LUCKYRICE Festival: Grand Feast

The LUCKYRICE Grand Feast was the crème de la crème of the entire festival. Top restaurants including Daniel, Le Bernardin, Jean-Georges Restaurants, Morimoto and over a dozen distinguished beverage partners came together to produce the ultimate showcase of Asian flavors. I was also excited to see some big name chefs out as well, including: Daniel Boulud, Brad Farmerie, Masaharu Morimoto, Pichet Ong, and Jonathan Wright (all the way from The Setai in South Beach, Miami). I loved almost everything that I tasted, and often went back for seconds... ok, thirds. Before I dive into my favorites, I would like to thank LUCKYRICE again for the complimentary entry.

I have about a dozen raves in mind, but if I had to limit my top picks to just five, here are the nominees for best-in-show:

• Smoked Tofu, Miso Glazed Butterfish, and Umeboshi Fondue from ASIATE at Mandarin Oriental: the soft, flaky fish went with the smoked tofu perfectly. I'm not the biggest fan of tofu, so whenever I find a tofu dish that I love, I am totally impressed.
• Singapore Palm Sugar and Coconut Lemongrass Soup, Mango-Thai Basil Gelee and Poached Pineapple from Daniel: this dish had the  beautiful and clever presentation. When Pastry Chef Dominique Ansel poured the coconut lemongrass soup around the cup's contents, it magically transformed into a sunny side up egg! The actual delicate and fruity flavor was quite a pleasant surprise. 
• Black Sesame Panna Cotta, Shiso, Cherry, Mandarin, and Soy Dessert Cup from Le Bernardin: I tried this dessert with Pichet Ong along side of me. He thought that the black sesame tasted "fishy," but I beg to differ. It was a delicious and playful trifecta that was also ultra photogenic.
• Grilled Wagyu, Congee and Sweet Soy from Morimoto: "home sweet home" was the first thing that came to my mind. The tender beef with the congee tasted like something my mom would make when I had a bad day. It was simple, memorable, and nostalgic for me.
• Crispy Fried Barron Point Oysters with Shiso, Sansho Pepper and Wasabi-Yuzu Dipping Sauce from Public: my favorite of the night naturally contained oyster. Chef Farmerie—who also prefers west coast oysters—knows his bivalves. They were gently fried until they were perfectly crisp. I didn't enjoy the shiso leaf with the oyster very much (it tasted too much like fuzzy caterpillar meets juicy caterpillar), however it definitely polished the presentation.

The Torchon of Hudson Valley Foie Gras and Duck Prosciutto Kabayaki Glaze from Lola, the Kampachi Sashimi from Matsuri, and the Shrimp Sunomono from Tanuki Tavern were also delightful.

Of all of the booths, can you guess which one I frequented the most? It was actually the Sake Tasting table hosted by New York Mutual Trading and Sake Discoveries. The junmai daiginjos, such as Dassai 23, were out of this world. Perfectly smooth, balanced, sophisticated, yet easy to drink. The sakes were very good picks for sake novices and veterans alike. The sake booth was probably where I spent most of the time during ALL of the LUCKYRICE events.

To leave you with a final impression of what the Grand Feast was all about, here's a fantastic video edit from LUCKYRICE.




Click for more pics! (You don't want to miss this set)