Hotel Indigo has introduced a new and elevated dining concept with the launch of its first nine-course ‘omakase’ experience at the hotel’s Japanese-inspired restaurant, Milkberry.
Omakase, meaning ‘I’ll leave it up to you’ in Japanese, is a chef-led tasting experience built on trust and creativity, where guests allow the chef to curate a personalised journey.
‘More than a menu’
“We are very proud to launch the omakase experience. This is a completely new experience on the island, a new concept. It’s more than a menu; it’s more dialogue between the chef and the audience,” Yann Gillet, new area general manager for Hotel Indigo and Kimpton Seafire, told the Cayman Compass.
The immersive experience will take place on the second Monday of every month.
“We’re really trying to reinvent the way we are cooking, we are serving, and we wanted to have a different approach,” Gillet said.
“The omakase, it’s real-time cooking, more than a dialogue. You don’t go and sit and have a very passive reaction. … You’re a part of the scene, you’re dialoguing, the food is being prepared right in front of you. You don’t know what you’re going to have for dinner; it’s a surprise and it’s very intimate.”
‘I’ll leave it up to you’
Cayman Compass journalist Sarah Bridge was among the first to have the omakase experience at a special launch dinner held on Monday, 14 April.
“The welcoming Kyoto Garden highball cocktail with Roku gin was the perfect start to an evening which combined culinary excellence with charm and innovation,” she said.
“First up was a trio of delicious sashimi morsels paired with miso soup and a sake shot, which was quickly followed with an expertly-crafted succession of Japanese delights — Hamachi tuna sushi, smoked hirame and torched black cod belly, which were all paired with sakes which varied in taste and temperature.”
Diners were mostly seated at sharing table, but Bridge and a lucky few were seated at the pass, which meant a front-row view of the efforts into creating such unique dishes.
“Fans of Japanese cuisine might be familiar with gyoza and tempura, but less so with some of the other courses, such as the chawanmushi steamed egg custard with Alaskan crab, a wagyu beef ‘burger and fries’, and a tongue-tingling dessert of watermelon sashimi, charred grapefruit and sesame ice cream,” Bridge said.
“Alongside these culinary creations, the drinks more than held their own, with highlights being a palate-cleansing chuhai tonic and a Kikori mango old-fashioned-style cocktail. It was hard to believe that this was the first night as the service was impeccable, with every dish being delivered promptly and described with knowledge and enthusiasm.”
Sushi tradition meets playful innovation
Chef Massimo De Francesca highlighted the whole idea was to bring something new and exciting to the market, “and to position Hotel Indigo as a culinary destination on island”.
“[It was] out of the growing demand among both locals and visitors for exclusive, curated dining experiences beyond the traditional restaurant offering,” De Francesca said.
“The omakase experience at Milkberry adds another layer to Hotel Indigo’s dynamic culinary experience. It’s an intimate, chef-led tasting that gives Cayman residents a reason to return for something truly unique.”
He added that it complements the hotel’s “other standout offerings”, including “Rasa’s ever-changing, globally inspired tasting menus [which] highlight bold flavours and inventive pairings; the Catalina Lounge [which] features an all-day seasonal menu showcasing the island’s freshest ingredients, playful cocktails, and a vibrant setting; and Pom Pom, Cayman’s highest rooftop lounge with sunset views with South American-inspired plates and cocktails.”
Given that the first booking was sold out within hours of being announced, Bridge said, “It is likely Milkberry’s monthly omakase night will soon be a regular fixture on Cayman’s food scene.”
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