Our latest Dinner Party was held Wednesday at the illustrious illume, the ninth-floor rooftop restaurant and lounge at the JW Marriott Orlando Bonnet Creek, and as they have before, the staff went our of their way and over the top to impress everyone who attended.
We were whisked to the rooftop by express elevator at precisely 6 o’clock and greeted by servers with lychee martinis, elegant cocktails made with Empress 1908 gin and Giffard Lychee liqueur, a lovely fuchsia hue and garnished with an orchid.
While we sipped, we were invited to help ourselves to what can only be described as a wall of sushi, oysters, scallops, king crab and other delectables.
Some of the rolls offered were Samurai’s Tale, with butter-poached lobster tail, yuzu aioli, cucumber, tuna, salmon, yellowtail, shrimp and paddlefish caviar.
And the Kamikaze Roll, with salmon, yellowtail, cucumber, avocado, kimchi sauce, aji amarillo and black tobiko.
The nigiri selections included otoro, shima aji and an unusual offering of shoyu mayu duck. That was the first time I’d seen duck served as nigirizushi, and several attendees said it was their favorite.
We also had artistically decorated oysters and scallop crudo, all served in the shell. And Caesar salad to boot. And all of this was just the reception nibbles. I could have made a complete meal of just these, and I darn near did.
Once we were all seated in illume’s private room, which offered gorgeous views from its floor to ceiling windows, we were greeted by chef Czarina Bautista, who talked us through the dinner as our hard-working server, May Phetcharat-Bart, brought out the zensai, or amuse bouche, if you will.
Which was a dish called chawanmushi, a savory Japanese egg custard with big hunks of pink Key West shrimp.
The fish course was a perfectly seared sea bass, golden crispy on the outside with moist flakes inside, topped with a shiso relish and served with a delicious confit tomato.
For the meat course, A5 wagyu, lusciously fatty with a texture that could fool you into thinking you were eating foie gras. The meat was topped with bits of crispy onions and shavings of black truffle.
We all grabbed a glass of sake to go out to the rooftop patio to watch the sunset. When we returned, we were invited to help ourselves to the dessert tower, displayed with butter mochi cake, matcha green tea cheesecake, kabocha purin, matcha beignets and sake raspberry panna cotta. And if that wasn’t enough, we were all gifted a box of chocolate truffles to take with us.
By that time, the fireworks over Epcot and the Magic Kingdom were underway, so we went back outside to enjoy the lights and chat about our favorite dishes.
Illume is at the JW Marriott Orlando Bonnet Creek Resort, 14900 Chelonia Parkway, Orlando (map). It is open for dinner daily. The phone number is 407-919-6300.
