Feast of the Five Senses
Article By: Vice Chargée de Presse Ilona Weisman
Photos By: Bailli William Harris and Vice Chargée de Médias Sociaux Christina Richards
How exactly does food delight us? The Albany Chaîne counted the ways in “Feast of the Five Senses.” Chef/Owner of [farmacy] restobar and Maître Rôtisseur A.J. Richards created a clever menu in which each course illuminated—and challenged—sensory tools humans bring to the table.
The cocktail hour was smooth and seamless. Champagne glasses filled with sparkling wine waited on the bar, passed hors d’oeuvres offered new riffs on summer classics: oysters with charred ramp mignonette, pressed watermelon marinated in tequila, and a unique house-cured capicola beside random chunks of parmesan. But that’s where we parted ways with the familiar.
Starting with Sense Element: Touch, we ate scallop crudo with our fingers and drank (from glasses) Basa Verdejo Rueda 2023. Chef Rôtisseur Brian Sterner noted how the wine’s citrus notes called attention to the lemongrass foam atop the seafood. Orange dots of gel on the plate were a trompe de l’oeil; the salmon roe look-alikes were formed by placing droplets of juiced carrot into sodium alginate and water.
Next was Sense Element: Sight, a salad of microgreens whose sheen appeared to be olive oil, but wrong again. These greens were dressed with cured egg yolk—invisible but for the viscosity bestowed—and blueberry purée hidden beneath by Chef A.J.’s sleight-of-hand. The elegant Chateau Gaudrelle Vouvray “Clos le Vigneau” 2022 imparted pear, apple and honey to complement ras al hanout barely making its presence known (or seen) in the salad.
Sense Element: Sound put torch to tuna, presented in a sublime underpinning of coconut kafir, lime leaf, and ginger curry sauce. Though no odd noises came from the dish, a novel garnish of pop rocks made for a snap and crackle in my ears as I ate, or was it in my head? The fresh zip of grenache, cinsault and rolle in Sacha Lichine Whispering Angel Rosé Côtes de Provence 2024 rendered the question moot.
Smoke wafted across the room in Sense Element: Smell, as seared quail with roasted lavender and pink peppercorn brought a wonderful perfume to the table. Parsley salad, seared lion’s mane mushroom and potato pavé played in the background, while Viberti Giovanni “La Gemella”Barbera D’Alba 2022 complemented with bold minerality and berry.
Speaking of berry, Sense Element: Taste wreaked an entertaining havoc. In a demonstration of both the power of sugar in our food, and how the palate can be deceived, each diner received a vial of two dried miracle berries prior to dessert. The plant synsepalum dulcificum is native to tropical Africa, and when its berries are taken with food they cause sour things to taste sweet. Thus our miracle berries came with a spoon of sugarless (don’t-try-this-for-Thanksgiving) cranberry purée, plus a glass of current favorite Resonance Pinot Noir Willamette Valley 2019. Pre-miracle berry we tasted both; the wine was fine, but the purée was face-scrunchingly tart. Next we downed a pair of miracle berries, waited ten minutes et voila! The very same cranberry was now balanced, but tannins and acidity had fled the wine. Still under the influence of miracle berry, we proceeded to enjoy sugarless dark chocolate ganache and cranberry puree with a dollop of blue cheese. But please gimme back those tannins, that spice! I finished the Resonance when the effect of miracle berry had dissipated.
All of which brings me to a sixth sense—intuition. It tells me the crowd had a wonderful time, that it was yet another compelling food adventure for the Albany bailliage. And I know that to be true because I heard the din in the room, a.k.a. Sense Element; Sound.
Notes on the Cast
Bailli William Harris presented the customary Chaîne plaque and Vice Chancelier Argentier Holly Katz distributed pins to Chef Richards and staff. Christina Richards, Vice Chargeé de Médias Sociaux for the Albany bailliage, who also partners with her husband at the restaurant, kept the evening humming with her timely attention to detail.
