There are dinner competitions, and then there are dinners where you sit down and realise both chefs have decided to show off a little.
That was the case at Akira Back at The Ritz-Carlton Abama in Guía de Isora, where Tenerife chef Julio Hernández went head-to-head with Anna Soohyun An, chef of Akira Back at the W Florence in Italy.
The idea was simple enough. Two chefs, two kitchens, and a chance to put their best dishes in front of a full restaurant.
What followed was an impressive evening of modern Japanese cuisine, with plenty of Tenerife thrown into the mix.
Tenerife meets Florence
Julio Hernández opened with local produce, serving amberjack sashimi with smoked chilli ponzu, followed by a surprisingly simple but excellent confit leek with miso sauce.
Anna Soohyun followed with tuna tataki with tosazu sauce, spring onion and crispy garlic, then a potato and mushroom croquette with truffle foam, gejang-marinated prawns, caviar and chives.
Not exactly your average Tuesday night dinner.
The chefs then took on four different sushi preparations. Julio brought a distinctly Tenerife interpretation using tuna caught in Canary waters, while Anna worked with prawns and salmon.
Both handled that part of the challenge rather well.
Then things got serious
The main courses were where the two styles really started to separate.
Julio served slow-cooked Iberian pork rib with watercress kimchi and a corn, coconut and miso foam.
Anna went for local fish, using cherne with jalapeño, Japanese-style beurre blanc and leek. The sauce used sake rather than white wine, giving it a slightly different twist.
Both dishes apparently went down very well, although the dessert round gave Julio another win.
His yuzu mochi combined toasted Canarian honey, coconut foam, passion fruit and a gofio crisp.
Anna’s dessert was her take on a Cuban cigar, served with caramel and miso ice cream and pieces of natural and toasted cacao.
The local boy had the edge there.
And there was plenty of wine
The wine list was almost as international as the chefs.
The evening included Tamerán Marmajuelo from David Silva’s winery in Gran Canaria, Occhipinti SP68 Blanco from Sicily, Artífice Vidueño Blanco from Borja Pérez in La Guancha and Palladino Gavi Blanco from northern Italy.
The reds included Versante Nord, made by Tenerife winemaker Eduardo Torres in Sicily, while the evening finished with the sweet Paisaje de las Islas from Bodega Tajinaste in La Orotava.
So yes, there was plenty to talk about between courses.
Julio Hernández and Akira Back Tenerife
Julio Hernández has been part of the Akira Back Tenerife project at The Ritz-Carlton Abama from the beginning.
Born and raised in the north of Tenerife, he started his professional career at just 16 and went on to work at restaurants including Kabuki Abama, ABaC in Barcelona and Taste of Rustic in Dublin.
His cooking combines modern technique with a clear connection to Tenerife, as well as influences from his former mentor Daniel Franco, who was previously head chef at Abama Kabuki.
Anna Soohyun An brings a rather different background to the table. Her career has taken her through Korea, Canada and Italy, and she now heads the kitchen at Akira Back Florence at the W Florence.
Different backgrounds, different approaches, but plenty of common ground when it comes to Japanese-inspired cuisine.
And judging by the full dining room at Akira Back, Tenerife was quite happy to let them battle it out.