A while ago Epicurina received a media invitation to attend the Passion, Love, Life concert at Taman Bhagawan, Tanjung Benoa, Bali. While I'm no big fan of Jazz, my wife is, and it's been a while since she saw a good life Jazz concert so I think it will be worth our time to visit the concert. 

After all I considers Krakatau as one of the biggest music achievement of Indonesia hence it's a pleasure to watch Dwiki Dharmawan live on stage.

On that evening Taman Bhagawan was dressed up nicely with colorful banners, and there were some seating and pillows under the stars. Speaking of experience, they've been organizing one of the biggest Jazz event in Bali: Jazz Market by The Beach, which get a quite good response. 

Looking forward for another mid-day party tomorrow at Hard Rock Hotel Bali. Thanks for the invitation! (byms)

Set in a secluded piece of land right by the beach, surrounded by the lust green rice field, Alila Villas Soori emits the serene Balinese countryside atmosphere elegantly. It's in this beautiful place Whisky Dinner took place.

The idea of a Whisky Dinner itself came from The Common Room in Melbourne, Australia, which during 2012 held a year-long movie-inspired dinner, all named after famous movies. As its name implies, Whisky Business -- taken from a famous 1983 movie "Risky Business" -- aims to create a dinner that paired dishes, not with the usual liquor: wine, but with the seldom paired Whisky. To cook for this dinner, it's no less than The Common Room head chef itself, Brook Petrie was flown from Australia to work side by side with Soori's own Executive Chef Dwayne Cheer; and just FYI they're both Kiwi chefs!

As for the cuisine itself, Brook Petrie is well known as the prominent supporter of "Quirky" modern British cuisine, meaning classical British cooking with modern touch, including a touch of fusion; not your everyday Balinese selection for sure.

Amuse Bouche

This sashimi-like dish is made out of snapper cuts, scallop floss, hard to see but it's there avocado, in a tangy flavorful dressing sauce. While it looks like your regular appetizer, an Amuse Bouche (French for "mouth amuser") is an important part of a Nouvelle Cuisine dinner. An Amuse Bouche can never be ordered from a menu, because it's picked by the chef and served free to all of the guests on the dinner.

An Amuse Bouche therefore, serves as the chef's statement of his style, thus usually gives a good insight on how the rest of the dinner experience will be.

While the snapper tasted very mild, the combination of creamy avocado, savory floss, and the tangy dressing creates this interestingly fresh flavor mixing. As Sarah, another guest for that night dinner puts it "it's not about the fish, it's the sauce".

Lobster, Black Pudding, and Jamon Dashi

Next came the controversial plate, as black pudding is sort of an acquired taste, and the idea of eating blood is quite challenging for some. It is however, one of a classical British dish, and with his approach of Modern British, was kind of expected from Brook Petrie; after all it's part of the original Whisky Business dinner back at The Common Room.

The Black Pudding itself was paired with plump, savory lobster chunks, and bathed in Jamon Dashi; a stock made of dry-cured Spanish ham; three different nations' cuisine in one plate. As with the taste itself, the dashi was kind of light and only moderately flavors the lobster.

Fish 'n Chips

Imagine having a plate of fish 'n chips from your favorite American restaurant, keep that in mind, steady, and let them fall apart when this dish arrive.

Fish 'n Chips is among the guests' favorite back in The Common Room, and I can see why. First and most important: it looks nothing like a fish 'n chips.

Second, using horse mackerel (skipjack, tongkol) as its centerpiece, the taste is awesomely milky. Since Tuna is my favorite saltwater fishes, surely this dish fits easily to my favorite list.

Third, to top the lovely mackerel experience, the dish also presented pieces of chips, yuzu mayo and seaweed salad; and they're nothing ordinary.

The bonito chips, while tasting very much like potato chips, it has however an intense flavor of seaweed, making it a delicious treat on its own. And the seaweed salad, has this rich, tangy taste making each bites a wonderful journey. Three quite different flavor combo; it will wipe completely your initial perception of what Fish 'n Chips is, and how far it could go. That's the highlight of the dinner for me.

