Shanghai Expo, just above Long Yang Road station to be exact, and found a long queue waiting. A good sign this should be. So I got into the line only to find myself blank for a minute when the waiter ask me "ni yao che she me?" (what do you want to eat?). For the complete sixty seconds only one thought ran across my head and sadly that is the voice of my mom mocking "I told you so many times to go and take that Chinese lesson. See? Now you've found out for yourself how important it is."

But I have no time for that, and so I used my final ammunition, the ever-so-effective-universal-language in traveling : body language! I took out my hands, stare at the waitress eyes, slowly made a one and a nine with my fingers. Good thing the waitress understood! HA! And that has granted me this:

On the left is the slow-cooked pork with what i assume was pig-innards mixed in sweet-salty soy sauce. I found this quite flat, none of the spices stood out and some of the meats were too stiff and unchewable. The other menu in contrary was awesome! A good blend of tofu, chicken broth, and eggs cooked with enough heat that resulted in a semi-moist texture that slowly diffuse once it reaches your tongue. I tasted a reasonable amount of saltiness and the good good aroma of fresh eggs. A delight. I've never met this in any chinese resto in Indonesia, so yeah, I think I'm gonna miss this. 

Off to the second spot was this resto near Holiday Inn Downtown, a medium-sized fast food with the face of an oldman as the logo. Tell you the truth, I decided to eat here because of him. He gave me a sense of security that their food gotta be good and luckily I was right. =)

The chicken rice with traditional mushroom was a feast in the midst of winter. Just swallowing that first freshly cooked rice and chicken leave a warm feeling in my belly. I feel home in instant, but transported back to reality when I look around and I couldn't find any chili sauce nearby. WHAT?! I tried complaining to the old man a.k.a Mr Lee but he just stared back at me with a smile from the corner of my plate. Oh well, on the plus side, at least their chopsticks were super hygiene (look at the chopstick-washer-machine!).  

Fed up with Chinese food, on the next day I went out for a little variety, and nothing was as exciting as seeing the Golden Arch sign just a couple block from the hotel. YAY! Finally, twentieth-century-food! I was so pumped to try for the first time in my life, McDonald's burgers-with-pork which I could never find in Indonesia. But all that hype just fade away when I stood in front of the counter and remember once again that I couldn't read any of those letters in the menu. DAMN! I should've at least learn how to say 'pork' before flying off here. Once again, body language to the rescue! But how am I suppose to explain 'pig' ? Make a groook-ing sound with my mouth? I ran out of choices, so I took a good look at each of the photos, made my wild guess and took away the burger back to hotel. Another surprise when I opened the paperbag and pull out the burger, the wrapping says Chicken Burger. --" There goes my one and only chance.

Noting the taste, it was one juicy-meaty slice of boneless chicken, the grilled soy sauce let out one tasty scent in favor of my Asian tongue. It was gooood for something coming out of McDonald's menu.

The day after, finished with all the business work, I get to visit this beautiful Yi Yuan garden, one of Shanghai's must-visit landmark, complete with it's shopping alleys that reminds me of Singapore's Bugis Junction. Here I finally found one of Shanghai's authentic hawker food, its the famous Xiao Long Pao. But unlike the normal ones, this one you have to sip it from a straw. And OH MY! It was one heavenly sip. Almost feels like sipping a concentrate of all the goodness (read: fat) of pork in one tasty juice. I recommend this! A must try! See how orgasmic I was while sipping it. =p

Right after that, I went for a quick lunch at this huge foodcourt inside the garden. I rather not talk about it though. I can't believe such beautiful looking foods can taste that disappointing. Awful. Scooch over.

It was quite late after the stroll around the garden. My feet and back are tired from walking, and on my way back my nose traced a very buttery smell coming right from a small shop. I didn't jot down the name of the street. But here's what my nose led me to. Freshly baked portuguese-style tartlettes coming right out of the oven. Its the sweet that I've been craving for. A perfect bite size snack for the afternoon. I can still recall the buttery smell arousing my nose, the hot sweet filling splendoring my tongue, and the crunchy feeling when I took the bite. YUM!

A fine dessert closed my walk that day and closed my stroll around Shanghai. And this Chinese-looking guy that can't speak Chinese has finally made his way around the city and survived with a grin on his face. My overall opinion, the food here are rather flat. It doesn't go to the extreme when it comes to flavor. Slight saltyness, slight sweetness, not spicy at all, and good luck finding chili sauce that complement the food. However, I find this as an enjoyable variety filler, a fling from tons of Indonesian food that I tasted daily in Jakarta. Above all, it was fun, and nothing beats a fun adventure.

Until our next foodventure.

Smile on, shine on. (and stay away from pork),

Chinese-looking Guy

Twitter: @captainruby

Email: fellexandro.ruby@gmail.com

I Ran Out of Superlatives to Express Your Lovingkindness

 remember tweeting this in September and amazingly unknowingly He gave me a surprise. I expected next year but He present it early. I am beyond thankful.

