JUNE 2014 | BOROMAG.COM | 7 In the Japanese language, omakase can be translated to me, “I will leave it up to you.” Phil Chen, the Executive Chef at JJ’s is the owner of one beautifully gifted set of hands that are more than capable of the task. I am more excited for this particular dinner than a five year old is at Christmastime. An amuse bouche arrives a split second after my tea. Crisped rice is serve as an upscale version of popcorn, with a meticulously arranged tray of various colored salts as an accompaniment. Crushed red peppercorns, pink salt crystals, and a house blend of herbs awaken my palate. Octopus arrives on a plate with an heirloom tomato dangling from its branch. Served as a ceviche, the sauce is blended with passion fruit, jalapeno, wasabi, and garlic. It is impressively tender, and each bite offers its own pleasure. But the next course is one of those dishes I have pondered a hundred times over since the end of that last course. It is a sea urchin parfait, with creamy, plump, decadent uni from Santa Barbara that forms the first layer accompanied by some delicately smoked salmon. Stacked above that is a sea kale and sake gelatin that slowly melts into a savory broth. But the whole dish is crowned with crushed cocoa, and tiny crystals of shredded ice made from tangy green tomatillos. It is playful, sweet, tart, cool, crunchy, and a full range of what seems like hundreds of playful combinations I have never before experienced. For the next course, the chef does a riff on a tartare, blending elements of Japan and Greece. Botan ebi is tossed with tsatsiki and a citrus champagne vinegar, all crowned with the glistening poached yolk of a quail egg. Abalone is prepared sous vide, then served with a foam of coconut, kaffir lime juice, and kosher salt. The cooking technique traps in the juices and renders them into a broth of the ocean.
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