"Monte Real" 1970 Rioja, SPAIN

My friend David came for dinner tonight to the restaurant. He wanted to come on tuesday for the Iberico night, but couldn´t make it, so he came today craving some good "Joselito" ham.

The surprise was the vintage bottle of Rioja that David brought , a 1970. Honestly, at first shot, examining the bottle and judging by the colour.. i thought it was going to be vinegar.. but once opened... it was in optimal shape, and didn´t even start declining.. very surprised by the acidity still present after 39 years. My thought is that the wine was bottled as a "Vino Joven" on its first or second year as you din´t feel the presence of barre, so characteristic of the "old School", reserva and gran reserva from Rioja.

Being fine wine culture and business so young in China, it is interesting to think on how hard is to find old vintages out here..


Thank you David!

"Iggy´s" Singapore

After checking guides about good restaurants to go in Singapore, we ended up deciding to go to Iggy´s, voted as the numer 1 restaurant in Asia by the newcomer Miele Gastronomic guide.
The Restaurant is located in the Four Seasons Hotel in a centrally located area of Singapore. The interiors are simple but elegant, and has a beautiful Japanese inspired bar counter that seats about 13, a glass window divides it from the kitchen. Another 2 rooms with few tables complete the restaurant wich has an overall capacity of around 40 guests.
We sat down in the Bar counter and experienced the only choice available "Gastronomic Menu" for Singapore $195.
The wine list is specialised in Burgundy wines and has a very wide sellection of labels and vintages from the region. We enjoyed a bottle of "Chambolle-Musigny" Premier Cru 1999 (Pinot noir), The bottle was in a good drinking moment and had a good value for money S$215.
Iggy´s cuisine is elegant, simple, fresh, tasy and we felt influences from France, Japan, Spain and Italy.
The service in charge of Paolo colzani was very profesional, and we really enjoyed sharing a slice of passion talking about f&b lifestyle.

To enjoy the complete Iggy´s experience,I recommend you to ask for a bar counter seat, and download the wine list from their web site before you go, as you have many interesting choices.



THE WINE...Burgundy "Chambolle-Musigny" Premier Cru 1999 (Pinot noir)




KANPACHI...Gratinated Kanpachi, Konbu, Ginger Flower and Watercress salad, Sesame-lime dressing.
(Perfect, remarkable the touch of ginger flower)




WHITE ASPARAGUS... Steamed white asparagus, duck confit, compressed bacon crisp, swiss chard, poultry jus.





KEGANI...Japanese crab bisque, egg royale.

(Very delicate dish, outstanding Crab quality)




SEABASS... Steamed seabass with tamarillo, shallots, parsley and butter truffle.





CAPPELLINI... Cappellini with zuchini, smoked mullet roe, shallot

(The pasta cooked perfectly "al Dente", well seasoned with the saltyness of the mullet roe, nice crunchy vegetable texture from the shallots and zuchini.. A simple dish at first sight, yet very complex in the palate ).




QUAIL... Carcoal-grilled quail, braised red cabbage and natural jus.




TOMATO...tomato water jelly, frozen Gazpacho.

(Great refreshing little course, the Gazpacho was as good as it gets in Spain)




WELSH LAMB...Oven-roasted Welsh baby lamb rack, kalamata olives, confit of potatoes and thyme jus.






PRE-DESSERT





FRENCH TOAST...Chocolate cylinder, French toast, home-made maple ice-cream.

(A dessert for the very sweet palates, pastry tasting notes well balanced).






PETIT FOURS...Mini lemon Tart

(Definately the type of bite that i like, citrus, sour, fresh, sharp, creamy, crispy and delicate)




HAPPY, HAPPY to come back and recommend friends, who want to have a good gastronomic experience in Singapore.

-------------------


IGGY´S

The Regent Singapore
Level 3, 1 Cuscaden Road
Singapore 249715
Tel: +65 67322234

www.iggys.com.sg

"JAMÓN, JAMÓN"

What a wonderful leg!

ORGANIC FARMER´S MARKET @ "el Willy"

Dear Healthy lifestyle lovers!

Spring has come and our Saturday Organic Market is back!

Like in the previous year, and with the great help of "Kiwing Fine Foods," we have our veggie market going on..

This year we want to be "Unpacked" in order to avoid plastic waste.. so you will need to bring your own bag "BYOB"!!

The market will start at 12 pm and will go till 4 pm.. at the same time, we will have our usual Organic 5 course brunch for only 150 RMB!

See you tomorrow sexy veggie lovers!

