Remembrances of menus past⏤A dinner for ‘45s

From the chapter: Menus—through the past

Capsule of 1945 Mouton. Stuart George.

During the years that James Beard Award winning Chef Roy Yamaguchi and I worked together in our Roy’s restaurants (from late 1988 through 2001), composing dishes for specific wines became, for us, a kata-like exercise. It had to be done, and always sharpened our skills.

For special events, we also collaborated with dozens of world’s most inventive chefs and wine personalities to stimulate ourselves, our staffs, and of course, to entertain our masses. Figures such as Joachim Splichal, Paul Draper, Traci Des Jardins, Kermit Lynch, Randall Grahm, George Morrone, David Ramey, Mark Miller, Tony Soter, Cory Schreiber, David Rosengarten, Jeremiah Tower, Ronn Wiegand, Nobu Matsuhisa, Joy Sterling, Bradley Ogden, Ken Wright, Drew Nieporent, John Williams, Julie Johnson, Mark Miller, John Ash, Lynn Penner-Ash, Emanuela Stucchi Prinetti, Pamela Starr, Jonathan Waxman, George Bursick, Kazuto Matsusaka, as well as the late Paul Bocuse, Madeleine Kamman, Jim Clendenen, and Jack and Jamie Davies.

Not to mention all the talented, inventive Hawaiian Regional Cuisine chefs—such as Roy’s close friend, Alan Wong—thriving in our own backyard. They all marched through the doors of our Island restaurants, sometimes several times over, to help us discover just how far the boundaries of contemporary food and wine matching could be stretched.

One of our more memorable events...

A dinner for ‘45s

July 1991

The easiest way to handle classic, matured French wines is to serve white fish with beurre blanc, followed by roast beef or grilled lamb in natural jus; but where is the fun in this predictable progression?

Yamaguchi and I were constantly called upon to devise menus for serious private collectors looking for a little more thrill than what they would normally do for themselves at home. Re this dinner in 1991, highlighted by two classic ’45 Bordeauxs:

Lobster Terrine with Asparagus, Olives and Mustard Aioli
Krug, Champagne 1975

Lasagnette of Wild Mushrooms, Sweet Basil and Pistachio
Montrachet, Louis Latour 1983

Wood Roasted Squab with Confit of Onion and Potato
Zind-Humbrecht, Clos Saint-Urbain Tokay-Pinot Gris 1983

Grilled Lamb Chop in an Explorateur Thyme Sauce
Château Mouton-Rothschild 1945
Château Latour 1945

Tropical Fruit Blanc-Manger
Château d’Yquem 1967

The simplicity of layering sheet pasta with a lightly creamed, scented basil and lobster sauce, and a royal mixture of nostril tingling fungus (chanterelles, enokitake, oysters, morels, shiitakes, and the like) with the creamy-sweet scent of pistachio, struck a resonating chord with soft, smoky, earthen, mildly nut toned taste of the eight year old Montrachet.

Super-powered (or “Parkerized”) whites from Alsace always present a culinary challenge. But this gave Yamaguchi license to utilize the caramelized sweetness and oils combined in the squab and confit in order to give the huge (14% ABV), fleshy, exotically sweet edged Zind-Humbrecht more than enough to take its measure.

For the ‘45s, Chef and I resorted to a tried-and-true (if unorthodox) trick: I always liked the idea of blending a magnificent triple crème (such as Explorateur) into a natural sauce as a way of filling out the full scaled opulence of a classic Pauillac (such as Mouton and Latour) at the height of maturity. The creaminess and faint earthiness of the cheese helped round out the thyme tinged sauce, couching a classic Bordeaux/lamb combination in a way that doesn’t bruise the polish and bouquet that take premier grand crus years and years to build.