[Shanghai] Chefs in the City – November 2013
Chefs in the City | citcshanghai.com
What: Donate by dining charity event
Where: Rotation of Italian restaurants in Shanghai; November event held at 10 Corso Como (南京西路1717号会德丰广场(近华山路) – Wheelock Square, 1717 Nanjing West Rd near Huashan Rd (静安区 Jing’an District)
Price: RMB¥888 per person
Contact: info@citcshanghai.com
* Please note that this was an invited tasting. *
First off, let me just inform you that the restrooms at 10 Corso Como use fully automated Toto toilets. I encourage you to experience it. Now that we have gotten that out of the way, 10 Corso Como hosted a superb installment of Chefs in the City on November 7, 2013.
Chefs in the City is a charity event that features a pre-dinner cocktail hour with drinks and finger food followed by a multi-course dinner complete with wine pairing prepared by chefs from Favola at Le Royal Meridien, 10 Corso Como, Isola, Bocca, and Acqua e Farina. It is held every few months and rotates through different Italian restaurants in Shanghai (see post on previous event). At year end, proceeds from Chefs in the City will be donated to a charity.
The event began with cocktail hour and mini appetizers in 10 Corso Como’s hip bar space.
Plenty of cold and warm coffee cocktails were served. The warm cocktail was particularly good for a cold night.
Foie gras and caramelized onions in chestnut cream.
My favorite was this truffle potato cream with soft boiled quail egg and purple potato chip.
The chef lineup who so graciously donated their time for this event:
Marco Busatti from Isola Shanghai
Corrado Michelazzo from 10 Corso Como Shanghai
Giuseppe Tino from Favola at Le Royal Meridien Shanghai
Riccardo Messina from Acqua e Farina
David Bassan from Bocca
And so begins our journey. My friend from Shanghai Daily Secret also joined me at my table.
The wine. There is plenty of it to keep your glass constantly filled.
The bread was presented in these neat paper bags. I refrained from eating too much bread to save room for the marathon of food to come.
Course 1: Norwegian blue mussels “new marinara style”
Wine pairing: Pinot Grigio 2012 Corte Giara
Some mussels with a flurry of garnishes to start.
Course 2: Stuffed squid with creamed baccala, leek saffron sauce, crispy polenta
Wine pairing: Greco di Tufo 2010 Mastroberardino
Squid ink macaron–let that (s)ink in first. Loved the mix of savory squid and sweet macaron. Very creative.
Like I said, the wine keeps coming. It doesn’t wait for me.
Course 3: Tagliolini with truffle and terreggio cream
Wine pairing: Sidus 2010 Pianirossi
My absolute favorite of the night (expectantly as it has truffle oil and egg yolk)! The cream sauce makes it look like a sunny side up as the “egg white” with actual yolk in the center. Poke the yolk, let it flow and mix it all up with the sauce and pasta. Truffle heaven.
Course 4: Beef tenderloin in pistachio crust and aromatic herbs with eggplant mushroom foam
Wine pairing: Chianti Classico Riserva 2008 Marchesi Antinori
Simple flavors to close out the main dishes, especially after the truffle-laden pasta.
Course 5: “smoke and eat”
Wine pairing: Amarone della Valpollicella 2007 Collina dei Ciliegi
This came with a piece of chocolate covering the top of the glass and literally smoke (I’m talking like cigar smoke) encapsulated inside the glass. The smoke flavor permeated the cream and top layer of coffee jelly. I don’t smoke so I wasn’t too keen on secondhanding smoke in my dessert. I mainly ate the white and milk chocolate mousse layers at the bottom that was smoke-free.
Petite sweets to end the night. It took a lot of effort tot stand up at this point but I made it home in a food coma daze.
Hello. Just discovered your blog and enjoy reading it very much. Which chef/restaurant contributed the tagliolini dish at the Chefs in the City Nov event, please? Thank you.