Time for brunch?

Dear friends,

Friday morning could offer different feelings, depending on which end of the world you went to sleep the night before. In my days in Europe, Friday morning was waking up to a busy week-end ahead, behind the bar in London - and in some cases with the heavy burden from the previous busy days.

Since my move to Dubai and from the bar operation, Friday morning is the beginning of the week-end and much sweeter taste than it used to. Even after few years with such format, I still sometime struggle to get acclimatised  to being at work on Sunday when the football and F1 is on - and see the flow of work-emails from Europe on Friday while chilling by the beach.

Friday in Dubai is also extensively associated to Brunch, as the 'one and only' F&B entertainment across most of the Hotels and Restaurants in the City. Almost every property has one going on - that kicks off around 1pm up to 4pm and with packages that goes from AED200 up to AED600 - depending on your choice of unlimited. Usually the set up sees large buffets across several styles of cuisine and with free flow of all sort of beverages.
I have always been amazed by the amount of people that goes to brunch and the opulent display that every operation put in place for the occasion. If you happen to drive around residential areas on Fridays around 12pm, you will come across a large number of beautifully dressed people waiting for a taxi. Ladies on high hills, elegantly waving to the next available yellow light, while showcasing their latest wardrobe acquisition. 
Usually the free flow of food and drinks is then followed by the 'after brunch' which offers a la carte drinks menu with special deals to continue within the Hotel bar or sister venues in the vicinity.
You can imagine how such agenda could become a seamless drinking session with clear repercussion on people ability to maintain the same posture from when they left for it.

After few years of this, the other day I went on the web and looked at the history of 'brunch'. All the search led to the same definition. The word was first used by a UK writer called Guy Beringer in 1895 - when describing the Sunday meal for 'Saturday night carousers'. As a word originated by the 'portmanteau' of breakfast and lunch - the occasion originally calls for an 11am start with coffee and pancake to then move to savory dishes and all washed down my Mimosa, Bloody Mary, Ramos Fizz and alike - up to around 2pm. Some of Beringer's words in 1895 were mentioning:

"Brunch is cheerful, sociable and inciting. It is talk-compelling. It puts you in a good temper, it makes you satisfied with yourself and your fellow beings, it sweeps away the worries and cobwebs of the week".

Maybe going back to the definition of brunch could be considered a novelty in Dubai these days. An innovation from the 19th Century that brings back the social element of the brunch with newspaper, compelling discussion, Bellinis and comfortable dress code.
Nothing wrong with the rush of the Dubai brunch and who's enjoying it every Friday, but I feel there is space also to diversify the proposition into such diversely populated city like Dubai.

Venturing on a brunch that gently wake-up the senses with freshly brewed coffee, light drinks and protein - could also embrace the benefit to see customers having an appetite for dinner, later in the day - and be in the mood for a night out instead of feeling 'out for the night'.

Best,

Giorgio Vallesi

Warm or Cold?

Dear Friends,

Warm or Cold? This is the question!...and the answer?.....well it depends.

If the subject is Dubai for example, then surely warm is the way forward, with eight months of summer and four months of open-air fire place.

If we change the topic to white wine, then the word cold would fit perfectly with a dry and crisp beverage, eager to release its freshness and lively character.


If then the topic changes again to Sake (Nihonshu), then we are back to square one and still floating onto a sea of interpretation and possibilities. This is because enjoying sake warm or cold doesn’t depend upon codes or etiquettes – but on personal preferences and I usually describe this as one of ‘the beauty of sake’. There are no rules, nobody to ask permission, no question to be answered or need to call the ultimate expert to tell us how to go about it. We are all pretty much on the driving seat and we can all make the decision when choosing sake’ from a menu.

Tateyama Ginrei Honjozo

Yes because sake, contrary to most wines, performs well cold or warm or room temperature – it just offers a different experience and do not upsets us like a warm white wine could do. When warm, it enounces the hearty, creamy, rounded and spicy texture of the sake, while the same chilled, would give the way to fruitier, fresher and crispier sensations.

In the 15^th Century the Japanese were already serving sake’ warm, without realising that it was also a way to preserve its quality. Then around 200 years after, Pasteurisation was discovered.

Kan-sake refers to Warm-sake.

Now-a-days, with modern and sophisticated production techniques, Breweries are able to produce styles of sake’ designed to better suit the warm service as vehicle to emphasise its character. The opposite it’s true for dry, crisp, elegant and premium style of sake’ that calls for cold service temperature.

Use a Water-Bath method to warm sake’ and gently bring the temperature to around 45/50 degrees Celsius. In restaurants they usually use a dispenser to ensure consistency and speed of service.



Hiya-sake refers to Cold-sake

As you can see from all the Bla Bla Bla above, we didn’t come to a solution or a common ground – and thank God for that. For once we don’t have rules and we don’t have to be expert – but just asked to enjoy something the way we like or we feel like.

 Try to start your meal with cold sake for affinity with your appetizers or as an aperitif and then leave the bottle on the table to naturally allow the temperature to rise. By then, you will move on to main courses and much richer dishes – and the liquid will follow the same trend and grow in character with it.

