I opened dinner with two amuse bouches. The first was a 1-bite pickled wild mushroom with whipped feta and robiola cheeses, to mimic Alice in Wonderland: eating a mushroom to transport you into our fantasy world. Our second course was a symbol of welcome, dried pineapple leather with li hing mui powder, a combination I learned about in Hawaii. The pineapple is a often common sign of hospitality and hidden in the decor of many hotels.
The salad course was a melon salad made with horned African melon and watermelon, two fruits of the past and future of the Ogun twins’ heritage. I also wanted to play on the idea of bitter melon (which is a nod to my Asian heritage) without actually using bitter melon. I dressed the sweet and sour fruits with bitter dandelion green pesto tamed with lemon and a few drops of aromatic ramp bitters.
Our main courses were fun and fantastical. Paradox ramen is named for the chicken and egg conundrum. I made chicken paitan ramen with a fried zucchini nest on top. I handed each guest an egg and told them to crack it into their soup. Many were afraid and skeptical, but I told them to trust me. It was not a raw egg, but a fully cooked sous vide custard egg. Next, a deconstructed surf n’ turk bourride, a type of creamy seafood stew. Lightly poached blue fish with sea urchin aioli, new potatoes, zucchini shaped like mushrooms (a bi-product of spiralizing), crispy bresaola chip, and pickled fennel.
Finally, dessert! One was served to the guests and the other was hidden in plain sight the whole evening. I simply torched thick slices of pineapple, dolloped on thick Greek yogurt, and sprinkled more li thing mui on top. I told guests there was one more dessert in the room if they could find it. The organizers were aghast that I snuck one more dish into the surroundings without them knowing. It was a small edible terrarium, based on the chocolate “dirt cup” dessert. Crumbled chocolate cake, mousse, gummy worms, and herbs posed as a planter.
On their way out, I gifted each guest a “message in a bottle” mushroom tarragon salt to take home. It was as if they were Alice, finding another mushroom to grow back to her proper size. You might notice that the menu feels repetitive and that was purposeful. I wanted to invoke mirrors for both Wonderland imagery and to reflect the twin designers. I open and close the menu with mushrooms. The second and sixth pineapple courses contain pineapple as a hello and goodbye. The strangest dish, Paradox Ramen, was in the dead center to flip your world upside down.
Unfortunately, following this dinner, Taste Gallery did not continue this series. I had a wonderful time collaborating with Dynasty and Soull; opening me up to a new world of ideating for my future menus.
