The mighty culinary maestros of two-Michelin-starred Sühring, chef twins Thomas and Mathias Sühring, joined chef Federico Pucci of Grand Lisboa Palace Resort’s Don Alfonso 1890 for a six-hands collaboration fusing the gastronomical excellence of Germany and Italy.
The Chefs’ Table: A Symphony of Senses – Don Alfonso 1890 | Sühring event was hosted at Don Alfonso 1890 inside the glitzy Grand Lisboa Palace Resort Macau on Jun. 21 and 22.
Native Tuscan chef Federico Pucci heads Don Alfonso 1890, overseeing a culinary programme that embraces the farm-to-table and seasonal flavours of Italy’s food capital of Naples. Inside the golden-decorated restaurant, chef Federico serves a range of traditional and modern Italian dishes crafted with farm-fresh ingredients.
“By bringing together the talents and perspectives of these chefs, we seek to transcend geographical and cultural boundaries, showcasing how the distinct flavours and techniques of southern Italy and modern Germany can be harmoniously blended,” chef Federico tells Foodie.
This latest SJM Resorts culinary event married the Italian excellence of Don Alfonso with modern German cuisine made world famous at the Bangkok restaurant founded by the Sühring chefs in the spring of 2016.
Commenting on the importance of Sühring in the global culinary scene, chef Mathias told Foodie, “We wanted to update German food to today’s time. We are known for our timeless pork knuckles, sauerkraut, and potatoes, yet we wanted to update the cuisine in a more sophisticated way and present the regionality and influences from across Germany.”
The lunch and dinner menus from the six-hands collaboration embraced fan favourites from both Macau’s Italian restaurant and Bangkok’s German restaurant. The five-course lunch menu was priced at MOP1,288+ per person, whilst the seven-course dinner menu cost MOP2,288+ per person.
On Jun. 21, Foodie enjoyed an exclusive invitation to enjoy the dinner menu at Don Alfonso 1890, featuring Don Alfonso 1890 and Sühring signature dishes and one exclusive collaboration dish.
We were presented with the first of seven courses, Sühring’s Entenleber and Aal, an ornate combination of duck liver and smoked eel strips paired with Frankfurt green sauce. This dish set the expectation for the standard in which traditional German food could be modernised and brought into a finer space at the Bangkok and Macau restaurant collaboration.
The Vitello Tonnato from Don Alfonso 1890 diverges from the hearty rendition of the veal and tuna dish, prioritising luxury with the addition of Kristal caviar. The flavour is elegantly salty with a touch of fruitiness.
As we steered into the mains, the Arctic Char from Sühring was unlike any fish dish we had ever before tasted, breaking under light pressure from our fork and soaking our palate with a sweet, buttery sauce, complemented by the addition of almond purée on the plate.
Don Alfonso 1890’s Eliche di Gragnano and Sühring’s Langoustine serve to illustrate both Italy and Germany’s strengths in shellfish dishes and seasonal produce, bringing dill, squash, and tomato to the table.
The highlight of the menu arrived with the collaboration dish by Don Alfonso 1890 and Sühring, the Filetto di Manzo alla Rossini. A sumptuous medium-rare fillet of Oberto Fassona beef was cooked alongside a rich cut of foie gras. A heavy portion of black truffle was diced on the plate, with a reduced Italian truffle and wine sauce and Chinese peach complementing the meeting of two cuisines and three chefs.
“The Filetto di Manzo is [chef Federico’s] signature dish at Don Alfonso 1890, so we wanted to infuse our style into the beef with the side dishes, bringing a local element of the Chinese peaches, oxtail, and red wine sauce,” chef Thomas says of the collaboration dish.
“We have thoughtfully selected key ingredients that are iconic to both the Italian regions and the Sühring culinary philosophy and have carefully crafted preparation methods that highlight the inherent qualities of each component. The end result is a dish that celebrates the shared values of seasonality, provenance, and culinary artistry that are at the heart of both Don Alfonso 1890 and Sühring,” chef Federico adds.
We ended the meal with Sühring’s Oma’s Käsekuchen, a recipe dating to the chefs’ grandmother’s kitchen, from which they draw their inspiration. The frozen cheesecake combines strawberry with vanilla, wood sorrel, and cacao for a new take on the chefs’ family secrets.
The Don Alfonso 1890 x Sühring six-hands event followed on from SJM Resorts’ Chefs’ Table: A Symphony of Sense – Palace Garden l YUE Creative Cantonese Cuisine l Mott 32 event in early June, which invited group executive chef Lee Man Sing from Mott 32, executive chef Seven from YUE, and head chef Ken Chong from Palace Garden for an eight-course feast exploring 100 years of Cantonese cuisine.
“Macau‘s reputation as a food and beverage destination, coupled with its world-class hospitality infrastructure, makes it an ideal location to stage these types of prestigious culinary events. By leveraging its unique positioning, Macau can continue to cement its status as a premier gastronomic destination in Asia,” chef Federico comments.
Don Alfonso 1890, 3/F, Palazzo Versace Macau, a hotel tower at Grand Lisboa Palace Resort Macau, Rua do Tiro, Cotai, Macau, +853 8881 8888, book here
