Michelin All Star Dinner SF at Mister Jiu’s

I’m not sure I could begin to express how excited I was to get an invitation to an All Star-packed dinner by Michelin chefs. Of the 23 Michelin starred restaurants in San Francisco, five chefs would be cooking up delicious dishes at one dinner hosted by Mister Jiu’s.

Chefs & Restaurants:
Rupert Blease – Lord Stanley
Tomoharu Nakamura – Wako
Jason Fox – Commonwealth
Sara Hauman – Octavia
Brandon Jew – Mister Jiu’s

Passed hors d’oeuvres:

Chef Blease’s onion petals with sherry vinegar
Chef Fox’s mussel, fennel, nasturtium aioli, squid ink cracker
Chef Hauman’s chickpea poppy cracker with pickled anchovy and sudachi

It was a wonderful night of delicious food, but it was also amazing to see so many great chefs and their sous chefs working together out of the same kitchen. I’ve been dying to eat at any Michelin star restaurant around the Bay Area, and here I was enjoying dishes by five chefs, each with a Michelin star!

Dinner:

Chef Blease’s poached oyster, tomato essence, slightly dried tomato paired with the Lotus cocktail — the poached oyster was so tender and the slightly dried tomato was a little burst of magic in my mouth.
Chef Nakamura’s chirashi sushi: jalapeno soy marinated blue fin tuna, dry aged red snapper with yuzu cured mackerel with ginger paired with Logsdon Farmhouse Ales Szech n’Brett — those who know me know I love my sashimi. This bowl was almost too beautiful to eat! Each piece of sashimi was delicious!
Chef Fox’s scallop, popcorn puree, hearts of palm, shiso paired with 2012 DEux Montilles Bourgogne Blanc — our table was a bit perplexed as to where the scallop was located. We lifted what looked like flat noodles in search of scallop before realizing it was the scallop! It was definitely the most innovative and creative dish of the night.
Chef Hauman’s steamed black cod, black garlic & squid ink, summer squash and blossoms paired with 2015 Stagard Riesling Handwerk — a beautifully composed dish of the most tender cod I’ve had, balanced with the saltiness of the squid ink.
Chef Jew’s smoked xinjiang lamb loin, shelling beans, gypsy peppers, chamomile paired with 2014 Emmanuel Darnaud Trois Chenes Crozes-Hermitage — it was the first time I’ve had lamb prepared with this combination of spices. The spices leave your tongue a little numb, but the flavor balances the gaminess of the lamb perfectly.
Chef Chou’s chocolate, beeswax sabayon, ginger, jasmine ganache paired with Song Tea Old Tree Yunnan Red — this was one of the most beautiful desserts I’ve seen and I was almost too scared to break into it. It was an architectural wonder of desserts and the tea was absolutely amazing.