grand entrance
On a recent evening graced with a purple-pink sunset, Chef Rolf Knecht made his grand entrance as Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur’s new Executive Chef at a private dinner attended by the Malaysian media and VIP guests. The Swiss-born chef, who will take charge and lead all aspects of the hotel’s culinary operations, created a special five-course dinner that reflected his 24 years of experience in the industry.
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Having previously held the same position at Grand Hyatt Shanghai, Grand Hyatt Jakarta and Grand Hyatt Fukuoka, the menu featured a wide variety of dishes, all inventively cooked with an emphasis on locally grown, sustainably sourced ingredients. “I like to cook healthy food,” Chef Rolf explained, “But I don’t want my dishes to scream ‘healthy’ to your face.”
As dinner at THIRTY8 kicked off, a scallop crudo arrived with sliced Malang apples and a sharp kombucha gastrique, followed by a clear, clean seafood broth laden with prawns and mussels. Roast beef – a nod to Chef Rolf’s Swiss heritage – was served with house-made steak sauce, truffled mashed potatoes, and local vegetables, after which the desserts took centre stage.
A sizeable banana semifreddo came with a cocoa-flavoured crunch made from rice handpicked by the Langit Collective in Sarawak, after which diners were treated to ‘brookies’ and milk – a moreish hybrid combination of brownies and cookies. Deliciously grainy and flecked with salt (Chef Rolf revealed that they had been baked according to his grandmother’s recipe), the brookies put a sweet finishing touch on an evening that showcased the new chef’s refined global style.