Rolled Boneless Quail

Served with smoked freekeh; roasted cereal made from green wheat, sprinkled with pomegranate bits, the quail tasted rich, flavorful, with chunky meat that gives you good bites. The pomegranate itself provides bursts of sourness that compliment the quail, and put spikes in between the mellow freekeh.  

Beef Steak

Since I don't eat pork, the Pork Belly that ends the main dishes for the dinner was substituted with a beef steak for me. "Medium well" I answered the server upon questioned how I wanted my steak to be cooked.

While I eat carpaccio, steak tartar, and can accept blue-rare beef, I found out that the best moments for a steak to have a good balance of beefiness (that meat taste), and the flavorsome (that savory taste), is between  rare-medium and medium well; if it's too early it's better to eat sushi, and if it's too late then I'd better have gepuk or empal. So I just do a mental check every time I ordered steaks: am I in the mood for beefiness or flavorsome? And made my order accordingly.

And it was a blast; the steak was very good I'm thinking to order another round. That satisfied my week-long craving for a good meat.

Wild berries dessert

As it's not on the menu we almost think there's a last-minute change. However it wasn't, it's a surprise dessert before the big one came out. Since I also don't know what it's called let's just talk about how it taste: tart, sweet, creamy. While the first two came from the berries and the jam, the last came from the solid white bits which to my best guests are dehydrated coconut milk, because it tasted like that.

Tropic Thunder

Last and certainly not least, a bowl full with tidbits of delicacies, ranging from sweet, sour, creamy, starchy, gingery, together created a delicious taste journey. A nice closure to this dining experience.

After a light chat with our host for that dinner, we then got introduced to the duo chef who created the wonderful dishes of that dinner: Chef Dwayne Cheers from Alila Villas Soori, and Chef Brook Petrie from The Common Room Melbourne, Australia.

While the conversation among the dinner's guest was still going on, it was then already quite late for those not staying at the hotel, considering the 1 hour drive; so we have to bid farewell.

It was one insightful dinner to say the least, where we got a chance to be introduced to how Modern British cuisine looks and taste, and the talented masterminds behind them all. Thank you Alila Villas Soori for the invitation. (byms)

Alila Villas Soori
Banjar Dukuh, Desa Kelating, Kerambitan  Tabanan 82161, Indonesia
+62 361 8946388
Click for Google Maps location

http://www.alilahotels.com/soori
For reservation and information, contact soori@alilahotels.com

It's always been fascinating to know where Chef Will Meyrick headed for his next culinary journey. Why? Because he'll soon shares his journey, either in his travel blog, or in a Kitchen Sessions at one of his beautiful premises in Bali; Sarong in Petitenget, and Mama San in Seminyak. And Sarong this year, again receives a worthy notation in Asia's Mielle Guide Top 20 Restaurants 2013.

While he travels mostly around Asian countries, his recent trip is quite in the neighborhood: Bali. Was I ecstatic? For sure, Balinese culinary style has a lot of potentials, and I'm curious on how he will represent those into a fine dining cuisine.

The Visit

Mama San looks gorgeous in the afternoon; with its facade facing west, the setting sun creates this long shadows of everything, and bathed the restaurant's interior in its golden yellow rays.

Raechel was already there, in conversation with another guest for the Kitchen Sessions that night. After being introduced, I excused myself to capture the beautiful moments.

Since Chef Palm Amatawet was already manning his station, so I greeted him and managed to capture this picture of him in action, with his signature wide smile.

While waiting for all the guests to arrive, we were presented with this Balinese finger food which made from the spicy tangy Ayam Pelalah, wrapped in Betel Nut leaf and created this wonderful taste mix. (I eat three or four portions by the way; that good!).

The Dinner

As the food is ready, and all the guests seated, Will Meyrick greeted us, and as usual gave us introduction on the dinner theme for that night. Kitchen Sessions: Bali was born out of his interest in the cuisine of his own neighborhood, his home: Bali. He also explained that everything presented on that dinner are still using original Balinese seasoning; no messing around with the ingredients, and what he's altering is only its composition and balance.

