L'Entrecôte
Sharing the Joys of Samantha’s Room
What do you get when you have the genius of a chef father and the vision of an artist daughter? A dining haven where everyone is welcome to be part of the family.
WORDS BY CHRIS CRUZ
IMAGES BY GABRIEL DELA CRUZ
Four striking yet simply illustrated panels greet me as I climb up the stairs leading to L’Entrecote’s Upper Room. All four depict wispy branches with cotton ball blossoms, one in lavender purple and pastel pink, the next in olive, sunflower and lime, the third in various peach hues, and the last in sea breeze and deep regal Prussian.
“All the paintings up here are done by my daughter, Samantha,” reveals chef Martin Kaspar, owner and founder of L’Entrecote Bistro, in Burgos Circle, Bonifacio Global City.
“There was a time we hung them all up here and when she finally got to see it, she went over and started rearranging everything. Apparently, they’re supposed to be a depiction of the Four Seasons.” Ah, that made sense, I thought, as I looked at it again. As I surveyed the area, I saw more of her lighthearted paintings and could almost feel Samantha Kaspar’s delicate brushstrokes across the canvasses, the warm exuberance suffusing her playfully kaleidoscopic visions made tangible.
“We were trying to decide on who to contact to do the designs for our upstairs area, but then we thought, ‘Samantha’s work is so lovely, her pictures are so alive and happy. Why look far? Why not have our daughter do it?’ It’s been really a blessing and people come here and they get a good feeling. They get good vibes from the place.”
L’Entrecote’s second floor dining area underwent a facelift and upgrade last year, transforming the upstairs area and bringing it more character and possibilities.
“We felt like the room up here needed to have something more refreshing and a little bit more exclusive,” Chef Martin muses. “It really paid off, the renovation. People really appreciated it. We have wine pairing dinners here, groups, birthday parties here, meetings.”
He stresses however, that the Upper Room is not some fancy club: “If someone wants to come up here, no problem. But we usually fill up downstairs before we bring customers up here. This is more used in the evening, but its more popular with people who want their privacy, for something that feels a little more romantic, or for groups with meetings. However, the food here and below is exactly the same.
”Exactly the same just means more of the amazingly clever cuisine that comes from this little bistro. We began our repast with some Saumon Fume Pissaladiere. “Smoked Salmon Pissaladiere – the pissaladiere is a French version of a pizza, except it doesn’t have mozzarella cheese,” Chef Martin explains. “This is a puff pastry with cream cheese and smoked salmon, some capers, shallots and lemon.” I pop a square into my mouth, the aromatic salmon and cheese combination swirling about my taste buds. Afterwards, I inhale three more.
The Crab Cakes are brought in the same time as the pissaladiere. “It’s a simple dish with crab meat and olive oil with some eggs and chives,” he states. “We serve it with lemon-herb mayonnaise.” I dip a cake into the lemon-herb mayo and take a bite, feeling the crunch and the creamy zest.
The Shrimp and Mushroom Rolls completed the appetizer triumvirate. “Shrimp in a Mushroom Filo, with spicy tomato sauce. It’s very popular. It’s nice, crisp and mushroom-y when you bite into it,” he says. This one was my personal favorite between the three, with the filo flaking quite expertly complementing the juicy shrimp and heady mushrooms.
The first of the entrees was the Mahi-Mahi Fillet and it looked rather sublime, like a castle on a hill, surrounded by an orange moat.
“We serve it on white quinoa with mushrooms, saffron tomato sauce and fried capers which give it a fried crispy crunchy tangy flavor to it. It’s very lemony and quite pleasant,” the chef notes. Quinoa is a lovely grain – aside from its nutritional properties as a superfood, its nutty flavor and texture works well with practically any dish. The fried capers were intriguing and harmonized with the saffron tomato sauce, giving the fish a liveliness that would motivate even the pickiest of eaters to try a morsel.
But the main event was only getting started. A monster of a meat platter was set before us – I could feel my inner Fred Flintstone going yabba-dabba-do.
“We have a lot of customers who come in as groups of guys,” begins Chef Martin as he deftly cuts the meat into manageable slices. “Guys, they like meat, right? We have this US Certified Angus Sampler, which is a sampler of all the beef cuts, tomahawk, sirloin and tenderloin. Now, because this Sampler is so popular, why not make another one? So, we came up with Meat Galore. It’s good for four to six people. It comes in a wood platter which is made up of all these goodies. First, it has a 21 oz. tomahawk steak, that is US Certified Angus.”
Chef Martin continues gleefully as if explaining to a culinary class: “US Certified Angus is the top-of-the-line Angus. Out of any ten given angus cows, the best three are selected for the US Certified Angus status. This is the Mercedes-Benz of beef.” He spears a meat chunk with a fork and looks at it thoughtfully. “It’s beautifully marbled and aged for twenty-eight days and certain criteria that it falls under. That’s what I serve.”
I take a proffered slice. The rich fatty beef explodes into my brain, setting the “Meet the Flintstones” theme on permanent loop in my head. I attempt to suppress the urge to grunt contentedly. Chef Martin’s toothy grin indicates I have failed to do so.
“The Meat Galore also has a 12-oz. pork rib-eye steak which is marinated with black peppercorn and a bit of lemon rind, and then we grill and slice it. And then we have a duck leg confit cooked in its own fat, which is nicely crisp,” he further explains. “Finally, we throw in an Australian lamb shank which we braise with a crust around it. We put it right in the middle of the table. It comes with salad and fries and we spice it up with rock salt, mustard and our very own homemade sauces.”
Zog-zog! Meat good! Me like plenty!
“So, you have four different kinds of meat, beef, pork, duck and lamb and all of it’s for sharing,” he summarizes. “It becomes a wonderful conversation piece, like a cheese fondue.When you share, it becomes a different meal.”
Chef Martin goes on to share a story about two men who ordered the Meat Galore just the other day. “They ordered three bottles of wine and stayed here for about five hours and they were in heaven. They really enjoyed themselves. I loved it when people really enjoy our meals and have a good time, and they leave doing this,” Chef Martin clicks his tongue, winks, and gives a thumbs up with a wry smile. “Then they say, ‘See you soon again!’”
Visions of dinosaur ribs, animal pelt couture and barefoot-powered vehicles faded like mist just in time for dessert. Moelleux au Chocolate – Chocolate fondant lava cake with vanilla ice cream is brought in and is as good as it sounds: nice, velvety and extremely chocolate.
The Apple Tarte Tatin 1880 with fresh Chantilly wraps up the afternoon’s repast, and like everything else, has a delightful tale attached to it.
“This is a recipe from 1880 and it’s just a crust with freshly baked apple,” he says. “It’s a very popular dessert from France. It’s an upside-down apple cake. It’s baked in a pan and the crust is on top. After it’s baked, it’s flipped over. It was created by Stephanie Tatin and the story is that it was an accident. When she was supposed to serve the apple tart, it fell on the kitchen floor. So, she had to reproduce it, and in the process, she made a shortcut in baking it. And here we have the Apple Tarte Tatin.”
I can’t believe that this dish is simple, not for one minute. Not with the way the glazed apple has this cornucopia of caramel, baked apple and candy that comes at you like a European country fair.
Thus my thoughts turned to Samantha and the room she made so vibrant. Lucky girl to have a dad like Chef Martin. No wonder she’s so creative.
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