Celebrity Chef Choi Hyun Seok certainly didn’t waste time during his few days’ stay in Manila this week, for Solaire Resort Entertainment City. He spent it tasting all the local dishes he could, and came out remembering our adobo.
After the dinner he prepared, the South Korean celebrity chef told the handful of media at the table that he loved the way our adobo mixed the familiar with the exotic.
Asked, through an interpreter, what his favorite Italian dish was, he said, Vongole, and the media table recalled with fun the Culinary Class Wars scene involving the dish—this time in the Solaire’s Finestra dinner last April 7, he used garlic!
The chef, who grew a bigger netizen fanbase in the famous Culinary Class Wars, was asked what he’d cook for his family. He admitted to media that he has “no time” to cook for family.
Asked how he tweaked the Korean specialties for the Filipino palate, he cited the example of the traditional Seaweed Soup. For that night’s dinner, he made it milder and less salty.
After this hectic day, he was asked, what would you have for late dinner? “Hamburger,” he said, with a laugh. Good old simple hamburger.
Finestra was packed April 7 and the night before, with diners, many of them Koreans, who wanted to experience the signature dishes of Chef Choi from the top-rated Culinary Class Wars.
The good news is Chef Choi left behind the recipes for this menu, and Solaire will make it available for Waterside diners for April and May.
Long before Culinary Class Wars, Chef Choi has drawn a following and achieved celebrity status through his famous restaurants in Seoul, notably the Korean-European fusion cuisine at Choi. He became associated with the innovative marriage of Korean cuisine with the European, Italian particularly.
Chef Choi and his stint in Culinary Class Wars prove the global stature today of Korean cuisine. Asked where Korean cuisine could go from there, what else it must achieve, Chef Choi underscored the importance of the individual innovation with each dish for Korean cuisine to continue leveling up.
Donut (corn, caviar) (Photo by Thelma San Juan)
Seaweed Soup (Photo by Thelma San Juan)
At Solaire’s Finestra, the night began with a pre-dinner treat Donut (corn, caviar) paired with Riesling ‘Dr. L’. 2021, Dr. Loosen, Mosel, Germany. Starter was the Seaweed Soup (seaweed, hairtail fish, radish)—‘You can almost taste Korea,’ said someone at our table about the fish flavor. It was paired with Bouzeron, 2020, Domaine de Villaine, Burgundy, France.
Then came Vongole (from Culinary Class Wars episode 10) of clams and squid ink, paired with Dolcetto d’Alba ‘Munfrina’, 2020, Pelissero, Piedmonte, Italy. It tasted so fresh and richly flavored.
The highlight was the Three-Sauce Steak (wagyu striploin, truffle, pear, asparagus). It was succulent (no better word), the pear serving as foil to the tender bite, and the truffle giving the strong flavor. It was paired with Cabernet Sauvignon ‘Seven Oaks’, 2020, J. Lohr Estate, Paso Robles, California.
Dessert was met with an “aww”—Korean Shaved Ice (mascarpone, white chocolate, red bean paste, green tea or macha), which Chef Choi whipped up especially for Solaire. It was paired with Premium Andes Blend, 2020, Finca El Origen, Argentina.
The dinner was served briskly, as it should be—no endless waiting between courses. The smooth pace actually matched Chef Choi’s dishes—which were so straightforwardly fresh, the flavors so easily palpable you could master the taste—be it of the pasta or steak; such no-nonsense gastronomy. It was simply delicious, nothing pretentious. We became a Chef Choi fan that night.—Thelma San Juan
