The Hindu Business Line : Great food, delectable chef!

One of the major charms of dining at the spanking new Dolce Vita, the speciality Italian restaurant at Singapore’s Mandarin Oriental, is the chef himself. After sampling heavenly fare dished out by him such as ‘Agnello Dolce Vita Rack of lamb crusted with Mozzarella, herbs and Ratatouilles Jus’, and the astonishingly light and refreshing starter ‘Potato Foam’, when it is time to meet the chef it is rather difficult to not ogle at the stunningl y handsome young man.

I am accompanied by a female friend, who promptly volunteers to find an Indian bride for Chef Marco Pedrelli, who blushes a little before telling us, in broken English, that he already has a German girlfriend. But that is no disincentive for our ogling!

Hip decor

The restaurant is almost as good-looking as its new chef. Its greatest charm is, of course, its location on Level 5 alongside the swimming pool. A few tables at this 80-seater diner are laid out on the patio by the pool, offering a spectacular glimpse of the Singapore skyline in the distance.

By night, the subtle lighting of the pool and the patio enhance the mood; and even if you prefer to sit inside the air-conditioned comfort on a typical sultry tropical evening, the large floor-to-ceiling glass panels allow a view of the pool and the skyline. The blue of the water is clearly the theme, and panels done in azure and aqua tones complete the ambience.

Dinner is undoubtedly the best time to sample the all-new Italian menu at this romantic restaurant; it’s no surprise to find from Kelly Tan, the hotel’s PR Manager, that during weekends this restaurant attracts mostly couples.

The decor here is understated, yet hip, and the restaurant, which till October offered mixed Mediterranean fare, has now gone Italian and organises regular wine dinners with different winemakers from various regions of Italy. Only the previous evening it had organised a six-course dinner, each paired with a different Italian wine, at an affordable S$120. For wine connoisseurs, Dolce Vita has on offer over 100 labels from France, Italy, Australia, New Zealand and Chile among other places to complement the meals. And some of them are as pricy as S$1,250! Small wonder then that Dolce Vita received a Wine spectator award for the year.

Fresh flavours

Our dinner begins with a “teaser” that chefs normally send out as a complimentary dish to open up the diner’s palette. ‘Potato Foam’ is the one chosen for us by Chef Pedrelli, a one-star Michelin chef. It is delectable — soft, light and fresh, with a tad of fresh cream and garnished with chives. Sure, it leaves the palette begging for more!

Other dishes follow. ‘Trevalto Tonno’ has marinated tuna with avocado tartar and radish cannelloni. The pan-seared tuna fillet is crusted with Tasmanian pepper, diced fresh avocado with vinegar, oil and salt and wrapped in thinly sliced radish. The USP of this dish is it’s so light… and great on the palette.

Homemade pasta comes next, and is served with prawn, mussel, scallops, lobster and clams in freshly prepared cherry tomato sauce with a basil pesto.

But the toast of the evening, undoubtedly, is the Agnello Dolce vita rack of lamb crusted with Mozzarella and herbs. The lamb — almost in paste form and, hence, so easy on your teeth — is wrapped in thinly sliced bread, chicken and parsley mousse served with bell pepper and zucchini stew.

The crust is fresh and crunchy… and yet light… bread sliced very thin… lamb wrapped in a thinly-cut bread wrap and baked in the oven.

The dessert was heavenly — Trevalto Panna Cotta, which means “three kinds of Panna Cotta”; it was basically a trio of strawberries, green apples and apricots, cooked to a delicious softness, and blended with some coffee, chilled cream, sugar and caramel — a very fruity and delectable wrap-up to a memorable meal.

Taste of Italy

Later, Chef Pedrelli explained, through a translator, how he tries to bring out the “distinctive flavours and unique charm” of Italian cuisine by using “only the freshest ingredients of the best quality flown in from various parts of Italy.” Though he loves to experiment and innovate, his constant endeavour is “to keep it simple, wholesome and down-to-earth.”

Well, that will be sort of a challenge in a five-star hotel like the Oriental Mandarin, and considering that the Italian ‘La Dolce vita’ means “the good life, filled with pleasure, indulgence”!

When I compliment him on the lamb rack and wonder how he put it together, he grins: “Well, I’d need half an hour at least to tell you that. But what I can tell you is that I learnt it in Germany…”

That he is passionate about his job can be seen from his background… he grew up in a big farm in the Secena region of Italy where he was “always with my grandmother in the kitchen and she taught me how to bake bread, make pasta, pesto and so on. As a child I found I enjoyed doing that a lot and told myself that when I grew up I’d become a chef.” Devouring the freshly baked bread with some great tomato salsa and olive oil, one realised that his grandmother must have been a great cook indeed.

At 30, he has worked in some top restaurants in Italy, Austria and Munich before moving to Singapore. When we met him he had been around only for two weeks and involved in the transition of Dolce Vita from a “fine dining to a more casual restaurant. Actually you are the first mediaperson to taste his signature dishes,” says Kelly.

I step outside the plush environs of the fancy restaurant, ruminating on how a word like “casual” can have different levels of meaning, and marvelling at how one never even felt like asking for a vegetarian dish, but soon console myself that the potato foam was vegetarian and so was the dessert!

The romantically lit pool is empty, but the patio is filled with diners, many of them hotel guests. We also learn that Shah Rukh Khan is a guest at the Presidential suite, and the hotel has pulled out all stops for the Bollywood superstar as this is his first stay here.

But one has been lucky enough for one day; great food, made by a stunningly handsome chef. So, no luck with hopes of sighting King Khan in the elevator or the lobby!

Response may be sent to rasheeda@thehindu.co.in

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Great food, delectable chef!