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Tuesday, June 30, 2009

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It's a sad day Once upon a time there was a restaurant named Shogun Revolver with an executive chef/partner in Michael Pataran doing some amazing things to food, but alas, after a mere short 15 months, when you think of Shogun Revolver, you can't think Chef Michael Pataran. As much as I hate to believe it, Shogun Revolver with Chef Michael Pataran at the helm is no more. It was on Thursday past at approximately 7:30 p.m. that I received an e-mail from Chef Pataran which read that Saturday, May 23, would mark his final night of service at the restaurant. Talk about a shock to the system! I literally felt ill and like I wanted to take to my bed, (dramatic I know, but that's how I felt), as I called my friend Tonya Tynes who has dined with me there on a number of occasions to inform her of the turn of events. But, with two days of service left before Chef Pataran fired up his burners at the restaurant for the final time, I had to shake off my ill feelings, so that I could make plans to get in one more evening of fine dining at the restaurant. I couldn't let Chef Pataran leave without getting one last taste. If you remember, this is the man whose food I once described as "orgasmic" because the things he did to food was absolutely sinful. I remember praising the level of food preparation that he'd also brought to the country, because his attention was focused on every detail from taste, and textures to plating, because he understands that most people eat with their eyes first and then taste. I rounded up my sidekick, and we headed out the next day, arriving at Shogun just as the kitchen was closing, but Chef Pataran, knowing that I'm an avid fan of his, allowed us in, because he knew I wouldn't make his final Saturday sitting, and I left the decisions up to the chef, because he would never lead me astray. Tonya and I dined on the Flank, a charred "hot plate" Thai beef salad with palm sugar, Thai chili dressing, snow peas, red pepper, radish, eggplant, coriander and coconut. It was my first time trying this dish, and I wondered why I hadn't had it before. We also shared a "hot" goan vindaloo braised lamb shank with chick pea chama masala, housemade paneer, peanut-tomato, cucumber and crispy shallots. I'd had the braised lamb shank before and always found it fork tender, but for some reason, it seemed extra tender and fell apart with a touch of the fork - no knife needed. He also sent out the Pad Thai, a dish I had when he'd first opened and remembered telling him was the best I'd had no matter where I'd had it before. Chef Pataran's Pad Thai was comprised of Thai rice noodles with chicken, prawn, peanut, egg, chile, bok choy, peppers, eggplant, coriander and coconut-tamarind sauce, and was delicious as usual. Don't know what's in the card for the building, where the name Shogun Revolver still hung when I passed it the other day, but the sad part of this entire thing is I don't know where Chef Pataran goes from here, so it's a sad, sad day, because along with his departure goes the once-monthly winemakers dinners that he hosted, which were always fun, fabulous affairs with great food at an incredibly affordable price. I looked forward to those events, and was looking forward to the final event, next month, during which time Sake would have been the star of the show, but of course, that is off the cards. If you didn't have a chance to taste Chef Pataran's modern Asian cuisine at least once, you simply do not know what you missed. But one thing I'm certain of, it's that you definitely missed a man who is a visionary and a food guru. The cuisine he served up, made my top five favorite places in 2008, that's how good the food was, and with a four-to-six week menu rotation, it wasn't something that you got bored with. He didn't give you time to. Once upon a time, there was a restaurant named Shogun Revolver with Chef Michael Pataran at the helm . . . Oh, my goodness, this is not a dream, Chef Pataran and Shogun Revolver no longer exist. What a sad, sad day. Wednesday, May 27.2009