TABLO Dessert Tasting Menu Jan & Feb 2024

TABLO FINE DESSERT

Tasting Menu & Wine Pairing

Jan & Feb 2024

Through refined techniques and enriched experiences, we aspire to elevate the dessert experience, offering flavors that are rich, familiar, genuine, and comforting. Nature provides us with exceptional ingredients, and our art lies in crafting perfect harmony among their subtle cues.

High-quality ingredients, fresh produce, all crafted by hand through intricate processes and delicate modules. Your taste buds will be delicately stirred and satisfied. In terms of flavor presentation, our aim is to provide a comfortable, gentle, and memory-evoking experience.

In our dessert dining journey, sweet tastes meld with both cocktails and wine as we navigate the vast world of the vine and spirits to find the perfect match for each dish. Whether it's traditional wine, Chinese iterations, sake, handcrafted cocktails, or something as yet undiscovered, no drink is better than the rest; what matters is finding the perfect complement for each dish. As 'curators', we embrace each day with excitement and joy, constantly refining our palates and expanding our knowledge of the titillating world of spirits and grapes.

APPETIZERS

Hawthorn/Peas/Berries/Cucumber/Horseradish

A simple yet innovative dish featuring Chinese traditional pea puree with a Western twist, showcasing the essence of peas without an overwhelming taste of gelatin. Enhanced with hawthorn for a touch of tartness, softened by strawberries and raspberries.

Meringue made with cinnamon and lemon zest, along with crispy slices made from green mandarin and orange juice, serves as a bridge to a savory salted cucumber cream. To top it off, it's drizzled with hawthorn and wasabi sauce and arrives at the culmination of sweet, sour, fresh, salty, and spicy flavors. 

An appetizing and refreshing starter with a lingering finish. 

Paired with a pinot noir pet-nat from Helanshan, Ningxia.

一道 FIRST COURSE

Yiming Mountain Butter Chestnut / Sand Ginger / Figs

We tired of cheaply-made, canned chestnut puree, and made our own from scratch. In our hearts, chestnuts evoke the first warm, comforting scent that drifts through Beijing's streets in winter. When we crave a chestnut dessert, we yearn for that familiar, heartwarming sensation. Experience it here.

This course features fresh Yimeng Mountain chestnuts, offering a denser texture and a more pronounced aroma than its predecessor. The complex, intricate process of handling fresh local chestnuts—boiling, peeling, and grinding them into a smooth paste—bears fruit--literally--when we add Yantai Fuji apple juice. The end result is a velvety, light consistency that delivers a delightful indulgence.

Sand ginger, used as a surprising spice, adds a touch of finesse to this creation. It subtly infuses figs as they are being pickled and harmonizes with the sculpted layers of the chocolate biscuit base. This seamless dish comes together in an unforeseen fusion of flavors.

The figs, delicately prepared with sand ginger, water chestnuts, and jasmine, are slow cooked within the tender heart of the chestnut cake.

As a final touch, delicate threads of thinly-sliced fried chestnuts adorn the dish.

Since the appetizer that preceded this dish was an unconventional marriage of inspiration, consider this chestnut creation the second coming of that same homage to unusual flavor combinations.

Paired with sparkling sake.

二道 SECOND COURSE

Common Pear / Basil / Tonka beans

A delicate cheesecake base infused with hints of zesty lime, layered with a white chocolate and basil blend. Enriched with Tonka bean essence, it's accompanied by a luscious pear jelly. Topped with basil Pâte à bombe beignet and honeydew melon juice with spherified caviar, this dish offers a harmonious blend of fruit and spices, delving into rich flavors with a refreshing texture.

Complemented by a yuzu rice wine.

三道 THIRD COURSE

Apple /Cinnemon Almond Cream/Vanilla Ice Cream

Subverting the conventional order of "pastry crust-almond cream-apple," this apple tart is layered from bottom to top with pastry crust, sautéed apples, apple brandy custard, individually-baked cinnamon almond cream cake, fresh blueberries, apple brandy custard, and red wine foam.

Classic vanilla ice cream complements the unorthodox blend of heart-warming and familiar tastes.

Adorned with decorative caramelized white chocolate crisps, sautéed  apples, and buttery crumbles.

The pairing is complemented by a Loire Valley Vouvray Moelleux, a semi-sparkling sweet white wine.

FINAL

Parmesan Apple Cider Vinegar Cheese / Dried Bacon / Lemon Pepper Ice Cream

Whether seen as a savory punctuation to your culinary adventure or as a sweet accompaniment to your libation, we're at the end. Paired with a sparkling Shiraz from South Australia.

SAID THE CHEF

Nine years ago, I embarked on a journey as a humble apprentice, focusing solely on one aspect of the craft at each step. I treated every ingredient with utmost care, ensuring precision down to the last gram, even if it meant scraping away excess ingredients or adjusting measurements. Each step was clumsily imitated, and at first, lacked distinction. Nonetheless, I dutifully followed instructions, strove for excellence in every task, and accepted criticism while making corrections along the way.

I believe every pastry chef brings a unique perspective to their craft – whether they're bold innovators inspiring us or quietly-dedicated artisans in the heart of the kitchen. Each bite of dessert, I'm certain, reflects the sincere efforts of both creator and maker, endeavoring to express their true essence.

Back then, the realm of French desserts was far from the lush and varied landscape it is today; rather, it was dotted with only a few scattered pioneers. This imported delicacy, born of the modest beginnings of mimicry and experimentation, evolved slowly into a trend that also embraces all that the area has to offer.

This narrative mirrors one of the many paths taken by desserts in China, as they slowly weave themselves into the fabric of our lives – whether through moments of beauty, excellence, missteps, mediocrity, suitability, or personal preference. The growth of an industry inevitably traverses such trials, guiding us towards ever-clearer horizons. Beyond the competitive imperative of standing out in the market, I firmly believe that each dessert possesses its own unique spirit.

At TABLO, a new journey has just begun. Welcome on our enduring maiden voyage!