2FOCUS_DINING
2FOCUS_DINING
By Gavin Nazareth
EVOLUTION OF DINING
The Menu: Culinary Journey Through 55 A glass of Premier Cru Champagne with a freshly shucked oyster, Aquitaine Caviar and a frozen shot of Wyborowa Exquisite Vodka, followed by 15 little courses:
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Chef Sandro AGuilera is taking culinary experiences in Bangkok to new heights – 55 floors up into the sky to be exact. The thick slab of tuna sizzles in the pan, the outside browning ever so slightly into a thin crust, the inside still moist and a luscious red. An instant later, it lies on a white platter, cosseted by endive leaves, a sheet of lasagna, and a handful of sun-dried tomatoes, before the chef, using slim stainless-steel pincers, picks a posy of tiny, delicate multihued flowers from a box, adding them to the top with a flourish. It’s lunchtime at 55, and Chef de Cuisine Sandro Aguilera has no time to stand and stare. The crowning glory of Centara Grand & Bangkok Convention Centre at CentralWorld, 55 is all elegant dining room, fine china, classic silverware, top quality wines, and breathtaking views of the city, that invoke memories of an earlier age of fine dining. Sandro’s next guest fancies the beef tartare, and the maestro quickly goes to work, from time to time, issuing commands to his supporting cast. Using a rectangular mould, he fashions the raw beef into a little briquette. From an assortment of dishes, he adds a palette of finely chopped onions, courgettes, and boiled egg, the white and yolk separate. A side of blanched string beans and truffled crispy and candied potatoes complete the serving. “Both these dishes are part of my new ‘55 Minute Business Lunch’, says Sandro, adding that the three-course meal, which
Chef Sandro Aguilera
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Watermelon Foie Gras Experience Crispy Prawn in Wheat Bread Aioli Black Truffle Explosion with Romaine and Parmesan Cheese Scallop with Lemon Thyme Clouds Asparagus Tempura Romescu Foie Gras and Cauliflower ‘Kinder Surprise’ Grilled Pork with Provencal Tomato Ravioli Soup ‘Duo’ Devil’s Octopus and Shallot Marmalade Chicken Croquettes with Thyme and Black Truffle Postmodern Oregano Gratinated Beef Cannelloni with Nicoise Olive Tuna ‘a la plancha’ with candied Pomelo Zest and Cashew Nuts Black Cod Papillote ‘Vaporetto’ Hot Potato-Cold Potato Black Truffle Parmesan Five Flavors Roasted Duck with Thai Aromatic Soda
Followed by cheese trolley, the grand finale – a potpourri of sweet temptations, Douwe Egberts coffee or Ronnefeldt teas, macaroons, chocolates and pralines.
WIN a business lunch for two We’re giving away two business lunch vouchers for two, each worth 2,110 baht. Send an email to editor@2-mag.com before July 31 and let us know where Chef Sandro was born. All entries will be entered in a lucky draw, and winners notified by email. ‘Wine angel’ suspended in the two-storey glass wine cellar Watermelon Foie Gras Experience
also includes options like Smoked Wagyu Beef Strips served with a delicately peppered linguini, and Crème Brulee, scented with Tonka Beans, black pepper raspberry sorbet, comes with a guarantee it will be served within 55 minutes. It also changes every week. A native of Barcelona, Sandro has worked his spatula at some of the top kitchens around the world, including the trio of Barcelona’s most revered Michelin-starred restaurants, Comerc 24, El Cingle and Estany Clar. “I worked in a lot of restaurants to find my style,” explains Sandro, whose search also led him to Santiago, Chile, “learning new ideas and techniques,” and to take several courses at the Escuela de Hosteleria Suan Dusit Rajabaht University of Bangkok, which convinced him there was great potential in the fusing of East and West concepts. Time also spent manning the stockpots with Pierre Gagnaire and Ferran Adria,
introduced him to the complex world of spherification, foams, liquid food, and flash freezing, or molecular gastronomy, plain and simple. A fairly new culinary trend pioneered by Hungarian physicist, Nicholas Kurti, and French physical chemist, Herve This, in 1988, and made fashionable by Pierre, Ferran and Heston Blumenthal, it is the application of scientific techniques and tools to cooking to create new tastes and textures, or breaking down ingredients to their chemical compositions and pairing them with similar food. Herve himself described it as “the chemistry and physics behind the preparation of any dish, for example, ‘why a mayonnaise becomes firm’ or ‘why a soufflé swells’.” But the laboratory-style of cooking is not Sandro’s cup of tea. “For me it is not really food, but it was a fantastic experience working with chefs like Pierre and Ferran,” he says, describing his cooking as Mediterranean or Provencal, for which he applies
middle-of-the-road techniques – “a mix of traditional and modern” reflected in the various menus he has created for the restaurant. One such menu, that he calls the ‘Culinary Journey Through 55’, has become the talk of the town. Available only on Friday evenings, this culinary voyage kicks off with a glass of Premier Cru champagne and a freshly shucked oyster, followed by a mother-ofpearl spoon of Aquitaine Caviar and frozen shot of Wyborowa Exquisite Vodka. The 15 tantalizing mini courses that follow are the perfect resume of the chef’s talents. The Watermelon Foie Gras Experience is simple and fresh. A piece of watermelon is slightly seared, its caramelised sugars making the perfect foil for the silky pillow of foie gras that is topped with foam made from the fruit. It’s a long menu and despite the small portions, best sampled at leisure, preferably with glasses of the Pouilly Fume or Riesling that are on offer for a small increase in the base price.
The Grilled Pork with Provencal Tomato Ravioli is a larger-than-bite-size medallion of pork, crisp on the outside, with a melt-inyour mouth centre, accompanied by a large perfectly cooked ravioli filled with the sweet sunshine of Provencal tomatoes. And it keeps getting better with the Black Cod Papillote Vaporetto that comes dressed in a baking sheet twisted into a Chinese fortune cookie shape, and steamed; the portion of sweet cod segments into velvety flakes when put to the fork, complementing the earthiness of the accompanying mushrooms. His take on an Asian favorite is intriguing as well. The Five Flavours Roasted Duck with Thai Aromatic Soda is topped by herb and spice foam for a snapshot of Thai gastronomy. Sandro’s journey of taste and textures goes through a change every three months when he adds new items, and one can only wait in anticipation to see what he comes up with next. 2
IN A NUTSHELL What: 55 Minute Business Lunch (3 courses, Monday–Friday) and Culinary Journey Through 55 (15 courses, Friday nights) Where: 55, Centara Grand & Bangkok Convention Centre at CentralWorld (www.centarahotelsresorts.com) Our Verdict: Heavenly cuisine, literally and figuratively speaking. Price: 1,055 Baht ++ (Business Lunch), 3,555 and 5,555 Baht ++ (Culinary Journey, without and with free-flow wine, respectively) Smoking Area: One floor up at the outdoor section of Red Sky Hours: 11:30-14:30 (lunch), 18:30-23:30 (dinner) Reservations: +66 (0)2 100 1234 ext 11
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