Gourmet News: artisanal gin experience

NOBU BAR LAUNCHED

WITH JAPANESE ARTISANAL GIN EXPERIENCE

Nobu Hotel Marbella is offering guests a tailor-made Roku Gin gastronomic experience to celebrate the launch of Nobu Bar. Nobu Marbella executive chef Eleni Manousou worked with Rodrigo Tartaglia, head bartender at Nobu Bar, to create a pairing menu in which each Nobu-style dish is combined with a cocktail based on Roku Gin – with the aim of achieving a sumptuous harmony of flavours. Roku, which in Japanese means “six”, is a perfectly balanced premium artisanal gin with a distinct flavour based on six Japanese botanical plants: Sakura flower, Sakura leaf, Yuzu skin, Sencha tea, Gyokuro tea and Sansho pepper. These are carefully collected following the “shun” philosophy – that is, only when they are at their right point of maturity, according to the season – and this enables them to reach maximum levels of flavour and perfection. The plants are distilled using a selection of different stills, each chosen to ensure the best flavour is extracted from each product, and they are meticulously blended by Japanese artisans at Suntory House in Osaka. Roku Gin is produced by Beam Suntory, who have been making gin since 1936. The menu begins with one of Nobu’s star dishes: lemon fish and jalapeño combined with the Sakura Fubuki cocktail (Roku Gin, ginger, Yuzu tonic and cherry bitter). Guests can then savour grilled sea bass on Inaniwa green tea and a clear geinmacha soup broth accompanied by Roku Sour (Roku Gin, ginger liqueur and elderflower, Yuzu and egg white). This is followed by a main course of lamb chops with Sancho pepper teriyaki paired with Shoganai Martini (Roku Gin infused with cardamom, rhubarb, grapefruit and lime). And to finish... a mandarin mousse with flambé fruit and Roku jelly accompanied by Ronin (Roku Gin, Nobu the Shochu, raspberry, lychee and chili piquín). The menu is €85 and only available on Tuesdays until 30 September.