"What you'll be missing though, are plates that wiped with dirty napkins, and food that's prepared with same hands used in handing out changes money to the buyers" said Will Meyrick jokingly.

Will also made a special note that all of the dishes recipe for that evening are came, from Sarong's own "secret weapon", Balinese Chef Budiana. Having been working together for so many years, Will is eager to introduce Budiana. This is important especially with him busy preparing the launching of his latest creation "E&O" in Mega Kuningan Jakarta, Budiana will be overseeing Will's homebase during he's away.

While Hendra is quite camera-conscious :), I couldn't get a good shot in such low lighting, so please excuse this rather candid shot of Chef Budiana. 

As with the dinner menu, for you familiar with Balinese cuisine then you'll find them easily recognizable: common, everyday sold Balinese dishes, right from the streets of Bali. Ready for the journey? Here we go:

Sup Kepala Ikan (Fish Head Soup)

I've read somewhere that serving whole fish to a westerner is a crazy idea, since westerners don't eat a face, hence a fish head soup must be a big no no. Well I had to admit that once, the idea of eating something's face is gross for me too, however after curiosity took over and I got introduced into Balinese Fish Head soup, there's no turning back.

Once you managed to "learn" it (ow yeah baby, it's an acquired taste), consistent with the rules that once a food with an acquired taste is liked, there's no substitute to it; now Fish Head Soup is among my favorite Balinese dishes.

Mama San's fish head soup though, came in a more subtle appearance: sliced snapper meat, in the familiar taste of Balinese fish head soup. What's different though, and I almost moaned out in excitement, is the flavor tuning that introduces heavy amount of sourness; something that's missing from its street food cousins.

The snapper meat itself is succulent and smooth, easily one of the most beautiful dish of that dinner.

For those who prefer the genuine eating experience of a fish head soup though, there's a whole snapper head presented on the table as well. However I hold myself from devouring the dish as eating a whole fish head requires time, patience, and sloppy hands; while the dinner is still early and I didn't want the gigantic head to stall my progress.

I did managed though, to scoop one of its eyes out, and devour the gelatinous fillings inside. A habit that turned out Raditya on the next seat fancy as well.

Udang Bakar Bumbu Plecing (Grilled Prawn in Plecing Sauce)

Coming up next, Will Meyrick's experiment on Plecing sauce. Well known for its super spicy flavor, Plecing applied at the dinner was resided on a more moderate level, meaning you still get the flavorful character of Plecing without having to sweat all over it.

The Udang Bakar Bumbu Plecing itself was accompanied by the Pepes Klengis (snapper with roasted coconut sediment), and Lawar Rumput Laut (Seaweed salad) which closely resembles Pulau Serangan's Jukut Bulung.

The grilled prawn itself tasted a degree too raw for my taste, since it still has this amaebi (sweet shrimp sushi) flesh character, but the dish itself is again, easy to like.

Serapah Sapi With Sup Buntut Ares (Beef Serapah with Banana stem and oxtail soup)

Among the dish I haven't been able to taste during my 3+ years of living in Bali, is Serapah; while it's name immediately reminds me of cursing ("sumpah serapah" means cursing in Indonesian), and on second thought it reminds me of a giraffe (Jerapah in Indonesia), this dish remotely resembles those two. It's a very exotic dish that immediately screams "rustic" and "delicious" at the same time.

The use of beef short ribs is perfect in this dish, since its strong beefy aroma mixes well with this Balinese version of black-pepper sauce. Its unique moderate peppery spiciness is the result of using Balinese Long Pepper.

What I found beautiful as well is the inclusion of chunky slices of kikil into the dish which adds to the texture.

Lawar

Next came the iconic dish of Balinese cuisine: Lawar. Usually presented only in traditional ceremonies, it finds way some while ago into everyday meal.

Still considered challenging by some, Lawar is a wonderful dish that truly represents Balinese taste; you should try this at least once in your visits to Bali.