Last November, on an unplanned-before business trip I got the chance to visit one of the world's emerging cities, Shanghai and it was wintery! *widegrin* I've missed being wrapped in layers of clothes and jackets, having no sweat all day, travelling around city with subway metro, and freezing my ears walking against the wind. That's exactly what I got. It was only four days three nights, but it was really a blessing. On top of that I get to taste local cuisine (will review them soon) in between of work-related stuffs and took some citylights photos that I've been wanting. Here's a glimpse of what I captured. Not to boast, but to let myself and everyone of us be reminded that there's a Higher Being up there who listens and take a good care of us right to the littlest details. And He love to give us surprises.

I've simply ran out of superlatives to express Your lovingkindness. You are good and Your Grace overflows. =)

With a grateful heart,
Fellexandro Ruby

Nutrition for the Mind (Food Writing & Food Photography)

Setelah memikirkan, mengolah, dan menimbang akhirnya saya putuskan untuk membahas post ini dalam Bahasa, sepertinya akan lebih padat manfaatnya karena saya ingin berbagi kepada teman-teman bloggers Indonesia. Sudah tahu kan Jakarta Culinary Festival ? Nah, seperti post saya sebelumnya, saya diundang dinner dengan teman-teman food bloggers. Malam itu, enggak cuma soal perut tapi kepala juga diisi dengan nutrisi-nutrisi yang positif. Berikut adalah review sesi yang membangun banget buat para bloggers, terutama food bloggers, dan juga food photographer.

Yang tampak serius dan berwibawa di atas itu adalah Ivan Sielegar, salah satu pendiri food portal Goorme.com . Kudu dan mesti dilihat portal yang menurut saya breakthrough karena enggak cuma ngebahas makanan tapi juga meluaskan wawasan sampai ke semua hal yang nyambung ke makanan. Contoh: Tips Fotoin Es Krim, Cara Memasak Pasta Dengan Benar atau Nilai Historisnya Bir.

Ini adalah salah satu gagasan Ivan yang bosan dengan food portal yang membahas menu makanan tok dan ga berkembang. Selain itu, dengan Goorme.com dia juga ingin bersama-sama mengajak sesama foodies, bloggers, chefs, dan netizens untuk turut membangun dan memperkenalkan kuliner Indonesia. Kalau bukan kita siapa lagi. Terobosan berikutnya yang akan segera diluncurkan Goorme.com adalah user intelligence yang nantinya bisa menampilkan suggestion buat pengguna portal Goorme.com berbagai jenis makanan atau restoran yang mendekati selera user dengan mempelajari historis penggunaan portal Goorme.com. Asik yak? Ditunggu kalau begitu Goorme.com untuk improvement-nya. =)
 

Berlanjut ke guest speaker berikutnya (sebelah kanan di foto) yang memberikan insight banyak banget seputar food review. Satu hal yang saya suka waktu Mas Erza ST (penulis Jakarta Good Food Guide, kontributor untuk Jakarta Post, dsb) bilang kalau food review itu pasti subjektif, karena yang namanya taste itu personal. Walaupun demikian, bukan berarti tidak profesional, review makanan enggak cukup bilang enak atau enggak enak ajah, tapi perlu ditegaskan kenapa enaknya. Saya lupa contoh yang dia kasih, tapi kurang lebih seperti berikut, perhatikan perbedaan dari kedua statement ini:

"steak ini enak banget, manis!"

"steak ini dipanggang dengan panas arang yang stabil yang membuat daging matang dengan merata, alhasil tekstur daging lebih juicy, ditambah lagi dengan paduan saus manis pedas yang meresap ke dalam, benar-benar memanjakan lidah."

Jauh banget yah bedanya? Tips lain dari Mas Erza adalah pastikan kita mengerjakan PR dengan membaca / mempelajari dulu makanan yang akan kita cicipi, apa saja bahan bakunya, cara memasak, atau bahkan historisnya. Berbekal ilmu itu, kita bisa membuat penilaian yang mendasar, tidak asal. Perlahan namun pasti kita akan lebih sensitif dan semakin canggih untuk mendeskripsikan 'enak' atau tidaknya sebuah menu.

Last but not least, adalah salah satu fotografer yang juga rock star buat saya, =) Himawan Sutanto, pendiri Foodtography (kiri di foto). Banyak tips-tips basic yang dia share malam itu. Beberapa yang masih jelas saya ingat adalah:

• Kalau berniat mencari camera untuk foto makanan, pastikan cari yang ada manual setting dimana f-stop, ISO, dan shutter speed bisa diatur, megapixels bukan penentu bagusnya camera namun pastikan camera yang dipilih punya sensor yang bagus.
• White balance sangat menentukan aura dari makanan. Untuk makanan seperti pizza mungkin nuansa warm (kekuningan) cocok namun untuk dessert yang dingin pastinya tidak cocok.
• Angle juga menentukan menarik tidaknya sebuah makanan. Untuk menu yang cenderung flat bisa dicoba diambil tegak dari atas, untuk menu yang cenderung tiga dimensi, cobalah berbagai angle dari samping.

