Chef’s diary shares the joy of its researched cuisines

Feuille is intended as a premise to share the joy of its researched cuisines. Due to the availability of the sufficient personnel and the time required for the creation and testing of each dish, feuille is often not able to accommodate more guests at one time. Since many dishes draw on feuille's food philosophy to imitate, surprise , and interact with its diners, many tools, staging items, or props have to be created rather than purchased. Some items are just non- existent and to suit feuille's needs, we often have to be creative; for example, plastic molds that resemble the shells of walnuts, oysters, and eggs are something we have to create ourselves.

I have always stressed the fact that feuille is not a restaurant. Its current format allows time to research new dishes so that during each tasting event, there are always new items available on the menu. Such practice relates to my habit of eating new and non repetitive items on a daily basis and I very much would like to keep feuille's dishes renewed based on that concept. Another reason that feuille does not operate full time is to allow my sufficient travelling abroad to acquire new inspirations for new dishes to be created. Travelling has always been an important part of my life that helps shape the flavors, textures, ideas, and stories behind each feuille's dish.

To overcome these difficulties, given the format feuille currently operates, feuille inevitably has to evolve. To stay concurrent with feuille's research focus and to maintain its service output, feuille will transform to the next project.

"Feuille Next" will be the upcoming project where feuille will adopt the operational concept of a "pop up" restaurant and run full time for a duration of thirteen weeks. Full time chefs and service members will be recruited. Formal training, personal enrichment, project participation, and service exposure for all staff members will all be part of feuille's daily task and routine once the project is underway. More space for the reservations will be available to the public along with the long overdue beverage pairings. "Feuille Next" will feature two options for its seasonal menu, allowing its guests more accessibility to feuille's cuisines.

"Feuille Next' will be an important project for feuille in the upcoming months. For those who may be interested in either becoming a staff member or making an inquisition, you are most encouraged to contact the feuile food lab directly.

share the joy of its researched cuisines

2018年春夏菜單-森林漫步

 Where the Menu Comes From

給相同的顏料與畫筆，神奇的是不同的人創造出截然不同的作品，加入些許自我的藝術風格，那畫作就能顯得獨一無二，表現出自我風格。
但是人人的知識，技能和經驗並不相同，作品往往無法讓大眾產生共鳴，也不一定被欣賞或影響了什麼，烹飪和繪畫狀況相同。
事實裡，真正的原創是困難的，特別是陌生的東西來說，也許這就是當出現新的潮流，我們就會看到接二連三的模仿，假若沒有絲毫的靈感想法來激發，人生路途將會被絆住，我想創作獨有的作品，堅持其哲學，不要走那些曾經被人走過的道路。

儘管如此，思緒時而被阻礙，當我失去靈感時，總是去林間散步，發現自己對植物、昆蟲、奇怪地聲音感到好奇，他們在我腦裡飛舞著，就像孩子們的畫連連看的本子，藉由串聯不同的點，不同的畫面就會出現。
我意識到，如果這是我被啟發的地方，不妨將這個想法帶上餐桌，總是發現森林能夠帶來平靜，在這繁忙的都市生活裡、從混亂疏離中可以探索出方向，如果人們無法去森林，我就帶來他們眼前，藉由菜單是來通往自然的旅程，如同是某部電影的開場白，畫面將從一個懷舊感的場景展開，回味起夏末深山裡的小木屋，圍坐在壁爐前，沸騰的鍋爐，故事開始逐漸展開。

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森林漫步

煙霧瀰漫的石鍋，草和冰冷的寒意，引起我的注意
茴香的味道，暗示著蒜蔥與發酵的奶油、香草的氣味瀰漫在空氣間
凝視青苔，野生羊肚菌瞬間在腦中成形
回憶起，屬於鄉間的滋味—樸素粗曠的干貝塔
撿起鵪鶉殼
樹皮上的蕨類
海洋和醃製的漿果
種子的堅果味，完成想像的儲藏空間

窗框的角落有著，隱約可見的花園
一個池塘，卵石，氣味和氣泡
周邊的土壤上，洋蔥生長著
一個素食的農田，甜菜根和放牧的牛群

海洋的味道，牡蠣和烏賊，帶著雷霆煙霧瀰漫的天空，飄逸而來
回頭往南邊看，潮濕泥上印著腳印
左右兩旁生長著蘆筍芽
跋涉走入，長滿草的蜿蜒小路

楓葉落在多雲的水坑裡
木炭，映出遠處烤肉的火焰
飄上天際的雲霧，混合著來自溫泉的蒸氣，無法區分開來

氣溫已下降，秋天即將到來;
日光早已落幕，遠處的笑聲，沒入沉沉的夜晚。

Where the Menu Comes From

It’s amazing what different creations people can come up with given the same set of paints and brushes. Putting in a bit of your own artistic flair, the painting is then unique and a claim of your own right in this whole world. But everyone’s skill, knowledge, and experience varies, the art work may not always resonate and have an appreciating and lasting effect on people. Cooking, like painting, follows very much the same principle. And in reality it’s really hard to be genuinely original and creative, especially for something that is nonexistent and not yet has a place in this world. Perhaps that’s why we see a lot of imitations whenever and wherever there is a new trend in the market. And without slightest ideas or inspirations to spark and fuel your way, you stumble yourself dead in the tracks. I want to create my own artwork, stay true to my own philosophies, and not to traverse the beaten paths.

But I do get stuck. When I do, I go out to the woods to take long walks. I find myself strangely curious about the plants, insects, and sounds in the woods and they paint pictures in my head like connecting the dots to form a drawing in the children’s sketch book. I realized that if this is where I get inspired, I might as well bring this context to the dinner table. I always find that the woods have a calming effect and perhaps in this era of busy metropolitan life, a little bit of calming in the midst of chaos and rushing might do some wonders. If people cannot go to the woods, I shall bring the woods to them. The menu that follows then is a journey through the woods. Like the opening of a movie in some way, the camera focuses on a scene that is nostalgic and reminiscent of a cabin life set in the late summer where once the boiling cauldron in the hearth is the center of life and where the story unfolds itself...

Menu

A cauldron, misty, grassy and cold caught my attention
The smell of the fennel hints crude garlic onion and fermented cream, the scent of much herbal likeness lingers
Almost mossy, wild morels taken roots in the mind
Conjuring up the image of back country—rustic scallop tart,
Foraged quail shells,
Grassy wooden bark,
Pickled berries with sea,
And nuttiness from the seeds complete the pantry of imaginations
A flower garden just visible peeped through the cabin window frame,
A pond with river rock, scented and foamy,
On the side in the soil onions grow, and
A vegetarian farm with beetroot and grazing cows
Smells of the sea, of oyster and squid drifted far from the thundering, smoky sky,
A quick glimpse to the south back, my muddy footprints in the rain,
Asparagus spears sprout left and right,
A winding path into the meadows I trek
Maple leaves in the cloudy puddles,
Hibachi of flames, and charcoals in the distance
The smokes rose to catch up with the clouds, mingling and
Indistinguishable from the ever bubbling cauldron of hot spring vapors

The temperatures have dropped low, quickly the autumn soon to come; daylight has been hours gone, and the laughter in the distance carried me off into the deep slumber of the night.