The pork Lawar as pictured above, praised by many of the Balinese-based guest as really delicious. As for myself on the other hand, considering that was the first time I encountered Lawar too (now I admit it), can't make a comparison but found my beef Lawar really enjoyable. What I recognized immediately though, is the taste and aroma of corned beef, and strong traces of fried shallots.

Bebek Betutu (Balinese Roasted Duck)

What came next is the gigantic leaf parcel with burn marks, that emits a lovely herbal scent: it's the Bebek Betutu; Balinese Roasted Duck.

Preparing it on the other hand, was quite tricky, carving a Bebek Betutu it is not an easy feat, even for the experienced people at Mama San. Well some dishes are best eaten bare hand though, that's for sure.

Taste wise however, it's among the most succulent, creamy, smooth poultry I've ever had. With the smokey aroma sneaks in between the duck's mellow taste, and flavors lent by its herb-rich stuffing, it's another favorite from the dinner that night.

The Jukut Undis soup that accompanied the dish was also a good pairing; flavorful without being overpowering, it's among Balinese dishes that deserves more attention.

The cassava leaves in base genep seasoning is another good treat, but it just couldn't shake off the lingering taste of Bebek Betutu.

Desserts

To close our dinner, there's a variety of Jajan Bali usually found in traditional markets; however they're done with better ingredients so it was a new experience as well.

Some of the guests found them too sweet and they're maybe right, but taste wise they're simply good. A good closure to the taste journey Kitchen Sessions: Bali delivers that night.

The Aftermath

As always, some of the menu tasted in Kitchen Sessions will make it to Mama San's regular menu, while some don't. As winners of that dinner I'd surely recommends Bebek Betutu, Sup Kepala Ikan, and Serapah. The other dishes are wonderful but for me those three each represents the succulent, tangy, and robust character of Balinese cuisine.

And it's nice to see how a common daily Balinese dishes could be transformed into a fine dining experience, while still retaining its original characters. Thank you for the invitation Chef! (byms)

Alila Villas Soori will held a special dinner this month, featuring chef Brook Petrie from The Commoner restaurant in Fitzroy, Melbourne, Australia, and Alila Villas Soori's executive chef Dwayne Cheer.

The theme of the dinner is "Whisky Business", one of The Commoner's favorite seasonal menu last 2012, where they setup a full year themed dinner, each titled just like movie titles.

I'm curious whether it will be the exact same menu presented back at The Commoner, or something rather different, considering the chef Brook's tendency of using locally sourced - what's in season ingredients.

Chef Brook is well know for his "Modern British" cooking style, some even adds "Quirky" to his style, as testament of his unconventionality approach: a style most probably honed during his years as the chef of Peter Gordon's restaurant Providores in London. Peter Gordon himself is often credited as the 'godfather' of fusion cuisine.

Before working at Alila Villas Soori, executive chef Dwayne Cheer held the similar position at At.mosphere, the highest restaurant in the world at 422 metres on the 122nd floor of the Burj Khalifa, Dubai. Interestingly both chef Brook & Dwayne are from New Zealand. (byms)

When in the past it's been dishes new to my palate: Sri Lanka, and Burma, this time Will Meyrick is going to present his take on one familiar cuisine: Balinese!

For it's eye opening and taste portfolio enrichment, needless to say that Kitchen Sessions is among the most anticipated events in my foodie's calendar. Thank you Raechel & Will for extending the invitation. (byms)

Believed as one of the hottest dish in the world, Sri Lanka cuisine bore a similarity with Southern Indian cuisine. Sri Lankan dishes however, are more liberate in using spices, and has wide different influencers, including Chinese and the Dutch! Most of Sri Lankan dishes are curry, or includes coconut in one way or another.

Just like Indonesian, Sri Lankan staple carbohydrate source is rice, however it also includes some types of bread similar with India. Sri Lankan cuisine also consisted of chutneys and pickles. They have a national condiment called sambols, made with mixing chili, maldive dried fish and other ingredients then grounded together and eaten with rice. Sounds strikingly similar with Indonesian sambals don't you think so?

