DINING -- Stephen Santacroce

Since its opening in mid-1999, Roy’s of Newport Beach has been a

smashing success. The combination of Hawaiian-influenced Euro-Asian

cuisine and an upscale “cocktail crowd” atmosphere has proved to be a

winning formula among the fickle Newport Beach restaurant crowd.

Roy Yamaguchi has parlayed ideas from his original restaurant in

Honolulu to a culinary empire that stretches from New York to Tokyo.

Despite the success of his restaurants, Yamaguchi isn’t resting on his

laurels, and this year he’s attempting to push our yen (pun intended) for

trendy Asian fare one step further with the introduction of a signature

line of premium sake, appropriately named Y.

The Y line is a collection of four o7 daiginjof7 (signifying

premium quality) sake named Wind, Sky, Rain and Snow.

To celebrate the introduction of the wines in Newport Beach, Roy’s

held a five-course tasting dinner designed to show off the unique

characteristics of each sake and their suitability for various food

pairings.

Roy’s sakes are made by SakeOne, a rice winery in Oregon run by sake

master Griffith Frost.

After a brief preamble by Yamaguchi, Frost introduced the wines and

educated us on the process involved in making sake, a beverage that dates

back to 4800 B.C.

As Frost pointed out, most of us are used to sake served warm, usually

washing down generous portions of sushi. True connoisseurs, however, know

that premium sakes are best drunk chilled and even served in wine

glasses, as opposed to the little ceramic ones most of us are accustomed

to.

While Frost was explaining the subtleties of his wines, we were

treated to the first pairing of the evening, Sky sake served with a

Hawaiian poke of salmon and ahi tuna. Poke is a dish of cubed fish,

sometimes cooked and mixed with chiles, soy and other spices.

For this version, the fish was raw, served in small scoops side by

side and topped with wasabi infused flying-fish caviar. The Sky sake, a

semisweet version with hints of cantaloupe, was the perfect counterpoint

to the spicy chiles and pungent caviar adorning the fish.

Just as winemakers fawn over various varieties of grapes, sake masters

obsess over the rice used to make the wine. Good sake rice has a high

concentration of starch at its core. It’s this starch that is first

converted to sugar by special enzymes and then fermented with yeast to

produce an alcoholic beverage.

The rice is polished to remove fats and protein before the

fermentation begins, a process that can reduce the volume of the rice by

as much as 50%.

Frost explained all this to us as we enjoyed the second paring of the

evening, the ginger-infused Rain sake served with a grilled salmon salad

over greens dressed with a sake and soy vinaigrette.

Traditional sake masters scoff at the idea of infusing the wine with

other flavors, claiming it’s sacrilegious to toy with the “drink of the

gods.” The ginger certainly gave the wine a strong flavor and scent, and

met with mixed reviews at our table, but it stood up to the acidic

dressing, a difficult feat to say the least.

Like a fine French Bordeaux, premium sake is a blend of wines created

by the sake master to create the perfect balance of sweet, dry, bitter

astringent and sour.

Wind sake, served with the third course, is bone dry and was the

favorite among our group. The food pairing for this course also was the

best of the evening, a delicate steamed egg custard called o7 cha wan

mushif7 that is served in a small glass topped with lobster meat and

infused with caviar and truffle essence.

Sipping the dry wine with the rich, decadent custard created a sublime

combination that showed off the symbiotic relationship between good food

and wine as well as a filet mignon does with a fine Cabernet.

Like fine wines, premium sake is aged for up to nine months to allow

the beverage to mellow and develop a smooth character.

Premium sake will last for up to a week in the refrigerator after it’s

been opened and should always be served chilled. Heat destroys the subtle

balance of the beverage.

The final sake served at our tasting dinner was an unfiltered variety

called Snow. Appropriately named, the beverage had a translucent, milky

white appearance that belied its delicate flavor.

Fork-tender smoked pork topped with a miso-marinated sea bass

accompanied the beverage, once again creating a marriage of Asian

ingredients in the food that was complimented by the traditional Japanese

beverage.

Premium sakes are gaining popularity in this country, and while the

folks at Chateau Latour need not panic just yet, sake is a refreshing

alternative well-suited to some of the Asian fusion cuisine challenging

our palates.

Yamaguchi and his sake master are to be commended for creating

beverages that, while not for every palate, certainly push the western

boundaries of culinary expertise and form a new basis for food and

beverage experimentation.

* STEPHEN SANTACROCE’S restaurant reviews are published every other

Thursday. He may be reached by e-mail at o7 sdsanta@oc-dining.comf7 .

FYI

* What: Roy’s of Newport Beach

* Where: Fashion Island, 453 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach

* Hours: 5 to 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 5 to 11 p.m.

Fridays and Saturdays

* Cost: Expensive

* Phone: (949) 640-7697