Tawfiq Khoury's 80th Birthday at Roy's
The food pairings and techniques explained
Roy Yamaguchi brings out the first passed appetizer, a shrimp tempura and smoked ahi maki. Other appetizers included an abalone gazpacho shooter and moi usuzukuri.
Roy Yamaguchi brings out the first passed appetizer, a shrimp tempura and smoked ahi maki. Other appetizers included an abalone gazpacho shooter and moi usuzukuri.
Tawfiq Khoury, celebrating his 80th birthday with wines from each decade of his life.
For the mirugai ceviche, chef de cuisine Chris Kajioka used oranges instead of the usual lime citrus in ceviches so that the ceviche wouldn't be too sharp and overpower the wine. The crispy ginger brings a subtle zing that ties the whole dish together.
Olive oil poached hamachi with arare crunch, crispy prosciutto and oven-dried whole tomatoes.
Butter poached Kona cold lobster with Maui Onion soubise and American caviar. The soubise is made with pureed onions, cooked slowly to coax out their sweetness. The bright green is a spinach puree, a classic pairing to lobster.
As the finishing touch, Yamaguchi places chives onto the butter poached Kona cold lobster.
Pan roasted squab with cassoulet of offal stew. If he didn't have the wines in mind, Yamaguchi says he would have simply seasoned the offal (on this plate, tripe from the cow's third stomach) with salt and pepper. Instead, it was cooked in a rich stew to stand up to the Harlan Estate Red's complexity.
Corporate sushi chef Mark Pomaski puts down the parsnip vanilla puree that the duck will rest on.
Sous vide duck with parsnip vanilla puree and wasabi shiso gremolata. For the duck, Kajioka seared the meat, vacuum-sealed it with its own juices and immersed it in a hot water bath to cook for 48 hours. One of the many advantages of sous vide is the ability to cook a protein to the same temperature throughout the meat. From the outside to the center, the duck retains a rosy medium-rare through this method.
Kajioka sears the sweetbreads so their crispy exterior contrasts with the smoothness of their interior.
Crispy sweetbread with glazed pork belly, kabocha puree, pickled mustard seed. The sweetness of the kabocha puree and sharpness of the mustard plays off the richness of the pork belly and sweetbreads.
Degustation of Wagyu beef with tongue and oxtail crepinette. The Wagyu beef, from Snake River Farm, can literally be spooned off the plate, like a rich, meaty custard.
The Brie mousse with roasted fruit and watercress was composed of brie and mascarpone whipped, frozen and cut into bars, accompanied by compressed mango. Compressing fruit involves vacuum-sealing the fruit, which concentrates the flavor and gives it a firmer, almost-crisp texture.
A mere sampling of Khoury's wine collection.
