Nevertheless a lot happened during the last few weeks. Together with Akira Oshima, godfather of our Japanese restaurants and despite his retirement busier than ever, I gave a workshop. This time not in our own studio Taste of Okura, but in the demonstration kitchen of Miele, the top brand on the Dutch market. Our guests were amateurs as well as professional chefs, who worked very hard in the Miele Experience, as the studio is called. They had to make part of our spectacular starter that's called 'Coast': marinated shellfish with lobster tail and avocado cream, sweet-and-sour vegetables and structures of algae and ponzu-jely. This creation is built up in two levels, which gives the impression of the sea rolling on to the beach. Very beautiful and very difficult, I can assure you!

The second dish they had to make was pigeon with forgotten vegetables, as we call them in Holland. Oshima san demonstrated his skills in sushi-making, which is really remarkable. He also asked our guests to fry a steak on the teppan yaki. That's seems to be easy, but try it at home...

By the way, Okura's sommelier Noël Vanwittenbergh went to Burgundy to visit some winemakers who are among the world's best domaines. Like the famous La Romanée-Conti, about which the late Roald Dahl wrote that their wines are 'an orgasm on your tongue'. I'll just state dat La Romanée-Conti is probably the most celebrated domaine of Burgundy and thus of the world. And it's quite an honour te visit it.

Noël went to the Chablis area as well and was surpised with the young winemakers there, who put much effort in making beautiful whites! They're quite lively these wines, and the 2008 bottles will be perfect in five to ten years from now. De year 2009 is very, very special indeed, but has to ripen a bit longer still. None of these wines are served with that spectacular Coast I mentioned before though. Vanwittenbergh chose a Saint Véran for this starter. Very fresh and the perfect companion for shellfish.

Enjoy life.

Onno Kokmeijer and his team