In essence, Warm or Cold?......well, it depends!

Giorgio Vallesi

 

#1 Sake' on Tour | Spice Emporium, Westin Hotel Dubai

Dear Sake friends,

Since last time I wrote on the blog, two major things have happened. The first one just few days back, 1^st of October, the starting of the new Sake season in Japan, also called Sake Day (Nihonshu No Hi) which will last until the 31^st of March of the following year. It’s also true that some large producer will be continuing brewing sake during summer, but the 1^st of October sets the official start of the New Season and in Japan it is celebrated with Sugidama (Cedar ball) that all the Breweries will hang by the main entrance.

Sugidama, Cedar ball displayed by the
Brewery entrance, on sake day.

The second one is that we have started the Sake’-on-tour season. This initiative will be an itinerant journey across Restaurant & Bar in the Region – during which, I will engage on Sake tasting and food pairing – sharing this social event with a guest and key staff members of the property visited. By all means this won’t be a ‘restaurant critic review’, but a discovery of the Sake versatility across different style of cuisine – while sharing opinion and enjoyment.

To break the ice I have chosen Spice Emporium at Westin Hotel in Dubai. The restaurant identity is authentic Thai Food and passionately headed by Chef Khamphun Plangthaisong since 2010. As you enter the Hotel lobby, take the stairs down to the right hand-side and it will be on your right. Your first encounter will be the bar lounge – then you need to wait until you enter the main door to immerge yourself into the very warm Thai hospitality.

Mrs Thip Chaiyasit, Restaurant Manager, has been at Spice Emporium since the opening – she is also Thai to further build on authenticity.

With me at the table, Andrew Mullins, as guest of the night – Andrew is one of the Founder and Director of Fling, a leading organization in Europe, Middle East and Indian Ocean – for professional beverage training.

We started the tasting with sparkling sake and specifically with Awasaki from Shushinkan to appreciate the bottle fermented style - and the Kunizakari Lapis Lazuli, for what in wine is classified as a Charmat method, where bubbles comes with the addition of carbon dioxide. Both of them enjoyable and usually ideal to introduce sake to acerb consumers, but in this instance, Andrew picked up also on the layers of complexity on Awasaki and declared it as his preference among the two. Catalin Gheorge from Senyar Bar also joined us and prepared couple of cocktails - one with Choya Umeshu for a bellini style of aperitif and one more with the Sesame seeds based Goma Shochu from Beniotome, in this case for a martini style entrée with mint and Raspberry - both of them really nice and refreshing.

While sipping the cocktails, the classic question on whether appropriate or not is to mixing sake in cocktails popped up. The outcome from the table was that probably sake does not enjoy concoctions that are too complex that could easily shadow the flavours – and mask more than enounce.

Also mentioned that Shochu lends itself easier to more structured creation thanks to the fact that it is a distillate and usually hold between 20% to 45% ABV and could act as any other spirit base.

Other sakes on offer were Yoshidagura Dai-Ginjo, Azure Tosatsuru and Ouka Dewazakura as Ginjo style – and Isake Classic as Junmai.

Andrew lived in Thailand and Laos for a while and decided for him to be the best person to pick on the traditional offer of Thai food from Spice Emporium – his choice were Spicy Papaya Salad, Chicken Pandan Leaf and Marinated Satay Beef.

Spice Emporium | Westin Hotel Dubai

We started trying all the sake on offer cold from the ice bucked and sipped them nicely chilled while waiting for the food. All were pleasantly enjoyable with Azure being dry and crisp to represent the modern take to premium sake and Yoshidagura to offer the highest grade in Dai-Ginjo - remaining very delicate and elegant. Then we moved to the fruity and aromatic Isake Junmai and last sip, of the first round, was Ouka Ginjo, a beautiful brew from Dewazakura.

Not surprisingly the Character and complexity of Ouka Ginjo from Dewazakura did extremely well against spicy dishes like the Papaya salad. Azure and Yoshidagura did also quite well especially with the less spicy dishes – while Isake has struggled slightly with the Thai spiciness, until the temperature has risen to almost room temperature.

One of the beauty of sake is its ability to perform differently when the temperature changes. While this for wine is a limit, for sake it’s an added value that helps the dynamism of the dining experience. When sake temperature vary from chilled to warm – also the flavours evolve from crisp, lively and refreshing – to more character, more hearty and spicy notes.

Towards the end, Stephane Buchholzer, Executive Chef at the Mina and Westin Complex, joined the final part of the evening and went through the tasting as we did. His verdict also praised Ouka Ginjo and the Awasaki sparkling with distinction. Most interesting was to feel the interest and surprise while tasting products that not always are part of the normal repertoire of drinks you can find in Restaurants, unless strictly Japanese.

Then in conclusion a thank-you-note to Chef Stephane, Chef Khamphun, Thip and Catalin to have allowed us to enjoy an evening of sake, Thai Food and Thai hospitality. Great thanks to Andrew for joining me and to share his professional view on the brew and for the very pleasant company.

See you all to the next Sake-on-tour!

Giorgio Vallesi