The next dinner worth mentioning was in Tatu Restaurant, Fairmont Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya (March 24th, 2010)
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Tatu Kenya Restaurant
The next dinner worth mentioning was in Tatu Restaurant, Fairmont Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya (March 24th, 2010)
Santi Santamaría is a prominent avant-garde Catalan and Spanish chef, the first Catalan, in 1994, whose restaurant Can Fabes received 3 stars from the Michelin Guide, and his second restaurant, Santceloni has been anointed with 2 stars and risen to the top of Madrid's food scene and is expected to become the capital city's only 3-star restaurant (the traditional-style Zalacaín, which was Spain's first three-star establishment, was demoted a number of years ago.)
His style is a modern interpretation of traditional Catalan cuisine and slow food, focusing on the freshest Mediterranean ingredients from the market.
Santamaría has recently been in the news over his controversial accusations against the molecular gastronomic innovations of other Spanish chefs, singling out the acknowledged leader and innovator of Spain's avant-garde cooking movement, fellow Catalan, Ferran Adrià.[1][2]
Wine (we had a bottle of white wine from Sud Tirol, don't recall the name or the year)
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Restaurant Ossiano, Hotel Atlantis, Dubai, U.A.E.
- Small and very red cherry tomatoes filled with green pesto
- Canape (little round bread slice) with mascarpone cream on top
- Crispy small roll with salty / fish filling
- Round little brown pastry with mushroom filling (?)
2) Radish pure with slice of tomato and mint (served in a cocktail glass)
3) Large oyster served with shallot vinaigrette
4) Scallop a la plancha (seared nicely) with tiny carrot cubes springled with fleur de sel and butter sauce, plus a spoon of a mascarpone-like soft cream
5) Carpaccio of Catalan gambas with fine (green) herbs vinaigrette and ruccola salad
6) Canadian crab (nicely seared) on a bed of couscous with caramelized oranges and pear(?)
7) Snapper cube seared a la plancha with a crispy skin plus a stem of broccoli, sprinkled with a buttery sauce
8) My Husband: baby rack of lamb rose served with caramelized baby shallots and calabacin
8) Me: foie-gras a la plancha with caramelized pear slices and green leaves (berros?)
9) Pre-desert: cava ice-cream with strawberry reduction
10) Desert: slice of layered, frozen tart with a spoon of creamy lichy/guanabana(?) ice cream on top. Tart had red berry core layered with crispy white chocolate and gelatin-like consistency cream. Sprinkled with some balsamic-like acidic sauce
11) Post-dessert / coffe sweets: six very tiny bocaditos (more for the eyes than the mouth):
- orange choco/turrones
- pastry bed with gelatined fruits (kiwi, strawberry, pear?)
- mini macarrons (cream)
- ice-cream mini balls covered with chocolate
- white chocolate bonbon with a brown sugar crocante ornament
- tiny chocolate brownie with a white sugar crocante ornament