Willy

"JAMÓN, JAMÓN" April 14 th @ "el Willy"

Dear Carnivores,

Our third monographic session is around the corner...

This time is "Jamón, Jamón" (Iberian ham)..

The event will take place in our restaurant, next tuesday night (The 14th) recommended around 7:30 pm.

I have ready to go a beautiful leg, "36 months great Reserve" Iberian Acorn fed Ham ,from the most prestigious brand from Spain "Joselito" ..

The leg will be opened, and cut by myself in the dining area in front of the ham fans! A supersexy tapas menu (All of them including ham) will be prepared!

Apart from Tapas...beautiful plates of the "sexy leg", thinly sliced by knife, will be served with toasted bread and tomato!

I hope you are ready to taste the most refined delicacy from Spain....

The event price will be 688 RMB per person (Includes all food & dessert) RSVP will be fundamental tel. 5404-5757

Hope to see you there nutty flesh lovers ;-).

Willy

"SPRING 2009 MENU"

As usual and following the seasons.. we just started our new spring menu!

The opening of Oyama Sushi bar upstairs, is being a very refreshing and inspiring experience for me and the kitchen team..
First of all, i have to thank Oyama San, for the opportunity he has given us to learn from him and share his Sushi "Secrets".

Second, the doors he has opened in terms of products.. As we all know in Shanghai it is quite challenging to get good quality ingredients.. Thanks to him and his Japanese contacts, we have been able to integrate in our menu very high quality products such as Tuna from The Mediterranean, Canadian prawns, Amazing Tuna Belly and the sexiest Kobe beef.


In our Spring menu we are following the usual menu structure of the house:

-"Traditional Tapas"
Is the space of our menu dedicated to the Spanish Tradition.
This time i added "Tortilla Española" Spanish Omelette (The classic basic one with potatoes and onions and another typical one with Chorizo). The Ommelette is served "juicy inside" like they are served in the good quality establishments in Spain. Some people might be afraid of the juicy egg, but no panic, as we are only using pasteurised egg for this dish.
A good "tortilla" must be juicy inside!! It is amazing because even in Spain most of the average Restaurants and Bars serve the Tortillas very well done and dry.. so a lot of people think they should be done that way.

Also in this area of the menu i have added "Gambas a la Plancha" Grilled prawns. Till the present i had not found good quality prawns like we have in Spain out here. But the Sushi master recommended me to try the Canadian ones he uses for Sushi. Definately quite diferent from the Maditerranean red prawns but they are quite sweet and tasty. We just grill them with generous salt, extra virgin olive oil, garlic and parsley, freshly grind black pepper.


-"Signature Tapas"
This is my favourite space as it is where i can play around and try new things and dream..
Interesting things are the semi-cooked tuna loin with a traditional gazpacho as a sauce, touch of avocado- olive and bread croutons. I think that it is a very refereshing tapa for this spring.
Also a good add is the Japanese kobe beef, wich we grill and we serve on top of potatoes cooked in Vanilla oil, we add some nice beef reduction sauce, crispy shallots and garlic chips.
Another interesting new one, "Grilled Duck Breast marinated in 5 spices, apricot tatin and a touch of black olive".. Anyway, these are only some of the new creations of this spring..

-On the Dessert part, our supersexy pastry chef Ayako Watanabe, has been very sweet to us including a wide variety of desserts such as... "Spiced pineapple carpaccio with citrus sorbet", "Lemon cake with green tea", "Hazelnut coulant, mascarpone and coffee cardamom ice cream" and a outstanding version for this spring on the traditional "Torrija"...

Like always we have a few things outside of the menu... highly recommendable to keep excited the frequent visitors!

Let´s enjoy the spring!!!

"el Willy".. Presents.. KOBE & KOBE & KOBE

Dear Carnivores,

Our Second Monographic session is around the corner.. this time "KOBE BEEF"..

Yes! The Mythical beef that, is frequently massaged, drinks beer, gets Sake baths and listens to Mozart and Bach!

Are you ready to enjoy the REAL Kobe beef brought straight from Japan for this occasion? I hope you are ;-)

I will cook a special menu that will include:

A couple Kobe appetisers and a nice 200 gr Pure marble real Japanese Kobe beef steak with sexy sauces and accompaniments on the side to play around..

The deal will be 698 RMB per person (Full Menu includes a total of 300 grs of Kobe beef per person and of course dessert).

The event will take place next wednesday March 18th at 8pm in our restaurant...

Please RSVP as seats will be limited.. Tel: 5404-5757

Till soon... Kobe lovers...