a culinary wow
The quality that separates a good chef from a great one is precision. Ryan Clift, of Singapore’s Tippling Club and the recently launched Grow in Bali, is a great chef. Observing him as he glides around The Brasserie at The St. Regis Kuala Lumpur, tweaking plates to exact mathematical angles and acutely presiding over the slicing of fish, is to see a chef unwavering from his own high (and highly awarded) standards.
Stern and serious he might be at work, but Clift also has a quirky sense of humour. This manifests not just through a series of quips but also on the fine crockery in front of us. In a four-day lunch and dinner series, paired with Hennessy XO and Hennessy VSOP cocktails, Clift’s imagination was on fully display. The six-course menu began with a plate of Petuna Ocean trout with beetroot, smoked ox tongue and horseradish cream. Beautifully delicate, the fish melded well with the more textured tongue and the fresh heat of the horseradish, sitting on top of beetroot sauce grimly garnished to resemble blood vessels. A roasted leak and potatoe consume was next – hearty, healthy and homey, with a specific tinge of chlorophyll.
Surf, then turf, followed. A silky smooth slice of wild turbot with a faux risotto made of squid sat on a watercress emulsion and lobster cubes. On its own, the fish was fresh but on the verge of being underseasoned; only with the brininess of the squid and lobster does the dish make sense. After that, a gloriously marbled piece of A4 Toriyama wagyu with horseradish burrata, Japanese fruit tomato and wild sea grapes. Covered with a slice of wagyu beef ham – made by curing the beef with ‘lots and lots and lots’ of konbu – Clift designed the dish to be an ‘umami bomb’. It certainly caused explosions of delight in the mouth.
On the menu, a sweet treat of coconut textures was supposed to end the meal. But Clift had one last surprise to precede that, a showing of his more avant-garde side. A pill bottle and a small grey rock arrived. Waving the card illustrated with a space ship that came with the plate unleashed a strong scent of Madras curry, which is apparently what space smells like. Each pill, prescribed by Dr. R Clift, was the condensed form of an entire cheesecake slice, while the asteroid was a mandarin-and-madras sorbet encased in chocolate. It looks simple, but according to Clift, is ‘fiendishly complicated to make.’ It takes precision, and wit, to create something like this, and Chef Ryan Clift has both in spades.