Sebenarnya masih banyak yang bisa saya share kalau bicara foodtography secara saya cukup passionate soal foto makanan, tapi untuk kali ini saya rasa tiga itu adalah poin yang cukup krusial.

Alrighty, there you go. Yang saya dapat, saya salurkan lagi, supaya pembelajaran ini tidak berhenti, dan saya sendiri pun tertantang untuk terus mengembangkan diri. Kalau readers suka obrolan makanan, fotografi, dan sejenisnya, boleh di bookmark blog ini =), atau bisa follow Food Porn tweet saya di @captainruby. 

Ah, feels good bisa sharing santai. Happy mid-week holiday!

Tersenyumlah, Bersinarlah! 

Fellexandro Ruby
Snack on my tweets @captainruby

The Value of Paying Employees to Walk Away

I've always been interested in people, passion, and connecting the dots between the two. Here's a fragment of an interview by Peter Hopkins and HP with Tony Hsieh that took my attention. He is the CEO of Zappos.com (and a millionaire by the age of 24). You'll find here one of his most original way to screen out passionate people and keep them as valuable assets in your company.

----
Peter Hopkins: Go to the first question here, Amy Nichols and she writes, “This is in reference to a very interesting and much discussed aspect of your hiring practice where you have employees do a training, a rigorous training where they learn everything about the company, and then at a period you give them a bonus to potentially walk away where you pay them you through that time, but then a bonus on top of that.” And she asks, “How often do new hires take advantage of this $2,000 offer to quit Zappos?”

Tony Hsieh: Yeah, on average it’s about 2 or 3% of people take it, so there are some classes where each class is 20 to 40 people, so some classes nobody takes it, and some classes 2 or 3 people might take it. And we started this a few years ago, and it actually started out at $100 dollars, and we keep actually upping the offer. It’s at 2,000 now, and actually at the end of the training, which is four weeks, we up it to $3,000 and extend it beyond that. And we keep upping it because we feel like not enough people are taking it, and the original motivation was to get people that…We don’t want people at Zappos that are there just for a paycheck, and we’re headquartered out of Las Vegas. Starting pay is $11.00 an hour for a call center, so it’s a pretty significant chunk of money, and our thought was we want people that really believe in the company and really want to be with the company for the long term.

And the biggest surprise was actually from the people that didn’t take the offer because they still had to go home after their weekend and talk to their friends and family and ask themselves, Is this a company that I really believe in, that I really want to commit myself to? “Is this a company whose culture I want to be a part of and contribute to?” And when they decide to turn down the easy money, when they come back to the office on Monday, they’re that much more passionate and engaged and committed. And that has been, by far, the biggest benefit.
---
The way I see it, losing those 2 - 3% candidates and the couple thousand dollar per person is worth more than having the mess later on. The mess of having unenthusiastic worker with no passion, that might snowball into numerous unsatisfied customer and explode later on with bad word-of-mouth. And by then it's already too late. Pay in advance, or pay it later. The latter in most cases are worse.

In other words, I'm on the same page with Tony. Let me know what you think. 

Cheers,

Fellexandro Ruby

Marvelous Seven (@JCF_2010 Food Blogger's Dinner)

It was around this hour yesterday, me and 32 other bloggers had the privilege to delight in 7-course dinner from amazing line up of topnotch chefs. Gracias Goorme.com and Ismaya for the invites and for arranging such a wonderful event. Not just solid food, we were feed with interesting insights on foodphotography and food reviewing, both from the experts in their field as well. However, on this post, I just want to relive that night once again with you beautiful readers, as I go through the photos and the menu.

In order of appearance:
1# Cold Appetizer // Balinese Chicken Salad with Coconut Vegetables and Sambal Matah
By Fahmi Widarte (Corporate Chef of Rotaryana Prima)
As the starter salad, the spicy taste kicks in real quick to my taste buds, and kinda jump start me to taste the next one. As spicy food lover, the hot-ness is simply yum!

2# Hot Appetizer // Braised Wagyu Beef Cheek in Sweet Miso
By Hugo Adrian (Executive Chef of Blowfish Kitchen & Bar)
Not a big fan of radish, however, I gotta say the miso complements the radish. It gives a good mix of sweet and salty, while the wagyu does what a wagyu beef does. It splendor my tongue.

