One of Manila’s premiere resorts celebrated its 10th anniversary with an inimitable gustatory experience featuring five Michelin-starred legends.
This is an excerpt from Lifestyle Asia’s May 2023 Issue.
Solaire Resort Entertainment City marked 10 years with a star-studded culinary and beverage spectacle that was the talk within the Philippine gastronomy scene. Foodies got to experience Michelin star excellence together with world renowned spirits and wine experts in a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
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Solaire’s Vice President for Food and Beverage Bastian Breuer said, “To mark Solaire’s 10 years, we wanted to do something bigger and more ambitious than what we have done in the past. As we close the last decade and enter a new one, it’s only fitting that we commemorate the celebration by giving our guests an irresistible experience that no other property or restaurant in the country has ever done before. This marks the beginning of more trailblazing events for Food and Beverage here at Solaire.”
Five Michelin-starred chefs prepared dinner at each of Solaire’s outlets for four nights and each dinner seat, as expected, went fast. There was a special and extraordinary preview where all five rock star chefs prepared a lunch together for the very first time. Each chef prepared two dishes each for this heavenly ten-course meal. It is a treat to have a meal prepared by a Michelin starred chef but to have a meal prepared by five was indeed a once-in-a-lifetime experience for many of the guests.
Frank, Enrico Bartolini, and Alvin Leung
Culinary legend Enrico Bartolini is the most highly decorated Italian Michelin star chef. His namesake restaurant located in Milan is MUDEC, the Museum of Cultures has three Michelin stars. The highly decorated Italian chef took over the kitchen of Finestra Italian Steakhouse with a seven-course dinner highlighting his philosophy “Contemporary Classics.” Together with Bartolini, award-winning bar expert Salvatore Calabrese known as “The Maestro,” presented “Cocktails with the Maestro ” featuring his modern cocktail classics. Bartolini prepared a delicate bottoni (button shaped pasta) filled with lime and olive oil. This pasta dish was served with octopus enrobed with a rich caccuicco (a Tuscan seafood stew) sauce.
His perfectly cooked turbot was divine in an unexpected pairing of Swiss greens, chicken liver sauce, and fish roe. East met West at Yakumi where Tohru Nakamura helmed the restaurant for an eight-course dinner. Nakamura is half German and half Japanese and is behind two-Michelin star restaurant Schreiberei in Munich, Germany. His refreshingly umami ladened toro (fatty tuna) with koshihikari (type of Japanese short grain rice), okoge (scorched rice), shio koji (Japanese salt), and wasabi was paired with Sake Junmai Daiginjo ‘Solaire 10th Anniversary’ created by the Kagamiyama Sake Brewery which carries a legacy that dates to 1875.
Sake master Akihiro Igarashi lent his expertise to curate complementary sake variants for the meal. Takamura also prepared a crowd favorite– an innovative take on the classic Japanese dish chawanmushi. He added light grilled wagyu tartare, caviar, and roasted konbu ponzu.
Read more by purchasing a copy of the Lifestyle Asia May 2023 magazine via SariSari.shopping or select newsstands in National Bookstore and Fully Booked. Subscribe to the E-Magazine via Readly, Magzter, and Press Reader.
Photos courtesy of the author.
