Cozy elegance best describes the upcoming pairing dinner of Maria’s SteakCafe with premium spirits merchant Wholly Spirits. While Maria’s is celebrated for its promise to a wholesome dining experience, Wholly Spirits is renowned for its curational efforts with the reputation of carrying some of the world’s finest spirits into Malaysia. Both passionate and sensitive to gastronomic delights, you can tell once you savour the symphony of flavours brought together.
Starting off with an appetizer of US scallops with tomato salsa, the Isle of Harris gin kicks the dinner off to a promising start. Fresh umami notes from the sugar kelp as the key ingredient in the gin, together with other botanicals, allow it to cut through the scallops’ richness.
More than the gin’s tasting notes, it is also encased in a beautiful bottle designed by the talented folks of Stranger & Stranger, an award-winning brand and packaging agency. This gin is a first offering from the Isle of Harris Distillery, inspired by the Scottish island’s maritime environment by the people, the place and the subtle colours of the landscape.
The second course showcases Maria’s SteakCafe’s classic seafood aglio olio, paired with the only cocktail of the night: the steakhouse’s signature Sesame Sour cocktail. The cocktail derives its inspiration from the renowned peanut candy from Ipoh (a quiet nod to Maria’s hometown), giving the drink a deep toasted nutty flavour balanced with citrus and notes of vanilla and apricot.
Then comes the meats, starting with the NZ lamb cutlet with mint sauce paired with the RedBreast Lustau Irish Whiskey. Expect soft, fruity spices to linger on the palate when paired with the robust flavours of the lamb.
A hit with whiskey enthusiasts, the Redbreast is the largest selling Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey in the world. The whiskey is initially matured in a combination of American and European oak casks for 9 to 12 years before being transferred to Oloroso Sherry casks from Bodegas Lustau for a year. The makers of this whiskey also pairs their other passions with the spirits they make – specifically with the Robin redbreast bird. It is also a nod to the Chairman’s avid birdwatching hobby.
The penultimate course is, of course, the steak! Pairing with the Australian Wagyu MB7 ribeye is a modern whisky that carries burnt caramel notes that jive in harmony with the salty madeira elements. The bold unpeated whisky is the Ardnamurchan Madeira Cask AD/10:22 from Scotland where the single malt was matured for five years in bourbon casks before a year-long finish in Madeira hogsheads. This specific batch resulted in a release of 5,781 bottles, keeping production small.
Ardnamurchan however, is best known as Scotland’s ‘greenest distillery’ where they uphold traceability, sustainability and transparency as key principles in their production. Ultimately, despite their small batch production, they do not gatekeep and have little interest in seeing their whisky become a collector’s item or investor’s asset. They are more interested in keeping their whisky accessible and consumed plentifully.
Finally, the pièce de résistance of the whole dinner finishes it on a perfectly sweet note. The signature prune cake, made with a closely guarded secret recipe by Maria herself is paired with a wonderfully surprising regional spirit, the Samai Kampot Pepper Rum. This dessert with the rum – we couldn’t help but drizzle it over! – tastes like Christmas in a bite. The zingy Kampot pepper paired with the lush deep flavour of the prunes only intensified its flavours with the unique Cambodian spirit finishing it off with natural notes of guava and eucalyptus.
Don’t miss this exclusive pairing dinner event for one night only on this coming Friday October 20th 2023 at 7.00pm, at Maria’s SteakCafe’s latest branch, at SkyForest on the top floor of 1 POWERHOUSE Bandar Utama. For reservations and more information, click here or contact Maria’s SteakCafe at +6012-902 0869.