Seeing the similarities, it's interesting to know that Chef Will Meyrick has completed another one of his culinary journey, and invited us again to the Kitchen Sessions table for a taste of his Sri Lankan influenced creations. Graciously sharing what he need to experience in weeks, into one saturated dining experience.

Unlike the last time, this Kitchen Sessions: Sri Lanka was held at Sarong; Will Meyrick's flagship fine dining restaurant in Bali.

About Sarong

Sarong is one of Bali's best restaurants, award winning, and is among the forerunner Indonesian restaurants on regional culinary scenery. Will opened Sarong back in 2008 as a testament of his love for Asian cooking. Compared with its sister venue Mama San, Sarong has a more elegant atmosphere, and thankfully higher lumens making carrying around the heavy DSLR worth it.

Walking toward the entrance, I look around searching for the garden patio where Sarong usually puts their spontaneous guests; those without booking reservation in advance. Some people at Trip Advisor website actually were wishing they could be seated there, but they could not since it wasn't available for advance reservation; making it more challenging due to its exclusivity.

Seeing the all-black uniform Sarong staff wears, I felt lucky I don't wear my usual black shirt that night, and managed to snatch my rarely worn batik instead. Batik is actually a quite safe choice for more formal occasions in Bali, as they're beautiful, and you can bet that Balinese will prefer to wear Balinese influenced outfits in their homeland.

Besides of Raechel, I also found the familiar smile of Adam Baxter that evening. However Chef Palm Amatawet was missing from the whole dinner. As with the guests, they're either new, or weren't in the same batch with me on the previous Kitchen Session dinner. However this time they're mostly coming from magazines covering Bali.

The Taste Journey

Our first dish of the dinner was Kirri Houdi with crabmeat. Kirri Houdi is a Sri Lankan style curry many foodies believes as comfort food, just like the American chicken soup. While I think the curry tasted a bit mellow, the crabmeat however was bursting with flavour, creating such a nice contrast.

The bitter gourd which came next, was surprising in its dried, jerky state. As it has lost most of its bitterness, drying further elevates its flavour, making it a nice chewy bits among the salad and its coconut vinegar dressing. This Bitter gourd and tomato salad with coconut vinegar, chilli, and black pepper dressing provided interesting surprise since usually in Indonesia bitter gourd is cooked with scrambled egg, stir fried, and many other ways but jerky.

The next salad got me thinking that it contains potato chips. However after some bites then I realized it was banana, non-sweet one, which better known as plantain. The addition of onion and curry leaf lend intensity to the rather plain plantains. This Crisply plantain salad with tomato, onion, chilli and lime also reminded me of having roasted lamb with fried banana, instead of rice, upon trying out the Sate Domba Afrika in Tanah Abang, Jakarta. That's when I became aware that banana is a staple carbohydrate source in many African countries.

Sweet potato with dried maldive fish, onion and curry leaf was another interesting combo. The use of sweet potato instead of the regular, adds sweetness in between the pool of creamy coconut milk gravy. It reminded me of my mother's potato curry, only this time it is combined with dried fish that closely resembling Indonesian ikan teri; a combo that turned out works beautifully.

The Prawn curry with kelor leaf, fenugreek seed, curry leaf and green chilli looks strikingly vibrant, and very inviting in its orange-ish colour  It's sweet, creamy and savoury; one of the dinner's highlight. The kelor leaf included as garnish comes as a good talk piece that night, since many of the Indonesian audience that evening have already familiar with the phrase "dunia tidak selebar daun kelor" but none knows how it looks like. Turned out it tasted exotic, sweet with a tad bitterness, a quite flavourful complimentary to the savoury prawn curry.

Stir fried kangkung with turmeric, shallots and chilli is a simple and modest dish, resembling the familiar tumis kangkung taste usually found in Indonesian home kitchens.

