Welcome back everyone, I’m back and with a special occasion for me because I’m here at the brand-new restaurant AL DENTE run by yours truly, Chef and Maître D Maze Overlay and Al Smith, and with this gracious offer to sample their brand-new nine-course menu, I’m here to give my feedback and review on the quality and overall performance of each dish individually.
With that being said, my table is ready and they just served me my freshly made Long Island Iced Tea, and I can see the first item on the way, so let’s get into it!
So, to kick the menu off, we have ‘Mise En Place’. This dish is incredible! It has a strong, groovy flare with that hint of jazz influence. It comes cut with those delicate horns, based in thick bass strings, and seasoned off with those deliciously subtle drum patterns that give it that extra hint of ‘oomph’ you look for in an entrée dish!
Onto entrée dish number two, we have ‘On The Money’. Now, right from the first bite, you can taste that hint of subtle jazz and dance fusion. Two cuisines you don’t normally see together, but a dish that surprisingly works!
You’ve got that initial hit of keyboard chords that give off that initial dance vibe that almost feels like overkill hold music but with a sense of rhythmic harmony!
On top of that, you have those bass lines and very light jazz-inspired drums that act as the garnish, if you will, for this already flavourful dish that is a fusion unlike any I’ve ever tried before!
I can’t help but sense a Spanish influence on this dish. The way the instruments come together, I can picture a Hispanic dance hall with this kind of beat playing, the time to make your body move involuntarily! Absolutely delightful.
Now onto the third and final entrée of the night, we have ‘Gourmet Poison’, which has decided to experiment with more bold and distinctive flavours than the previous two!
On this dish, we have those grimy and heavy-handed chord strings that move on an eerie and bitter loop that tastes like salt mixed with balsamic vinegar! A flavour I’m actually enjoying the mix of!
On top of that, we have these groovy and spicy bass lines that feel even more thick than the other executions of it. It also has this funky twang to the structure of it, like a pinch of lemon or orange zest to give your taste buds that little bit of kick!
This is definitely a statement of what’s to come next. The easy and ‘safe’ dishes are done, and we are heading into more creative and avant-garde territory, and I’m all here for it! Let’s talk about the main courses!
Dish 4 and the first main course we have is ‘Melenated Brain’, and as I expected, this course is the most evolved and important yet!
This has to be the most funkiest track yet with groovy strings, free base guitar, and delicate keys that come together like mushrooms in a beef Wellington!
The instruments marinate like well-cared-for jerk chicken, and this dish is even more flavourful! Feeling like a forkful of Smokey Robinson meets George Benson. A bite of angelic and beautifully crafted melodies that melt through your ears like a stick of garlic butter. This is the type of meal I would want seconds of if I could!
Also, come to find out, this is a co-recipe with help from the Michelin-starred sonic chef Swab! The flavours make all the more sense now!
Onto the second main course and track 5, we have ‘Hush Puppies’, which sees the chefs returning to the more intense and raw flavour profiles that they did a bit earlier! This time around, we have these thrilling, almost free-form screeching that sounds all over the place like the waiter grating three different kinds of cheeses that you wouldn’t think would mix together but somehow mesh perfectly!
On top of that, we have these echoing, wavy lines, light use of what sounds like a xylophone in the background, which adds an extra layer of depth to the meal like a handful of grated truffles to the dish!
Also to my surprise, I had 2 surprise legends of the trade come in for this meal and display their expertise which made the meal that much more enjoyable to get a front row seat for!
For the final main course of the night we had dish 6 ‘Street Boutique’ which provides the most light hearted and refreshing main course to cleans the pallete and get us ready for desserts!
For this meal we have some Soul mixed in with some Jazz. Some would say this is the perfect combination like French Onion Soup and Grilled Cheese or a classic Fish and Chips.
On this dish we have these delightful and powerful jazzy piano chords that have a mind and soul of their own like a perfectly cooked risotto and the flavour it brings to the palette!
Accompanying those delicate chords we have some more busting bass and some 70’s vibes across the point.
They’ve decided to take it back old school and tell the customer that ‘vintage isn’t dead’ and I can taste the love and history in each bite! Absolutely divine!
Now, let’s get onto desserts! (As a sweet tooth I must say this has got me the most excited) so let’s get into the final 3 dishes!
Starting things off we have ‘Common Ancestors’ which starts us off bright and positive! This dish surprised me at how refreshing and fresh bursting the flavours were like a classic lemon gelato with a sprinkle of lime zest!
In this track we have some booming piano keys and infectious synth chords that come and go in a repetitive motion that leaves me in a trance like watching a table side pasta preparation! This dish feels like a soul artist is right next to me playing music live as I eat. It’s absolutely enjoyable and enlightening to the customer!
Next up for desserts we have ‘Al Dante’ going for more of a subtle and minimal taste to help relax the tastebuds like a no nonsense banana split that’s simple yet tasty in every sense of the word.
This track has these gorgeous piano keys that come and go in such a harmonious loop that it leaves the customer speechless and its beauty.
Not only that but we have these methodically paced Jazz style drums that take your heart to a new level of relaxation and comfort like having your first cigarette after a good meal! This dish is skeletal yet the basics are done so phenomenally that it’s impossible to care or notice its lack of ingredients made such a refined dish!
Now onto the final dish and dessert we have ‘Cries From Zion’ as the chefs decide to take the customer out on a more emotionally fuelled overture like a classic apple pie that tastes just like how grandma made it, gets the nostalgia and memories working overtime.
This dish is heavy and heartfelt. You’ve got those heavy strings that feel like a stomp on the heart with every pluck. Alongside that we have these intricate keys that help provide an extra sense of warmth to the track like a light scoop of toasted pecans ontop of the pie.
This might be the most somber and delicate meal of the night and to have it on the final dessert is an incredible treat in and of it self.
Now THAT is what I call the perfect meal. But I must add that none of this would be possible without the skills and vision of Chef Maze Overlay. Yes Al providing that gorgeous ambiance and intricacies to each dish making every bite feel like a song in my head it’s Maze’s performances throughout the courses that really put the ‘cherry on top’
This man, with his knife like tongue and cutting board flow precision is something that somehow keeps getting better with age! With every new serving he is able to further develop, refine and elevate his verbal taste to new heights that no other culinary innovator has seen before.
From his smooth textures on the microphone to his insatiable appetite for perfection with his immaculate pen game and execution on the plate it’s all done with such finesse that he’s delivering bare minimum Michelin star meals and nothing less!
Now tell me, what other MC do you know of that could open up their own sonic kitchen and still drop a modern day classic? I can’t think of one either! This man is a revolutionary not just in his the way he raps but his mind and the passion and soul he puts into everything he does that has earned him one of the strongest discography’s of the last 2 years!
So, come. Book a reservation and experience the fine dining that is ‘AL DENTE’
https://open.spotify.com/album/0uw9saPCg2oH0Fr1MWVeEu?si=gZFd6atiQ8-1rr6GrLwy0A
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