BEFORE the media launch of Oliviers & Co., a brand of luxury olive oils based in France, I knew Black Sheep as just one of those hip new restaurants with an animal name. I’ve heard good things about it, especially when it comes to its food, but then again there are so many other new places that serve really good food. When I got to finally visit it and taste the food that it serves, though, I completely changed my mind and allowed myself to be “mesmerized.”
This happened last month (June 2014), when Stores Specialists Inc. hosted an intimate media lunch to launch Oliviers & Co., a French brand of luxury olive oils, which was opening its first store in the Philippines on Level 2 of Central Square in Bonifacio High Street which stood at the corner of 5th Ave. and 30th St., Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City. Black Sheep was located at the Penthouse of W Bldg. at the corner of 32nd St. and 5th Ave. and was just a short walking distance away, so it was a practical choice. But, apparently, it was not just its proximity that made Stores Specialists Inc. officials choose Black Sheep. It was more because they wanted media to experience its brand of food, which stood at par with the kind of luxury olive oils, vinegars and condiments, and sweet and salted Mediterranean delights that Oliviers & Co. offered.
Black Sheep is at the Penthouse of W Bldg., so it’s a little difficult to get there. You enter the building, approach the reception, register and leave an ID, and get issued an electronic “entrance card,” which you need to feed into a digital barrier that raises its bar for a successful entrance, and then you get on the elevator that finally takes you to the Penthouse. The restaurant has a cool and simple industrial look with stylish interiors and rows of wine high up on the wall. To one side, there is a narrow circular ladder that leads up to an intimate dining area at the mezzanine for private functions. This was where the Oliviers & Co. media lunch took place, in the company of Oliviers & Co. sales director Melanie Costaris-Novais, Oliviers & Co. Asia Pte Ltd managing director for Asia Pacific Michel Beaugier and general manager for Asia Pacific May Tan, and Specialty Food Retailers Inc. (a member of Stores Specialists Inc.) marketing officer Kashmir Ong.
Black Sheep’s Chef Jordy Navarro, who came up to the mezzanine area to welcome the group to the restaurant, worked his menu around Oliviers & Co.’s products, including flavored olive oils and condiments.
He started his six-course lunch with Chicken-n-Egg with Oliviers & Co.’s Honey and Ginger Condiment. It’s bite-sized pieces of fried chicken cooked in soy and dark beer and served, all foamed up and topped with fish roe, in egg shells neatly arranged in twos on a wooden “nest.” If the taste and presentation of the first course was to be the gauge of how the whole meal would go, more exciting bites were to come – and they did.
Next course was Three-Way Prawn, one poached in olive oil, another wrapped into a small, chili-infused spring roll, and the third taking the form of a dumpling with sundried tomato pesto, served on a rectangular tile. This one was truly delightful, with each type of prawn bite bringing with it its own flavor profile and character. The presentation was equally exquisite. This dish combination was where Chef Jordy made use of the most number of Oliviers & Co. products, including Piment d’ Espelette, Chili Pepper Olive Oil, La Gramanosa Olive Oil, Castillo de Canena Olive Oil, Tomato Powder, Pesto La Rissa and Sun-dried Tomato.
Then came yet another interesting dish simply called Garden Vegetables, prepared using just Il Fornacino Olive Oil. It’s the salad course, and it was out of this world. Served on one side of a round salad plate, the salad had a torn piece of half-circle paper sitting beside it, on which was written the lyrics of the folk song Bahay Kubo complete with all the vegetables that could be found around the bahay kubo (nipa hut). Indeed, the salad beside it was made up of different vegetables that could be found in the Bahay Kubo song – some fried, some pickled, others fresh. And the soil-looking element of the salad? It was eggplant, cooked by a genius of a chef and ground to look like soil, and what’s amazing was that it tasted so good! Can you imagine soil being edible and tasting so good?
Next course served as simply called Lamb. Normally, I didn’t eat lamb. It’s an acquired taste that I never quite “acquired” no matter how I tried. But Chef Jordy’s Lamb – I ate it. It’s just a bite-sized piece of lamb anyway, mixed with spiced cashew butter plus local citrus and Il Fornacino Olive Oil drizzled on top. There was no anggo (gamey taste and smell) at all.
Then came 36-Hour Pork & Free Range Chicken, which was slow-cooked confit of pork cooked in pork fat and free range chicken cooked in chicken fat. The Oliviers & Co. products used were Olive and Garlic (Garlic Olive Oil) and Black Truffle Olive Oil. There’s no question about the tenderness of the slow-cooked meat and the nothing could be more flavorful.
For dessert, Chef Jordy let his imagination run wild, and everything he served drew oohs and aahs among us. He served Calamansi Meringue and Foie Gras together. Calamansi Meringue utilized Oliviers & Co.’s White Chocolate and Pistachio. The Foie Gras Rocher, where Oliviers & Co.’s Balsamic and Vanilla Condiment was used, was pure genius – just imagine a piece of foie gras in the center of a chocolate ball wrapped in gold-colored foil just like a piece of Ferrero Rocher chocolate. Bite into it, and your teeth sink into a perfectly crunchy crust of chocolate that penetrates through a soft and tender foie gras core.
Served separately as the finale was the White Truffle Polvoron. It was a wonderful piece of polvoron that looked like an ordinary polvoron, but when you bite off a piece, the essence of White Truffle Olive Oil infused into the gourmet polvoron bursts in your mouth. This was my favourite among all the exciting flavors that I experienced on that day, and I seriously fought the temptation of rushing down the staircase, looking for Chef Jordy and asking him for another piece. It was so simply but it was super good. Pure genius!
When you say Black Sheep, you usually refer to a family member who does not follow norms or brings shame to the family. In the case of Black Sheep, the restaurant, yes, it does not follow norms when it comes to the food that it concocts and serves, but instead of bringing shame to the industry, it brings great pride and excitement to the food scene. This Black Sheep rocks.
(Black Sheep can be found at the Penthouse of W Bldg., 5th Ave. cor. 32nd St., Bonifacio Global City.)
