The Malaysian Insider :: Food
The Malaysian Insider :: Food |
| Posted: 01 Mar 2013 06:02 PM PST
Fresh coriander, lemongrass, garlic, a little chilli, lime juice and fish sauce made up this fragrant dressing, which complemented the tender, soft, almost velvety beef. We loved it. Why the "Man" name of the salad, I asked Topshelf head chef and partner Christopher Yee later. "Men like meaty dishes," he said. As Topshelf is mainly about French food, we were keen to try the quiche, Les escargots au beurre and Confit de Canard. As the quiche was a vegetarian one for that day, we decided on the last two, and added to that Linguine Ai Fruitti De Mare. Linguine is not French, but Topshelf does have some Italian dishes on the menu. The Pesto Capellini is another pasta dish, and pizzas as well. The escargots, baked with butter laced with garlic and herbs, had a fine balance. They did not drown in melted butter; there was just enough to coat the almost delicate, succulent snails. Slices of toasted baguette were there for us to soak up the butter on the escargot dish. Duck Confit it was for our main course, with fondant potatoes and braised cabbage in red wine with raisins and shallots. The leg of duck slow poached in its own fat for hours in the oven had the meat falling off its bone while the skin was crispy. The braised cabbage in red wine with raisins was needed to balance the very rich-tasting duck. It also came with a green salad and fondant potatoes. It was altogether a complete, satisfying meal. The Linguine Ai Fruitti De Mare came wrapped in parchment paper, to be opened at the table; it released wonderful aromas of seafood smothered in a thick tomato sauce fragrant with basil, fresh parsley and dried herbs. The sauce had been cooked first with freshwater baby lobster, calamari and mussels before the pasta was added. The whole thing is then wrapped in paper and finished in the oven. You would have to eat this as soon as it is served, before the pasta goes soft.
The Apple Tarte Tatin had vanilla ice cream atop the upside down apple tart. I would have liked it better with the ice cream on the side as it melted over the crispy, buttery puff pastry with lush cinnamony apple slices, and turned it soggy.
This is my second visit to Topshelf. I had come away impressed the first time with the sublime Pesto Capellini, Boeuf Bourguignon or beef slow cooked in a full-bodied red wine, and Moules Marinere, which is mussels cooked in white wine, butter, parsley, thyme and shallots.
His last stint was at the French restaurant Le Vaudeville in Paris, where he refined his skills in French cooking. The prices: Desserts are RM18 each, Escargots RM24, Duck Confit RM33 and Linguine RM36. Topshelf is located at 61 Lorong Rahim Kajai 13, Taman Tun Dr Ismail 6000, Kuala Lumpur. Tel: 03-7727 7277. The restaurant is pork-free, and closed on Sundays. |
| Noma protégés to open their own Copenhagen eatery Posted: 01 Mar 2013 04:13 PM PST
With the blessing and endorsement of their mentor, former Noma sous-chefs Samuel Nutter and Victor Wagman are branching out to open Bror restaurant in the Danish capital. And in true Noma style, whose hyper-local culinary philosophy kick-started the foraging trend, the pair will keep their own vegetable garden on Sejerø Island, they tweeted. Noma has been named the World's Best Restaurant for three consecutive years by UK-based Restaurant magazine. Redzepi's ringing endorsement for two of his former star protégés, meanwhile, was re-tweeted by many of his fans and followers. "Please support these two brilliant young chefs following their dream with no investors — just pure talent & huge balls," he tweeted Thursday. The duo also has the Twitter support of Australian celebrity chef Kylie Kwong and fellow Noma alum Christian Puglisi who also struck out on his own to open Relae in Copenhagen. The restaurant earned its first Michelin star last year. And American expat Matt Orlando, also formerly of Noma, is slated to open an "American-style" eatery in the Danish capital this summer. Amass is to open in a former shipping depot. It's a pattern that can be compared with El Bulli, which held the title of best restaurant in the world five times until it shuttered in 2011, and served as the training ground for Redzepi, as well as a roster of other top chefs today such as Grant Achatz, Andoni Luis Aduriz and José Andrés. — Afp-Relaxnews |
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