A week ago, I attended my company’s annual Dinner & Dance at Oriental Hotel. Anyone attending a Dinner & Dance would tell you that food is the last thing on his or her mind. After all, what could possibly top the sight of a drunk senior manager perform his rendition of the chicken dance slash Macarena. (Un) fortunately, the up-there folks at my D&D were too savvy to get up to any mischief, which might compromise their year-end bonuses but this gave me plenty of opportunity to focus on the food.
Unlike customary 8-course -yawn- dinner, the D&D menu was a walk down Creative Lane. Despite there being only four courses, we enjoyed a continuous flow of rolls (varieties include of onion, herb or tomato). Now this may seem whatsthebigdeal to you but for bread nut moi, it was love at first sight.
Black Truffles scented Foie Gras Terrine with Marinated Haricot Verts and Honey Plum Sauce
Whoa! Truffles.. Foie gras! Dinner was off to a haute start.. The foie gras terraine was undeniably smooth and silky and I couldn't resist pairing the tomato roll with a swab of foie gras. Taste-wise though, it was soundly defeated by the truffle, which packed a punch despite the deceivingly small portion. The mini brioche was too dry for comfort but the roasted ham (probably the best of the lot) was succulent. Too bad the argurula and haricot verts were nothing to shout about.
Selection of Mushroom Cappucino & Enoki Fritter
Trailing circles in the soup, I thought to myself, “This should be one mean soup”. The mushroom cappuccino warrants special mention for its intense woody aroma and thick consistency, which clinged soundly onto the dipping bread piece. For all that it was worth, I couldn’t get through half the bowl as the mushroom aroma registered too strongly. Downing the entire bowl would amount to a blackout and the thought of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation was simply too horrific to behold- I wouldn't want to make company e-newsletter headlines for the wrong reasons!
Unfortunately, by the time I took a bite out of the enoki fritter, it had gone out cold and I suspect had been in this state of dismal even before it reached my table. What a pity...
Pan-Roasted Canadian Black Cod, Green Pea Mash and Oven-Roasted Galette
When the hunk of a grilled cod arrived, my colleague squeal with such delight, you would have thought her boss gave her an advance bonus. Sadly, it swam its way out of favour with its dry, springy texture (de jevu of Sage Restaurant). I looked around my table and saw people eating wordlessly, without pausing for thought. I gave my fish a few sympathetic stabs before ignoring it completely. Surprisingly, what had me scrapping the plate clean was the unexpectedly scrumptious green pea mash that lay under the fish.
Golden Baked Apple Popiah, Walnut Ice Cream and Vanilla Anglaise
Apple slices, pecan nuts and raisins wrapped popiah-style? Dessert was definitely East meets West, although it was more 'Bad Luck Club' than 'Joy Luck Club'. I reckon crisp buttery sheets of puff pastry would have been worked better than limp popiah skin, but still it was interesting Asian take on this dessert. Needless to say, the luscious walnut ice cream was great stuff. I counted- it was gone in 4 spoonfuls.
Dinner's biggest challenge was balancing creativity and taste. It was experimental and “out of the box”, but points have to be deducted for mismanagement of details. There wasn’t a centralized focus for any dish, thus the overall experience felt disoriented. It kind of made me think, “Great, now that we are out of the box, where do we go from here?”
On Tuesday, I attended my department’s staff forum where they presented annual appraisals and next year’s goals and objectives. Just when they were to about to wrap up the session, the session took on a light-hearted tone when our managing director brought up the topic of Dinner & Dance. We were all amused when he voiced his faux disbelief and disappointment about not winning the skit competition –a performance worthy of a spot on Youtube-. But he surprised us by thanking the summer interns for the “incredible work well done” backstage. I don’t think any of us actually expected the senior management to notice, much less recognize, the amount of time and effort we
I’ll miss this place when my internship ends.
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