Luscious luck seems to have been stalking me of late, the way I’ve been getting invites to memorable feasts and lush evenings.
No sooner had I come down from the gustatory high of a Chaine des Rotisseurs formal dinner (gourmet dishes paired with excellent wines) in mid-March when an offshoot affair had me sitting down with a much smaller if equally convivial group around a table laden with pleasurable items.
The setting was Sugi at Grenbelt 2 in Makati, barely two weeks later. An invite from Jim Araneta of Global Beer Exchange, followed up by ines Cabarrus, a fellow member in Chaine, led to a special tasting of Japanese craft beers as paired with Japanese “chichiria.”
The dinner billed as “Japanese Bites ’n Brews” started with Zipang Sparkling Sake, which sparkled indeed besides whetting the appetite just so. It was the perfect complement to the first appetizer offerings: spicy tuna sashimi and chili fire roll.
Followed edamane and miso soup, by which time our company of 11 was already toasting one another with the first bottle of special brew, the Hitachino Nest White Ale.
I had sampled this pale ale only weeks earlier at Craft, that inviting place at The Fort Strip which champions craft beers, mostly from the West, so that its names bear sportive tags like Arrogant Bastard Ale, my fave not only for its robust taste but comparatively high alcoholic content among the other brews, well over a dozen, that one can savor there.
Well, the Hitachino White at 5.5 percent alcohol content I recall to have smelled and tasted of flowers. At Sugi, I learned that it was brewed in the tradition of Belgian-style beer, with coriander, nutmeg, orange peel and orange juice. And that it “pours hazy yellow to orange with spicy citrus notes.”
Bravo to our Japanese friends, who certainly know how to craft anything, from origami to orgasmic brews, whether in the general category of beers (including malts and ales) or the acme of spirits for this spiritual adventurer: single malt whisky.
In any case, among the other guests at our spirited repast (created by chef Masa Nakamura) that evening were, besides our hosts Ines and Jim, restaurateur Spanky Enriquez, foodie bloggers Gin Perez and C.J. Juntereal, Cyrene de la Rosa, Heidi Ng, Sanjeeb Gopaldas (newly inducted to Chaine) and the peripatetic Teddy Montelibano, as man-about-town as one can get (in fact I sometimes think he stalks me like my lucky star for good invites, the way we wind up posting photo albums on Facebook of the same events — from jazz gigs to special dinner-and-drink extravaganzas).
The next Japanese craft bottle was that of Morimoto Soba Ale, supposedly a perfect accompaniment to lighter cuisine. The card that lauded the darker ale read: “The delicate flavor of our roasted Soba brings a nutty finish to this light and refreshing ale.”
Hmm. I thought it was much darker than the Hitachino Nest White, even at 5.3 percent proof for a 650ml bottle. But that nutty finish was there all right. And it did go down well, head and all, with the following chichiria items: Yasai salad, kai kari bone, koebi karaage and ebi tofu shinjo age.
At this point my luck ran out, in a way, or rather had to give way to a higher level of spirituality. Next on the menu were tempura moriawase, yakitori moriawase, pork chili sansho yaki and gohan, to be washed down with the third and final golden brew: Hitachino Nest Japanese Classic.
But I had to take a raincheck on that last third of the beer-pairing dinner, as I had to hightail it to another rendezvous I had committed to, this time at the Sky Lounge of Vivere hotel in the Alabang-Fil-Invest area.
Apart from the expansive view and breezy conditions in that venue, I usually enjoy its tofu dish as well as the sisig that comes with crunchy chicharon topping.
Now, what I do in such plush settings is to arm myself with a small black bag that contains my essentials: wallet, cell phone, camera, tissue paper pack, keys, and a green plastic bottle that once held health tea or mineral water, but now serves as my special personal flask, with my single malt whisky of the week, or night.
That night it was special indeed: Bruichladdich The Organic, another Islay malt, cheery and peaty but light-colored, even deceptively so, since it’s 92-proof.
The parade of single malts I’ve had in recent weeks deserves its own recounting, but suffice it to say that this Bruichladdich (which I had picked up last Christmas at the Fiesta Mall or Duty-Free HQ) had been preceded by a long-time fave: Lagavulin 16 single Islay malt whisky. One slogan in the lush literature that attends its bottle and carton reads: “Takes out the fire and leaves in the warmth.”
At 86-proof, it was saner than the Bruichladdich The Organic, but what really keeps me devoted to this single malt is its heavily briney, smoky, and peaty aroma, taste and flavor. Since a couple of years ago, it’s been a toss-up between Lagavulin 16 and Laphroaig Quarter Cask, if I am asked to rank my most fave whiskies.
No matter. It’s good to be able to say that Metro Manila is far from being a slouch when it comes to the variety of spirits available. Thanks to Fiesta Mall (and the Duty-Free counters at NAIA 1 & 2), the range of single malts made available to travelers has kept expanding in recent years. And thanks to Global Beer Exchange, one can also flit around from taste to taste when it comes to microbrewed or craft beers.