#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