Spain's Ridiculous Chef Lineup, Week Three: Oscar Calleja and Toshiro Konishi
By Christopher St Cavish, Jun 8th, 2010 | In Nightlife
"I like my food how I like my women: simple," said Toshiro Konishi this morning. He was staring intently at a radish that turned under his knife. A long vegetable scroll emerged: adornment for his nikkei ceviche. "Garnished with just a little Dior."
Nobu -- that Nobu -- brought Konishi to Lima, Peru in 1975. Nobu bailed; Konishi filled his shoes reluctantly. "When I was young, I was a singer. I put out a record." He looked up from a bowl of raw flounder he was seasoning with salt and lemon juice. "Only my parents bought a copy."
The bald-headed sparkplug kept on, wisecracking and julienning, and sketching out the evolution of Peru's easy fusion of cuisines by its immigrants. Spaniards --> Italians --> Japanese, Chinese --> Africans, other Europeans. Konishi is one of the spiritual fathers of one of these rather niche developments -- Lima's Japanese-Peruvian cuisine. (There's also a good Peruvian-Chinese hybrid, called chifa.)Eduardo Vargas leaned through the crowd. "Did you know I'm opening a Peruvian bar?" His t-shirt screamed four letters in tropical print: P E R U. "Fifty kinds of pisco, chicha morada, you know, little Peruvian snacks?"
Konishi plated his trans-Pacific ceviche and belted out a Spanish love song. Oscar Calleja, of Cantabria's Annua restaurant, stood riveted. The applause from the small crowd of assembled diplomats and journos threatened to blow his carefully created mushroom "soil" off its plate. Three planks of the region's special Tudanca beef held the earthy crumble of dried mushrooms and sablee in place. Tiny leaves were scattered across its surface. "It's the geographic representation of Cantabria," the young chef explained of his soilscape. Finally, the clapping died down. Koshiri bowed. The earth stayed put.
Fusion is a dirty word. This week's New Gastronomy Fiesta's lunches and dinners, at which Cantabria's Calleja and Lima's Koshiri are cooking, reverses a bit of the term's reputational erosion. Thanks, Spain, for bringing these guys to Shanghai.
Click here to see this week's menu, which comes in three sizes: 528rmb, 658rmb, and 788rmb. Click here to see the full lineup, which runs until October and pulls in a constellation of chefs with Michelin-starred restaurants. Reservations at 3867 9777. Nitty gritty details here.
Nobu -- that Nobu -- brought Konishi to Lima, Peru in 1975. Nobu bailed; Konishi filled his shoes reluctantly. "When I was young, I was a singer. I put out a record." He looked up from a bowl of raw flounder he was seasoning with salt and lemon juice. "Only my parents bought a copy."
The bald-headed sparkplug kept on, wisecracking and julienning, and sketching out the evolution of Peru's easy fusion of cuisines by its immigrants. Spaniards --> Italians --> Japanese, Chinese --> Africans, other Europeans. Konishi is one of the spiritual fathers of one of these rather niche developments -- Lima's Japanese-Peruvian cuisine. (There's also a good Peruvian-Chinese hybrid, called chifa.)Eduardo Vargas leaned through the crowd. "Did you know I'm opening a Peruvian bar?" His t-shirt screamed four letters in tropical print: P E R U. "Fifty kinds of pisco, chicha morada, you know, little Peruvian snacks?"
Konishi plated his trans-Pacific ceviche and belted out a Spanish love song. Oscar Calleja, of Cantabria's Annua restaurant, stood riveted. The applause from the small crowd of assembled diplomats and journos threatened to blow his carefully created mushroom "soil" off its plate. Three planks of the region's special Tudanca beef held the earthy crumble of dried mushrooms and sablee in place. Tiny leaves were scattered across its surface. "It's the geographic representation of Cantabria," the young chef explained of his soilscape. Finally, the clapping died down. Koshiri bowed. The earth stayed put.
Fusion is a dirty word. This week's New Gastronomy Fiesta's lunches and dinners, at which Cantabria's Calleja and Lima's Koshiri are cooking, reverses a bit of the term's reputational erosion. Thanks, Spain, for bringing these guys to Shanghai.
Click here to see this week's menu, which comes in three sizes: 528rmb, 658rmb, and 788rmb. Click here to see the full lineup, which runs until October and pulls in a constellation of chefs with Michelin-starred restaurants. Reservations at 3867 9777. Nitty gritty details here.
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