As part of its Studio & Friends chef dinner series, Chef Recomio recently collaborated with Chef Su Kim Hock of One MICHELIN Star Au Jardin restaurant in Penang to design a four-hands menu, brilliantly fusing European and French flavours.
Meet the chefs behind the collaboration
You may already know that Chef Recomio and Jenifer Kuah – who now manages the floor at Studio KL – own a few restaurants in Kuala Lumpur like Alta Café and Alta Pizza. The duo are also bringing back the previously defunct Alta Burger “due to high demands”. Chef Recomio added that he is currently planning for another restaurant opening in his hometown, Aberdeen, Scotland.
Before entering the gastronomy industry, Chef Recomio had attended art school. “I find art very cool and interesting so I pursued it. I learned so much,” said Chef Recomio. At the time, his mother was an executive chef in a local Scottish restaurant. “I started getting more and more interested in food and cooking while helping her on weekends. So at age 23, I decided to enter the culinary world,” he said.
Chef Su, a name most Malaysian foodies are familiar with, takes pleasure in supporting regional farmers and artisans to empower them. “My goal and dedication is to make Penang’s food business great. As we are known for great food, I also aim to develop the next generation of chefs,” said Chef Su. As a chef, he is always ready and willing to help his colleagues by sharing his culinary expertise.
Aside from Au Jardin, he is also the driving force behind Un Poco Loco, the latest Spanish tapas restaurant in Penang that blends innovation and tradition. Additionally, the newest Krug Champagne ambassador has just launched a Teochew porridge restaurant in the state. “I’m Teochew so I just want to tap back into my own culture and give my people the best I can offer,” he said, adding that this is his first time venturing into Chinese cuisine.
Sharing similar principles and favour for his ingredient suppliers from Penang, Chef Recomio invited him to Studio Restaurant KL for a four-hands collaboration. We had the honour of hosting the latest edition of FC Supperclub, presented by Visit Monaco, over their eight-course tasting menu – and here’s what the evening entailed.
The four-hands menu had eight scrumptious one-bite dishes
Before the dinner started, guests were served the mainstay of the menu, a rich bread course consisting of crème fraîche parker house rolls accompanied by cultured butter and a side of foie gras with rosemary mascarpone and crispy potatoes.
The dinner then opened with a sardine parfait tartlet. Although it had the appearance of an orange buttercream, the tartlet had a rich and intense sardine aroma – not fishy, but ultra-soft and buttery.
Next came the kedgeree dish – with smoked haddock and thick, apricot sauce finished with a small but sharp-tasting eel on top to balance out the sweetness. Traditionally, kedgeree is made with boiled rice, parsley, hard-boiled eggs, curry powder, lemon juice, and cream. However, the chefs kept this recipe clean, letting the haddock’s mild but sweet flavour lead.
Then the Tattie – the Scottish word for potato – made its way out. “We make mini potato scones, with French Comte cheese custard and quince paste for some sweetness in this one-bite dish,” Chef Recomio said.
After that came the Penang-grown grilled lip mussels with a fennel cream curry sauce made with Pernod & Pastis, as explained by Chef Recomio, as he proudly poured the curry liquid around the mussels.
The next dish was pretty interesting. “This is a hand-picked local mud crab with local chitose, sweet green melon, very good olive oil with white asparagus juice, and some almonds for crunch,” explained Chef Su.
The sixth course was Chef Christian’s favourite, as he proudly presented the salmon from the sustainably farmed Loch Duart, located on the west coast of Scotland. The fish is lightly poached in olive oil with kaffir lime leaf foam and a Thai green curry sauce.
The short ribs made their way out next, and it was arguably one of the highlights of the night. The meat was very lightly salted and charred on all sides, whilst the mustard and liquorice paired extremely well with every bite.
The dinner ended with the Jerusalem artichoke ice cream with Malaysian-produced T’lur Caviar and hazelnut oil, giving the ice cream a savoury note. While it’s not traditional to fuse sweet and savoury, this dessert was exceptional, as every bite left behind a sweet and soothing aftertaste.
Nothing less was expected from these two chefs. The marriage between modern European and French flavours left a permanent mark on our taste buds. While we ended the night on a high note, we’re also looking forward to the next Studio & Friends series – where we will also be hosting the third edition of FC Supperclub!
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