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2014-07-05
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Seasons是 L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon十分有名氣的大廚 Olivier Elzer最新在銅鑼灣自己開設的法國餐廳，而它已經在六月底靜稍稍地開幕了。位於Lee Garden二期3樓，Seasons的門口寬敞，地方不大，一面有對著Open Kitchen的吧檯，另外一面有沙發座位，一貫大廚的風格。不知是否由於剛開幕的原因，侍應們雖然很殷勤，但是常襬出一副不知所措的樣子。食物方面選擇頗多，大都屬中上水準，但沒想像中突出，只有菜式如Chilled tomato soup with basil ice cream 跟Obsiblue prawn with venere rice真正與眾不同，味道另人難忘，值得推介。午餐Set Lunch由＄288 （3-course) 到$588(5-course)一位。Advertised as "reinvention of French cuisine", Seasons, the new baby fathered by Olivier Elzer, the former head chef at L'Atelier de
Advertised as "reinvention of French cuisine", Seasons, the new baby fathered by Olivier Elzer, the former head chef at L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon in Central, is a top notch French restaurant that is as good as contemporary Hong Kong dining scene has the ability to produce nowadays. For my parents' big anniversary this year, we stumbled across this very newly and secretly opened restaurant which was so new that it didn't even have a phone number yet(!), so we had to make a reservation personally.
Located on the 3/F of Lee Garden Two in Causeway Bay (where Caffe Habitu used to be), Seasons has a neat and nicely decorated entrance that opened into an elegant, modern interior with dim candlelit lighting mixed with tranquil colours. With its counter seats facing the open kitchen on one side, and big couches on the other side, the restaurant demanded immense attention to the performance of Mr. Elzer leading his team of chefs creating our dishes. The restaurant is also planning to set up an outdoor dining area soon. The staff were exceptionally friendly and enthusiastic except that they seemed to be quite nervous and needed more training (probably due to the fact that we were one of their first customers) as they dropped our bread or placed the wrong dish for us. The menu for lunch ranged from $288 to $588 per person and had a variety of dishes to choose from. We went for the 3-course set lunch which costs $288 per head.
(1) Marinated chicken breast, avocado salad and parmesan - this first course was one of my parents' favorites as the chicken meat was impressively soft, tender and juicy, a texture that many chefs failed to master. The salad dressing, and the other ingredients enhanced the fresh and perfectly grilled flavours for this starter.
(2) Escargots fricasse with tomato and pastis sauce - these escargots were taken from their shells and cooked with a creamy and rich tomato sauce which accentuated the freshness of the escargots and differed from the usual practice of serving escargots in shells and mash potatoes.
(3) Chilled tomato soup with basil ice cream - at first we were worried that this cold soup would taste like tomato juice, but we were amazed by this dish visually where the green colour mixed in the centre of the red rendered a hint of cartoonish and fantasy feeling and it turned out to be a delicate and tasty dish which offered a twist with a refreshing basil ice cream. Highly recommended!
(4) Pan-seared seabass, fava bean and thyme foam - the seabass was clean-tasting and enjoyable. However, the dish proved to be too ordinary and the taste was bland; more flavouring was needed in order to give it a nice kick.
(5) Obsiblue prawn with venere rice - this dish is without a doubt the star of our meal! It is a bit small for its portion, but the freshness of the prawns and the butterness texture of the rice were surprisingly complementary and resulted in a perfect delicate symphony of flavours! This dish best exemplifies what modern French reinventive cuisine could achieve and is worth our every bite!
(6) Duck leg confit and braised turnip - the duck leg confit is a tad too salty and tasted almost like the Chinese preserved sausage. The skin was crispy and the meat was tender but the braised turnip was a bit bitter and did not go with the overall flavours.
(7) Homemade lemon tart and meringue - the dessert was delicious with a balanced level of sweetness and an impeccable texture of the lemon tart.
Not as much as a "reinvention" of French cuisine where you would expect from a big name like Olivier Elzer, an elegant decoration and an expensive price tag, Seasons actually has many problems with its undertrained staff and hit-and-miss inconsistent dishes showing that Mr. Elzer may not be able to move solidly to a new restaurant with the ease of a well worn slipper. But given that Seasons is still in its soft-opening days, I sincerely hope that Seasons would catapult Mr. Elzer into not just one that lived off the fame he garnered in Central, but a head chef whose dishes should be awaited with palpable excitement and bring us another iconic French restaurant in Causeway Bay!
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