GOLVET Summer Menu 2024: A Culinary Summer Dream from Braised Cucumber to Quail

The GOLVET Summer Menu 2024 is a delightful exploration of seasonal flavors, offering a culinary journey that captures the essence of summer. From the refreshing and innovative braised cucumber to the rich and succulent quail, this menu promises an exquisite dining experience that showcases the creativity and expertise of the chefs. Each dish is crafted with the finest ingredients, blending traditional and contemporary techniques to create a memorable meal that celebrates the vibrant tastes of summer.

The inspiration behind this year’s summer menu at GOLVET revolved around three key ingredients: quail, scallops, and hamachi. These ingredients form the core of their classic lineup. However, the journey from the initial idea to the final dish on the plate was not always straightforward, particularly with the scallops, which gave the head chef, Jonas, quite a challenge.

To start, the summer menu is introduced with braised cucumber paired with seaweed and horseradish. This dish is fresh and light but boldly flavorful, giving guests an initial taste of the intense and unexpected flavor combinations that await them. The fresh note of the braised cucumber, which is more intense in flavor than regular cucumbers, is combined with the deep taste of seaweed and the sharpness of horseradish. “Although the horseradish has a strong taste, the creaminess and coldness of the ice cream balances it out. The sharpness hits the nose, wakes you up briefly, but then makes way for the cucumber,” explains Jonas.

The cucumber itself is enhanced with strong flavors; it is salted and soaked in a powerful broth made from sesame and ginger before being vacuum-sealed in algae oil. “This gives the cucumber a really nice umami note,” Jonas enthuses. The dish is visually appealing too, with the cucumber arranged in long strips knotted into a rope and placed in a semicircle around the horseradish ice cream—a little summer dream in green.

The next course offers another surprising combination: the gentle taste of pickled summer truffles paired with hazelnut cream, roasted hazelnuts, and Amarena cherries. A dish that, as Jonas puts it, “is just fun on the tongue.”

Jonas has chosen Dry Aged Hamachi for the next course, a classic that regular guests will recognize. Initially presented as whitefish, the dish has since been refined further. “We already thought it was very good, but we figured we could make it even better,” says Jonas. So, the whitefish was replaced with hamachi, a fish that stands out for its fat content and even more intense flavor. The dish is complemented by their Imperial Caviar GOLVET Edition. Jonas explains, “Our kitchen is characterized by strong flavors, so we need a caviar that can keep up and not get lost among the other flavors.” Spicy, creamy, and nutty, the caviar is the result of a perfect partnership with Ramin from Imperial Caviar.

For this year’s dish, Jonas takes it a step further by creating a creamy Beurre Blanc made from caviar butter to better unite the flavors of the fish and caviar. “Caviar butter might seem almost decadent at first glance—after all, our caviar butter consists of 60% caviar in addition to high-quality sweet cream butter,” Jonas explains. But after discussions with Ramin, they found a solution: when caviar is aged too long, it becomes soft and loses its texture, making it unsellable for Ramin but perfect for Jonas’s culinary creations. The dish is rounded off with the acidity of green strawberries, adding an extra freshness.

The vegetarian option features beans instead of hamachi. “We wanted to use components from the classic menu and give the dish a smoky note,” Jonas shares. The result is a robust cassoulet made with sauerkraut juice, which beautifully complements the earthiness of the beans. The dish is finished with pear jelly and marinated pears arranged in loops, making it both a visual and culinary delight.

The next vegetarian course is equally impressive, with grilled watermelon combined with Cajun spices, capturing deep grill aromas that immediately evoke warm summer nights. Paired with macadamia to add earthiness and tarragon to counterbalance the sweetness of the watermelon, this dish is a complex and layered summer delight that lingers on the palate.

The next course, featuring scallops, proved to be the most challenging to perfect. Despite trying various combinations of young peas, shiso oil, and matcha foam, the dish wasn’t coming together as expected. “We tried countless versions, but something was always missing. Either there was too much or too little acidity, not enough scallop or too much pea, sometimes the pea was too hard, sometimes too soft,” Jonas recalls. The breakthrough came when new team member Selina suggested simplifying the dish. Instead of a complex pea ragout with matcha foam, oil, croutons, and more, they decided on a delicate salad topped with scallops—simple yet effective.

The quail dish from Odefey and Töchter was originally intended for the spring menu, but due to timing issues, it was moved to the summer menu. The wait was worth it. The quail leg is confited, and the breast is grilled on the carcass, ensuring everything stays juicy. The dish is complemented by an Albufera sauce enhanced with braised bell pepper, and the quail leg ragout is served in a potato roll garnished with chive cream, bell pepper rolls, and glazed fig for a sweet note—a dish bursting with flavor.

The vegetarian main course features Chitarra, a square pasta named after the guitar-like wireframe used to shape it. The dish is straightforward, with a yolk sauce and freshly grated Old Groendal cheese with salt crystals added to the pasta. Despite its simplicity, the dish has proven to be a hit, frequently reordered by guests.

The desserts are equally impressive, with Sous Chef and Pastry Chef Stefano once again outdoing himself. One dessert combines bold flavors like black tomato with Valrhona Opalys, crafted with technical precision to create a dish that stimulates all the senses. The meal concludes with a refreshing mix of juicy blackberries, green almonds, and elderflower—a fitting end to a summer meal at GOLVET. Secure your spot to experience this summer menu for yourself. We look forward to welcoming you!