During a birthday dinner with wine mates last night, a revelation of M Night Shyamalan clarity and power came to me, ably assisted by mouthfuls of deliciously aged Margaret River cabernet. While I may not have unearthed the meaning of life, I think I might have unlocked the secrets – the real “essence” – of all things gastronomic, courtesy of one of the most memorable audio-visual (and sensual) demonstrations I’ve experienced in a restaurant.
Looking past all the dead weight and carefully choreographed grandeur of difficult-to-pronounce yet impressive sounding French, Spanish and Italian words; the prohibitively expensive prices of top shelf wine and gourmet delights; the prestige and bravado of owning how every many bottles of whatever wine from some knockout vintage or rather; the glossy magazines and the eye-rolling banter of wine wankers and food snobs, the joy of dining consists of three simple elements: good food, good wine and good mates – what amounts to “good” is based solely on one’s station in life. “Good” for a student couple going out for a one-year anniversary will be markedly different (and cheaper) than, say, “good” for an epicurean surgeon-general planning his or her 50th birthday dinner. Enjoying a nice meal isn’t some kind of pissing contest: if you’re into what’s on your plate and in your stemware (or mug, paper cup, beaker, whatever), then you win.
I couldn’t have asked for a better dining experience last night. While organising the night, the brief I had supplied to Senoji (Shop 1, 885 Albany Highway, East Victoria Park. Tel: (08) 9362 2979) was this: “I’ll leave the menu up to you, just keep cooking.” And with the exception of a late-week request for chef’s delicious-to-eat yet laborious-to-make pork cheek skewers, our gastronomic fate was left in the hands of the great Yuki-san, a man holding onto a perfect hit rate for sending us home satisfied and in awe of his authentic cooking after countless visits to his lot on the multi-cultural dining strip of Albany Highway.
The procession of dishes that traveled steadily from stovetop to tabletop sounded and tasted like a “greatest hits” of Senoji cooking. While some of us were reacquainting ourselves with old friends, it was also great to be able to introduce my friends Peter and Elaine – both very experienced food and wine aficionados and fellow protectors of the English language – to one of my favourite eateries. Judging by chopsticks returning to platters on more than one occasion for pieces of gyu tataki, curry croquette and disarmingly fresh sashimi, Senoji got the thumbs up from the literary couple. By the time the final course had arrived, white flags had been hoisted and proverbial top buttons had been done – but the thought of crisp-on-the-outside and soft-in-the-middle pork and chicken katsu was enough to muster one or two final hurrahs from chop sticks that had been well and truly put through their paces throughout the night.
As is customary whenever a good excuse to drink fine wine presents itself, I had a quick rifle through my slowly-growing “cellar” for appropriate liquid accompaniments to the evening. While I had lugged along two Champagnes (the excellent Billiecart Rosè and great value ‘96 Lanson Gold Label) and a bottle of ’05 Yalumba late-picked viognier, only the Rosè had its chance to shine as the vinous limelight was trained on the extra dinner guests the gracious and far-too-generous Peter brought with him.
Peter’s first liquid cab out the rank was a bottle of the 2004 gewürztraminer from Vinoptima in New Zealand’s Gisborne wine region. From my investigations, it looks like Vinoptima is committed entirely to the production of fine gewürztraminer as no other variety is planted on the estate’s eight hectare plot and the new state of the art winery was built solely with the intention of producing gewurtz for the estate. Now that’s dedication – but judging by the immaculate quality wine I was washing down my yakitori with last night, I daresay the investment has paid off handsomely. Great, great stuff that’s as viscously supple as the finest offerings from Alsace, but the palate is dry, intense and focused without a hint of that sweetness that sometimes complicates the art of food and wine matching. This goes straight to pole position for gewürztraminer in my books and I’ll be doing my best to source more of this stellar wine.
No doubt this was a tough act to follow, but Peter’s second offering of a bottle of 1979 (a great year in Margaret River and Singapore) Moss Wood cabernet – complete with bow – was more than up to the task. Wonderfully earthy and soft, yet the truffle and mushroom infused palate still showed hints of blackcurrant and that distinctive bay leaf character I associate with good Margaret River cabernet. And as good as it showed, I still think there’s a little bit of time ahead of it, but why quibble over a few cents – last night it tasted wonderful and I thank Forrie profusely for his generosity in parting with a bottle of this for the occasion – and Bill and Sandra Pannell family for their foresight in establishing Moss Wood all those years ago!
Good food, good wine and – most importantly – good mates: as much as I was loathing turning 28, if this is the price of getting older, then bring on the 30s and beyond!
Footnote: The title of this post is not some lame attempt at contributing to the deplorable “humour” of Engrish (why do we need to laugh at other countries’ – usually Asian ones – misuse of the English language when Western civilization is already so proficient at butchering it themselves?), but a nod towards the generosity of the owners of Senoji. This was the title of the fax I was given describing the evening’s menu, complete with handwritten birthday wishes from Yuki’s wife Kyoko who is in Japan. As if that wasn’t enough, she completely made my night and called at the end of the meal to wish my happy birthday. Arigatou gozaimashita Yuki, Kyoko and Aiko for your hospitality and putting on a great night and arigatou gozaimashita to Peter, Elaine, Ash, Aaron, Lys and Marie for helping take some of the sting off turning 28 in the best possible way. Like I was saying, it’s all about good food, good wine and good mates…