The third round introduces us to a coin-shaped cakes made from shredded coconut, which instantly reminds me of wingko babat, an Indonesian delicacy from Eastern Java. It also tasted like one, except that it's unsweetened, and has dryer consistency almost like sago cakes. Wrapped in banana leaves then chargrilled, it traps the coconut aroma and smoke within, making each bite a pleasant experience. Combined with three different dipping sauces, and read bean dhal, it paired well with the curries as well. It is also among the audience's most favourite dish, another highlight of the dinner. I believe this Chargrilled coconut cakes wrapped in banana leaves is Will's take on Sri Lankan Coconut Roti.

Apple eggplant lend its sweetness to the creamy curry which came next, and resulted in an analogous flavour scheme. Ela Batu is the name of this dish in Sri Lanka, and is a quite common curry both in Sri Lanka and in Thailand. While it tasted all right with the coconut cakes, I think this Apple eggplant curry with pandan leaf, light masala and coconut milk pairs much better with rice.

Beetroot and bone marrow curry with mustard seeds looks a bit intimidating with its towering bone, and the blood-red curry surrounding it. Beetroot curry however, is one of Sri Lanka's national signature dish, hence its presence on that evening was quite necessary. Taste wise it tends to lies on the sweet creamy side, while the tiny bone marrow bits lend mostly its gelatinous texture, as it has no distinctive flavour itself, as the beetroot is quite overpowering.

The chicken curry that opened the fourth round promotes a very nice taste experience. Enriched with chilli and tomato, the curry gained its extra punch from tamarind, making the curry velvety, rich, and South East Asian exotic. Gaulle chicken curry simmered in tamarind, chilli, tomato and black pepper was among my favourite performers of that evening for sure.

Slow cooked lamb curry with coriander, cumin, lemongrass and curry leaves provided all the lamb curry goodness should: creamy, savoury, with succulent almost melt in your mouth lamb chunks.

Crispy eggplant relish with roasted shallots, mustard seed, dried salted fish, coconut vinegar and curry leaf provides a good closing with its tad sour dressing, closely resembling the bitter gourd salad that came earlier, only this time it included salted fish bites.

Kitchen Sessions: Sri Lanka was closed with selections of Gulab jamon, pineapple praline, and pineapple sorbet as desserts.

The Gulab jamon looks like wedang ronde with its mochi balls, only it is bathed not in ginger, but in sweet syrup heavily dosed with cardamom. And the balls are dark brown, made from milk, interestingly spongy, resembling very light watery doughnut balls. While the flavour was quite light, it provides a pleasing taste experience.

Pineapple praline is pineapple slices covered with praline nougat bits, somehow reminded me of Bandung, especially the Citarum's batter-fried jackfruit, and pineapple: among Bandung's unique snack that stands the test of time.

The sorbet was smooth and refreshing. A good closure to the all-creamy dishes that evening.

A note on Chef Will Meyrick's cooking

After two cuisines inside my belly, and referring to my Art History class back in college, I found Will's cooking closely resembles an impressionism painting: they're made of tiny colour bits, quite different one to another at times, however in the bigger picture they create a harmony.

Will is fond of stacking layers of contrasting taste in his cooking  He is also quite bold with herbs and spices, at times putting strips of cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, and even a whole bird-eye chilli! This practice provides the distinct, striking flavour burst that compliments the whole dish; just like chocolate chips bits on a cupcake.

While Will many times playing in the dangerous zone of almost too much, however in the end they helps in providing the necessary sparks.

The aftermath

Just like the last Kitchen Sessions Burma, this dinner too created a lingering experience, not on the dishes alone but on its ideas as well, which provoked some questions like:

Judging from the taste, and the fun, it's a wonder why Indonesian never included banana chips in their salad dishes just like in Will's Plantain salad; they're gorgeous, and many home industries in Lampung have shown that Indonesian can produce good quality banana chips. And it's not a secret that Indonesian loves crackers. Gado-gado with plantain chips anyone?

Foodies and cooks can achieve a lot of inspirations with such eye-opening dinners like this Kitchen Sessions, where chefs dare to be creative, and playful in their creations. Inspiration leads to imagination, and imagination is priceless. Something worth to follow by other creative chefs alike.

"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” ~Albert Einstein

As a closing note: sparkling mineral water fits perfectly with curries! (byms)