When you’re given 500 bucks and told to come up with 350 small plates on budget, it’s only natural to think of lobster. Chef Marc Lepine of atelier Restaurant, thought a roulade of langoustine would work well, wrapped in a sheet of avocado, with a light curried mayonnaise as anchor. He thought compressed celery; he thought of flavouring puffed wild rice with fennel and coriander seed; he thought he’d make fennel seed cake in forty seconds, aerated in a siphon and zapped in the microwave. Wee marbles of Okanagan apples on this plate too, zipped in a bit in chili syrup, a pile of citrus zest, a sprinkle pile of burnt orange. Lots of stuff going on, but not one bit making more noise than the other. Despite its intricacy, it wasn’t overwrought… it had a gentle flow of flavours and textures. It was, in short, brilliant. And it conversed with the wine well – a Chateau des Charmes 2008 Old Vines Riesling, as it turned out.
Tomorrow morning, crack of dawn, the fun and games of the Black Box Competition.
