Private Dining - "A Leap of Faith"

A training classroom turned dining hall. 

I organised a private dinner with 20 friends on Leap Day. Yes, they paid for the dinner. No, it won't be another four years before the next one. It was a truly awesome experience for an extra virgin chef!

Of course, the star of the night was my home sous vide duck breast which was also featured on Asian Food Channel Official FB Page. 

Leaving meat to rest for about 10 minutes to retain all the juicy goodness.

I was also not afraid to include the ultimate, unthinkable Teochew Salted Vegetable Duck Soup in my wannabe fine dining menu. 

150ml Chef-recommended soup portion 

Fresh mango sorbet as a palate cleanser. We used only 20g sugar for every 2 mangoes against the recommended 50g, something the restaurants won't do in case the customers don't come back! 

Food safety was my key priority and having 2 preggy friends there helped me keep this in focus. I made 2 well done duck breasts for them and made sure there was no cognac in their bread pudding portions.

A Potato Confit Partner in Culinary Crime

Garlic Herb Cheese from Tuscany - the cheese box stole the attention though.

Good conversations in the room. Everyone looked radiant and glorious to me that night. 

I had such a swell time cooking in the kitchen and running out to serve my food, chat with dear friends or clear their plates. I noticed almost every plate was empty - yes, or they risk a CIA-type interrogation from me!

Now, did I make money from this? Let's just say, it's not quite enough for a full monty facial at Clarins. But would I do this again? That's a resounding Yes.