SideDish Supper Club @ Kenichi: Sake it to me!

Thanks to a gracious invitation from D Magazine's Sarah Eveans (Thanks, Sarah! ;), one of us was able to crash the SideDish Supper Club dinner at Kenichi on May 19. Apparently, she thinks we're part of the media elite -- and we couldn't be more flattered! It was a sumptuous nine course meal with sake pairings selected by Hung Nguyen, Kenichi's Level II sake sommelier. There are only 40 Level II sake sommeliers in the world, and he's the only one in Texas. In other words, he's the Highlander of sake in Texas.

In typical Law-Reviewer-deadline fashion, I was about 20 minutes late to the feast, missing the first three courses and, even worse, the first two sakes! Recovering quickly, I dug into the bowl of spring greens soup with fiddleheads and wasabi creme fraiche. It was very fresh and green tasting, and I liked the texture the fiddleheads added as well as the little kick from the wasabi.

The next course was a filet of sole topped with gremolata and a tempura-fried squash blossom. The squash blossom was delicately delicious, but the filet of sole was the only miss of the evening for me since the gremolata, a garlic and herb topping, had too much garlic for my taste.

BTW, if you've gotten this far and you're wondering where're all the food porn photos, two things: 1) Shame on you, this is a family food site! and 2) go back up and click on the Supper Club link above (you must be over 18).

Anyhoo, the sake served with those two courses was a Nigori, or unfiltered, sake dubbed “Summer Snow”. It was more subtle than other Nigori sakes I've tried, and it worked very well with the fresh greens in the soup as well as the delicate squash blossom and sole.

The next course was pretty simple, and I thought it was also the most interesting. Halved strawberries were served alongside a grapefruit-flavored granita and topped with what everyone at my table thought were black peppercorns (I think this was because of a menu snafu) but apparently were brined sansho peppercorns and, as far as I could tell, tasted like mild capers. The sweet strawberries, the tart grapefruit and the briney peppercorns made for one heck of an interesting flavor combination.

The following course was another inventive combination, this time pairing braised lamb shoulder with fried soft-shell crab in what I think was lamb broth with a side of kick-your-ass-spicy Japanese yellow mustard. Even though my lamb cut was pretty fatty, it was still scrumptuous and, combined with the crispy crab and the kick of the yellow mustard, I really enjoyed it. The sake paired with these two dishes was the Watari Bune "55", and it was smooth and a little fruity, which went well with both the strawberries and the lamb/crab combo.

The eighth course was a traditional rice service that included (as I understood it) rice topped with shredded egg and braised pork belly with maitake mushrooms on top. The pork belly was tender with a slightly sweet charing, but what really took it to 11 was the sake paired with it. Dubbed "Divine Droplets", the sake had a strongly floral aroma and clean finish that perfectly accentuated the sweetness in the pork.

The final course was dessert paired with a sake dubbed "The Gate" probably because it guards the Stairway to Heaven since that's how hard it rocked. It had an incredibly complex taste that was all at once floral, smooth and light and was the perfect compliment to the tart of phyllo crust on top of white chocolate chantilly cream and raspberries. It was simple, elegant and just flat out damn tasty.

As a special bonus, Memoirs of a Geisha was projected onto a billowy curtain up above me throughout the meal without any sound. Still scratching my head about that one.

Bottom line, I was very fortunate to be able to enjoy this amazing meal and sake pairings gratis, but I wouldn't hesitate to fork over the money for another multi-course meal from the very talented chefs and sommelier at Kenichi. No doubt it is an expensive restaurant, but, with all the high-end places that have failed since Victory Park opened up, it's nice to finally find one that is worth the money. Hopefully, Kenichi will last long enough for people to come on out and appreciate it.
M.A.