28th November 2004 Excerpt from The President's Dinner At Third Floor's letter of invitation: The Venue and The Chef The Third Floor Restaurant Bar needs little introduction as it is one of the top restaurant in Kuala Lumpur and its chef, Ken Hoh is one of the leading chefs in Kuala Lumpur. Notwithstanding this, a few words are in order. The Third Floor Restaurant Bar opened in July 2001 with Chef Ken firmly at the driving wheel. He had left Cilantro to open this restaurant. At Cilantro, he was the chef since its opening in 1997. When it opened, Cilantro's contemporary cuisine was innovative and a breath of fresh air in Kuala Lumpur's culinary scene. Ken Hoh had prior to Cilantro worked with Australian's most renowned and celebrity chef, Tetsuya, and brought home with him a cuisine which is very much inspired by Tetsuya. At Cilantro and now Third Floor, Chef Ken has continued this cuisine which he says is "French with contemporary touches and slight hints of Asian flavours". As before the emphasis is on freshness, naturalness, simplicity and delicacy. Chef Ken's talent has been recognised as he has been awarded the Best Local Chef in Malaysia by the World Media Millennium Gold Awards 2001/2002. For "The President's Dinner At Third Floor", Chef Ken has prepared a special 6 course menu for us which Teng Wee Jeh has commented as "very modern and in keeping with current trends overseas". High praise indeed! The Third Floor's interior perfectly matches this cuisine. It is clean, minimal and modern. Glass, marble, dark wood and fabric are skillfully combined and accentuated by ambient lighting to create an elegant, stylish and classy interior. With Chef Ken's fine cuisine, excellent service and a modern and elegant interior, the Third Floor is a fitting venue for our 2004 President's Dinner. The Wines For the delicacy of Chef Ken's cuisine we need wines of equal finesse. It is appropriate that we go French all the way. For the first dinner wine we will have the Gosset NV Champagne. This marque is new to Malaysia but is renowned and rated as "5 Stars, Outstanding" by Robert Parker. As has been said many times before, Champagne has zest and is just simply great to start dinner with. It goes well with almost everything and will complement Chef Ken's hors d'oeuvre plate of 4 small dishes which include Beluga caviar. For the second course we will have the Chablis 1er Cru 'Vaillons' Domaine William Fevre. Domaine William Fevre is one of the great old names of Chablis and remains today a Chablis superstar. Although Chablis is not a wine of choice amongst many Malaysians, this dry, mineral scented and acidic Chablis was very well received when we drank it at Inagiku. It will go well with the citrus cured salmon. For Chef Ken's Three Taste of Duck, we have selected the classic match, a Burgundy. I asked Wee Jeh to have the Gevrey Chambertin 2001 Domaine Arlaude Pere et Fils as it is a lovely classic Burgundy which I have been drinking since it appeared on the Barrique shelves. The Domaine Arlaude premier cru is of course better but much more expensive, and this village wine admittedly still young is now accessible. We intend to pour it early so that it can open in your glass, and you can also try it with the cured salmon. Although it is just a village Gevrey Chambertin, it is sophisticated and of premier cru quality. "Fuller, richer and firmer. Really splendid fruit. Ripe and sophisticated. High premier cru quality here. Very good indeed." wrote Clive Coates of this wine. For good reasons Domaine Arlaud is today a celebrated vineyard. We will celebrate our gala dinner with two great wines from Bordeaux from the 1994 vintage, the Chateau La Fleur-Petrus and the Chateau Latour A Pomerol, both from Pomerol. Before this we will drink the Chateau Petit Cheval 1994. All these three wines are from the Society's stocks and were purchased en primeiur by our late President Lawrence Teoh; hence their availability and affordability for our dinner. The 1994 vintage has been said to the finest vintage from Bordeaux after 1990 and before 1995. Members may recall that at last year's "The President's Dinner At Cilantro" we drank 3 wines from the 1994 vintage, the Chateau Rauzan-Segla from Margaux, the Chateau Angelus from St Emilion and the Chateau Pichon-Longueville Comtesse De Lalande from Pauillac. Whilst we all had our favourite, we all agreed that all the three 1994 wines are lovely. The Chateau Petit Cheval is the second wine of the celebrated First Growth status Chateau Cheval Blanc from St Emilion. For many, the second wine of a great chateau is the smart way to drink. It offers not only value but accessibility, drinking a baby version of the grand wine earlier. Wee Jeh drank the 1994 Petit Cheval recently and raved that it is drinking beautifully. It will be lovely with the braised Wagyu cheek. Robert Parket rated Pomerol to be the top Bordeaux region for the 1994 vintage, and the Chateau La Fleur-Petrus and the Chateau Latour A Pomerol as amongst the best from the 1994 vintage. Of the Chateau La Fleur-Petrus Parker wrote: "The attractive kirsch, cherry, pain grille nose is followed by a medium-bodied, restrained, pure, measured wine. The 1994 offers an impressively saturated colour as well as an inner core of sweet, concentrated fruit and moderate tannin in the finish. All the richness, extract and balance are present in this closed but impressively endowned wine." As for the Chateau Latour A Pomerol Parket opined: "This wine posseses a deep dark purple colour, a pungent, jammy, strawberry, black cherry, weedy tobacco, and spicy nose, attractive fatness and ripeness, medium body, low acidity, and a sweet, long, lusty finish. It is a delicious style of Latour A Pomerol." We believe that both the Chateau La Fleur-Petrus and the Chateau Latour A Pomerol are grand wines and befitting the occasion of our black tie charity gala dinner. The wines have over 80% Merlot and will be supple and seductive. They will have nuances and complexity in both aromas and flavours as they unfold in the glass and as we sip them until the last mouthful which will always be the best. The two wines are for you to compare and evaluate or simply to just enjoy with your low-temperature roasted lamb. The menu for The President's Dinner At Third Floor consisted of the following: |
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