3# Soup // Authentic Sultan's Tomato Cream Soup
By Agus Ishermawan (Head Chef of Ismaya Catering)
And now, we're talking. Very creamy soup (in coffee term this might close to an espresso), tasty tomato, and the surprise foie-gras! It wasn't on the description, that made us guessing, and @glister_blister got it right.

4# Pasta // Red Shell Pasta With Duck Ragout, Pine Nut and Rocket Salad
By Gianfranco Beltrame (Italian Chef de Cuisine at Casa D'Oro Hotel Indonesia Kempinski)
A plateful of pasta after a bowl of tomato cream soup is simply not the best sequence to taste them. A quarter way to this, my belly started to repulse. Sad that I had to left it halfway. However, the braised duck was a feast when munch together with the pine nut. I like the mix of soft and crunchy texture.

5# Fish // Chilean Sea Bass With Lee Kum Kee Ginger Oyster Sauce
By Sofyan Joshua (Technical Culinary Chef of Sukanda Djaya)
It was one of my favorite simply because of its lightness, kinda refresh the palate after all the creams. And again, intriguing blend of soft swirly fresh fish and crunchy pine nuts. Oh, yum!

6# Meat // Short Rib, Truffle Demi Glaze, Charcoal Oil, Glazed Carrots, Potato Hot Foam and Nuts Fake Cous Cous
By Ignacio Virgen Jimenez (Chef de Cuisine of Potato Head)
Now, this is a tricky menu for me. On the plate was five different flavor. I tried the ribs alone, was grilled with exact tenderness that I like. Then tried mixing it with the charcoal oil and the carrots. I gotta say, the carrot was truly something. Unlike any other I've ever tasted, the partly glazed skin with slight bitterness and the partly stewed carrot-meat with its full sweet taste was gooooood. However, I didn't quite get the chopped 'something', was it the nuts fake cous cous? Gotta be it, it smells weird for me. I left that part and finished the rest though. =)

7# Dessert // Green Tea Cake Ala Tropicale
By Rinrin Marinka (Artistic Chef)
Finally! The part that I've been waiting for, the la finale, the cherry on top of the cake! Yeehee! Anw, photo-wise its a very tricky food to shoot, however, I kinda nailed it, didn't I? Back to the taste, as I expected, it was a great closure for my tastebud, the sweet that I've been waiting for. You know this Asian tongue likes it that way. Dipping the sliced green tea cake with the yellow sourly passionfruit sauce was delightful. The best part for me was the crunchy biscuit covered in chocolate and the baked crispy apple slices. It was outstanding =)

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Sad that it has to end, but with a happy belly and a stream of good foodphotos I'm twice happier a man. =))  Marvelous seven course dinner, awesome night, cheers to the beautiful people that accompanied me that night Ivan, Dessey, Michelle, Astrid, Natalixia, Imel, Selby, Daniel, and Adhi Putra. It was an honor sharing the table with you. Until our next toast together (oh sigh, we forgot to toast together, o well, save it for the next time =)

Smile on, Shine on,

Fellexandro Ruby 
Snack on my tweets @captainruby
Email me at fellexandro.ruby@gmail.com

Wine Me. Wine Me Not. (Pairing With Food)

The common and simplest rule-of-thumb is red wine to complement red meat, and white wine to complement white meat. However, as to which red wine to choose for a particular red meat, and which whites to fit a particular chicken or fish menu, that would be up to you. Yes, YOU! Why? The answer is best explained by Chef Will Meyrick & Dean:

"Everybody has their own palette, its about finding one that suits yours."

After all the recommendations by friends, or even your favorite Sommelier, in the ends its your tongue that decides, not anybody else. Of course, there's guidelines, and Sommelier knows it best, however, after trying several wines from Champagne, to German's Riesling Kabinett, to French Viognier in one streak, Chef Meyrick has got his point delivered. And that is everyone's wine experience is personal. From those selections of wine, I like the Riesling Kabinett the most while my friend like the Viognier, the rest might find Champagne most acceptable for their palette.

Same thing when it comes to Asian food. Chef Meyrick had us tried his Roasted Duck and San Choi Boi along with different types of wine. And over the years, he has concluded that when it comes to asian food, there's no such thing as red meat red wine, white meat white wine. With its spicy characteristic, wine as it come close as drinks to augment your palette, what you look for is something that suits you. Dean even stated that its almost like drinking es-teh-manis, he like it and it complements most asian food as our asian tongue usually crave for sweeter cuisine and that explains why I preferred the Riesling Kabinett which was sweeter than the rest of the wines that night.

All in all, when it comes to pairing food and wine, its about opening up your options and giving it a try with different ones. As for my conclusion, I've found that right, and I think once I find that one wine that fits me best, I'll still enjoy it even with various kind of food. Don't you think so? Its like "apapun makanannya, minumnya .... "

One final toast with my favorite Riesling Kabinett,

Fellexandro Ruby
Snack on my tweets @captainruby