Why this approach? … well, I do gobs of work in the quality management field, I am a certified Quality Manager with ASQ, and it still drives me el nutso when it comes to the level of quality and customer service that exists in Canada.
Wine pairing: Gewürztraminer, Mittnacht-Klack, Alsace, France, 2002
Percentage Accurate: 100% (what I remember and what they emailed are bang-on)
This was was a fair starter. However, as I mentioned, I thought the duck consomme was just okay. It seemed watered down to me and was definitely not hot enough, just warm. The minced duck confit wrapped in a asian noodle was quite good.
Course Two: Blue Fin Tuna Three Ways
Wine Pairing: Ribolla Gialla, La Tunella, Friuli, Italy, 2004
Percentage Accurate: 90% (clearly, we had Tuna Two Ways not Three as the plate attests to)
I did enjoy this course very much. Both the tuna steak (left) and the tuna tartar with quail’s egg (right) were great. The orange sauce on the tuna steak outstanding; the slash of mayonnaise on the tuna tartar was – hands-down – the hottest mayo I’ve ever had in my life. Loved it.
Course Three: “Fragrant” Oil Poached Escolar
Percentage Accurate: 50% (the wine was not a Riesling, nor from Niagara. We were served an Austrian wine varietal that was very much like a German Josef Leitz Riesling Kabinett [but nicer]).
Escolar is a gorgeous fish. Not commonly seen and difficult to find, try it if you can. It has a rich, heavy, meaty texture. The salad in the center was a coconut and something-or-other. I have no memory of the right-plated item.
Fourth Course: Bison Singapore Style
Wine Pairing: Syrah, Mandolin, California, 2001
Percentage Accurate: 0% (scary huh? … this course was duck [not bison] consisting of (l-r) a sake poached pear with foie gras; a duck croquette, and roast duck. The wine was not a Syrah but a Southern France Grenache made from 7 varietals, which I thought went well with this course; G however did not enjoy this wine)
The sake poach pear and foie gras was outstanding! The croquette okay but not as good as the rabbit croquettes we made for the Oscar dinner. The roast duck was lovely, the reduction divine.
Wine Pairing: Nero d’Avola/Syrah, Cusumano ‘Benuara’, Sicily, Itay, 2003
Percentage Accurate: 50% (the food is right; the wine wrong … we were served an Australian Shiraz not an Italian Syrah)
This dish consisted of (l-r) a lamb tongue on a yellow beet; lamb loin roasted and a ‘reconstructed’ leg of lamb where the meat has been prepared, deboned, minced and reformed on the plate. This course was just okay. The tongue was good but I did not like the minced lamb … it was simply far too over-spiced with chinese 5 spice.
Sixth Course: South Asian Fuji Apples
Wine Pairing: Passito di Pantelleria Rallo, Sicily, Italy, NV
Percentage Accurate: 50% (Rain got the wine right this time; the dessert wrong)
At the top, in the chinese spoons, was a yummy chocolate mousse and (l-r) a lime sorbet with yogurt and pistachio sauce; a chocolate mini-cake; and hmmmm, what was that? I don’t remember but it was delicious. A sabayon I believe. The Italian dessert wine was excellent and matched so well with this.
Wednesday’s movie: Lan Yu
I spent the afternoon watching this movie. Released in 2001 and directed by Stanley Kwan, it covers a decade long love story of two men, the architecture student, Lan Yu, and his real estate developer lover, Handong.
– Lan Yu
I thoroughly enjoyed this movie despite it’s tragic opera-like ending, which had me crying … wah wah wah … me such a baby. Hmmm, no, maybe more of a romantic. Lan Yu is played by the oh-so-handsome, Liu Ye, who shall be my new obsession, and you get to see him buck neked! 
A couple other points on this fine film:
- if you can lay your hands on the Hong Kong version of this movie (versus the international or Chinese release) there are an extra 20 minutes of film;
- the movie was filmed in Beijng without government sanction; you’ll know this as there is a blantant reference to the Tiananmen Square student uprising and subsequent tragedy in the film;
- the movie is based on the internet novel, Beijing Story, published anonymously by “Beijing Comrade”. In 2002, David Fung did translate the story which can be found here.
AppsScraps 
heh, the plates with the squares reminds me of “Rain”.
Yum, the food looks good!
I will concur with most of the comments about Lan Yu. It was an OK movie and not bad considering it was made in China. (3*** out of 5 *****) I wasn’t as smitten by the lead as you apparently were but was (pleasantly) surprised at the nudity.
YUM! *drools*
yum, that looks delicious! intersting movie, i’ll have to check that out.
Lan Yu is very good gay movie and I think is a first gay movie in China too. I almost cry at the end of it. so sad….
the food looks nice!~
You like Liu Ye? hahaha.. he’s not that cute, not in real life anyways, however he’s very low key and easy going. TERRIBLE sense of fashion though! You should see his outfit at the premiere of “The Promise” in Beijing. (I’ll see if I can find a picture and if I do, I’ll post it on my blog.) I sent him a SMS with one sentense, “hire a new stylist!”! hahahaha
Lucky you. It was a bummer to me last night. Lan Yu is ok, not that great, but not a bad film.
I enjoy a dinner as you had. It becomes more of a social event. The food looks great and the movie sounds interesting. Thanks
Course #2 looks extremely yummy given that I still haven’t had my dinner. However, by looking at the portion I might need to have 10 of those. LOL On Nan Yu…I heard that the film was filmed under the chinese govt’s nose so there was no censure whatsoever!
aww…THANK YOU! =] *HUG*those dishes are so tiny. I could eat like…12 of em. hahaand where can i get hte first movie?