I literally just came back from dinner with my food buddies at Suna and it was one of the most unexpected dinner of my life. Usually, I will wait a few days before I write my blog, but since I was exposed to so many new flavors, new ingredients, and culinary techniques (not that I know any) used in this meal; I am afraid if I don't capture it right now, I will not be able to remember all the details.
Suna offers two tasting menu options: a four course and an eight course. We wanted the full experience, so we chose to go with the eight course menu and it was definitely the right choice. Since Suna only offers tasting menu, the menu changes constantly based on what's in season.
(Sorry for the bad picture quality, the lighting in the restaurant was not photography friendly)
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| Root Vegetables |
The first course was root vegetables. It was a salad combined with candied yam, pickled or raw beet, celery root, parsnip and topped with arugula granita. I probably missed like ten other ingredients in the dish when the server was describing it, but those were the main ones I can remember. This dish, being the most unique dish through the meal, caught all of us by surprise. There was so many different flavors on the plate and every bite tastes like a brand new dish. Depending on which combination of root vegetables was on your fork, the collaboration of flavors were different every time you take that bite. One of my favorite root vegetables of the dish was the candied yam. The candy coat gave yam a new texture and 100% more sweetness. It was so good that I can just snack on it by itself. The most surprising element of this dish was the arugula granita. I mean....who makes granita out of arugula or any vegetables? You will have to try it and be the judge of that. All of us had a different feeling about the arugula granita and I will leave it up to you to experience yourself.
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| Kampachi |
The second course was fish. We were served a mackerel inked with cured eggplant and pickled husk cherries. I don't think I have ever had husk cherries nor eggplant ink nor all of them together on one plate. I also never had mackerel served like this, but I think I like it.
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| Dashi Custard |
The third course was dashi custard with scallop and roasted mushrooms. This was my favorite out of the three cold dishes. The custard were so smooth and creamy, and the scallop and roast mushrooms were also the perfect toppings for it. This was a fun dish with fantastic flavors and texture.
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| Shellfish |
The fourth course and also the first hot course of the meal, was buttermilk crab meat with crab mustard served with crispy rice chips (I think). Once again, it was fabulous. Every bite screams crabs!
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| Fowl |
The fifth course was fowl. For the night, we had squab breast with sunchoke, grain, broccoli and a crispy squab skin to balance the texture. The squab was seasoned and cooked perfectly; it was flavorful and tender. The grain which included sunflower seeds and oat was not your typical grain, but it was delicious. Half way through the meal, I think we learned to expect the unexpected and just enjoy the ride. One complaint though, I wish there were a couple more slices of squab confit on my plate.
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| Pork |
The sixth course and also the last entree, was pork shoulder with tahini garlic puree served with daikon and kale chips. This was another phenomenal dish. I loved the tahini garlic puree and kale chips. It was really hard for me to decide which meat dish I liked more, but luckily we got the eight course meal, so we didn't have to choose. I would be sad to miss either one of them.
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| Apple |
The seventh course and also the beginning of our dessert journey was caramel ice-cream served with cilantro apple and salted malted milk crumbles. When the server was introducing it, I thought I heard the word cilantro and I was thinking in my head....cilantro and ice-cream? But again, we are at Suna, and all things are possible, and we have seen many ingredients that are not typical used together, but somehow, worked. It was the perfect dessert after a savory meal and salted caramel had never failed me.
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| Hazelnut |
The eighth course and our last course was a hazelnut parfait with coco and hazelnut crumbs. The texture of the hazelnut parfait was indescribable. The parfait was such a spotlight of the dish, I don't want to ruin a great movie for you if you ever decide to watch it, so I will just leave it as it is. You will be surprised but you will not be disappointed.
The food was delicately prepared, well-planned and very labor intensive. With all the thoughts that came behind this meal, I was very satisfied. While every dish has its own characteristic and a whole different unique flavor, there was a common theme through out the whole meal. Despite the combination of all the different ingredients used in every dish, the texture were always perfectly balanced and the flavor were always new. For Suna, you would definitely need to have an open mind in order to fully appreciate such a unique experience Chef Spero is exposing to your taste buds, and when you are ready for it, I bet you, it will be eye opening.
Also, special thanks to the great dinner company and helping out with the photography!
Suna
