Back to the future

One of the best things about modern gastronomy is its innate embrace of the past, even in its unavoidable celebration of the present. Change is after all the only constant, and Arévalo’s beloved dish starring the pata negra has, not surprisingly, evolved quite a bit in the last six years. Just as there are several ways to retell a good story, here, the Iberico pork shoulder—sourced from a family-run farmer in the Spanish province of Salamanca—is first rubbed with garlic and a special spice mix that includes a touch of cumin, cayenne and paprika, and left to marinate for a good 12 hours before its wrapped and slow-roasted for at least three hours.

Unlike its previous manifestation as a main dish in last year’s “monochrome” eight-course feast, the dish makes an appearance in the third course of the dinner menu, wrapped in a fine sheet of sweet Obsiblue prawn, thinly-sliced, layered and pressed then sous vide. It’s served with a flavourful yet refine reduction of tomato water piqued with a little vinegar and mustard seeds, a side of white carrot puree and finished with a modest drizzle of basil oil.

Following this are pasta parcels filled with aged, confit duck and dressed in a agradolce sauce, served with a particularly moreish puree of Jerusalem artichoke—if there’s one thing that’s consistent with Arévalo’s food it’s that they are nuanced and always unabashedly flavourful.

The next dish, a deceptively simple pairing of fish and rice, is also a study in fermentation and ageing. It features unhusked Acquerello rice that's aged for seven years before its refined and reintegrated with its own germ to restore valuable nutrients. It’s served as a risotto topped with the fish in season, the Patagonian toothfish, that's been poached in shrimp stock.

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Memories on a plate

The most memorable course, though, was the Australian Wagyu short rib paired with piquillo peppers, a deconstructed chimichurri sauce and egg yolk emulsion. It is a nod to a style of beef Arévalo enjoyed growing up in his native Columbia. Unaffected as the dish is, it was the mushroom rub that was left to marinate for 12 hours that elevated the dish, adding delicious depth and intensity to the heavily marbled beef.

Admittedly, the duo of desserts could have been more uniquely captivating, if only to lend the meal a lighter and brighter finish. Still, it does include an elegant twist on a nostalgic snack of bread slathered with chocolate and olive oil that pastry chef Elena’s grandmother used to make for her upon her return from school.

For this salute, she sandwiches layers of hazelnut dacquoise between layers of chocolate feuilletine (made with 40 per cent Valrhona Jivara and 70 per cent Valrhona Guanaja), and pastry cream made with olive oil. This she serves with olive oil caviar, smoked olive oil powder, hazelnut streusel and house-made fougasse bread ice cream. The dish does, nonetheless, affirm the menu’s distinctive charm, not to mention its articulate exposition of familiar flavours, and inevitably puts the spotlight where it counts the most—on technique and taste.