Fully embracing their role as the purveyors and connoisseurs of unique tastes and culinary experiences, San Pellegrino and Acqua Panna brought two guest chefs from Singapore to the Horizon Grill for a special edition six-course dinner for one night only. Joining forces with chefs Daniel Wong and Fodil Baghal of Horizon Grill (which sits on the 58th floor of Banyan Tree Kuala Lumpur) were Tamara Chavez Lopez, head chef at Tono Cevicheria, and Kurt Sombero, head chef of Meatsmith Little India.
This was the first occasion that the hotel’s resident chefs had collaborated with featured international chefs, making the one-off dinner (priced at RM428 per person) a memorable display of local and overseas culinary talent. Channelling the lively flavours of her Peruvian cevicheria in the Lion City, Lopez opened the meal with a scallop ceviche packed full of fried baby calamari and purple sweet potatoes. Paired with generous splashes of San Pellegrino’s sparkling water, her yellow chilli-based citrus marinade – traditionally known as Tiger’s Milk – was a brisk wake-up call for everyone’s palates.
Sombero—playing on Meatsmith’s exploration of American barbecue techniques—presented diners with a crunchy grilled papadum, onto which salty salmon roe, garam masala, and smoked crème fraîche had been heaped for a delectably moreish umami-flavoured treat. Keen to fly the flag for his home country of Malaysia, Wong conjured up his rendition of nasi goreng – or rather, ‘Risotto Goreng’, as the chef de cuisine of Horizon Grill called his main course.
It arrived in the form of a twice-cooked egg (first soft-boiled, and then deep fried) decorated with caviar and gold leaf, perched atop a mound of golden risotto mixed with pickled vegetables and fermented spicy red beans. Never one to be left behind, Baghal put his skills as head pastry chef of Banyan Tree Kuala Lumpur to good use and painstakingly pieced together a dessert entitled ‘Summer’, composed of caramelised figs, thyme-infused caramel sauce, and salted caramel ice cream.
