Timeless Italian flavours

Never assume that only Italians excel in Italian cuisine. Chef Derrar Hassane from Algeria is a fine example, writes TAN BEE HONG

IT may be a hot day but the fire in the stone pizza oven casts a spell on customers at Ristorante L’Opera. Or perhaps it’s the smell of baking bread...

Located at ground level of the new boutique Piccolo Hotel in Jalan Bukit Bintang, the restaurant exudes a certain charm in its airy atmosphere. Decor is simple with black wooden tables set off by chairs in orange and brown hues.

Most customers are drawn to the pizza bar where tall French windows let in light and allows them to watch pedestrians along busy Bintang Walk.

In the kitchen is chef Derrar Hassane, an Algerian with a deep passion for Italian cuisine. “My philosophy is to preserve colour and aroma and to be true to the purity of ingredients,” he says. “Taste is the ultimate appraisal of a dish.”

He believes that food should look as good as it tastes and works towards getting “a timeless blend of flavours that crosses geographical boundaries”. This he achieves through the creative use of different coloured vegetables.

Not only that, but Derrar is also known for his concern for the environment. “I don’t believe in wastage,” he says firmly. “I try never to throw away anything edible.”

With Derrar, it’s not just talk. For instance, his dish of grilled aubergines with basil dressing calls for shaving off part of the aubergine skin. He cleverly deepfries the shavings and uses them to top the layers of aubergine, mozarella cheese and tomato. No waste and lots of taste. On the side are little cherry tomatoes. You simply have to eat the yellow ones. These have an awesome flavour of raisins.

According to Piccolo Mondo managing director Suzianna Wong Svrcula, the affable chef is also trying to grow herbs the organic way on the hotel rooftop so that he can use “the freshest and tastiest possible.”

While waiting for the food to arrive, customers can nibble on plain pizza bread with three types of dips.

Start with a soup like minestrone (RM22), an Italian traditional vegetable soup served with a short shaped pasta or tortellini in brood di pomodoro (RM26) beef tortellini served in clear tomato broth and basil leaves and a seafood soup.

There is an aromatic vegetable soup made with creamed cauliflower, potato, leek and onions. Just before serving, two slices of foie gras are added and the soup is drizzled with truffle oil.

Salads and appetisers are popular at L’Opera, with quite a range to choose from. There is the subtle fragrance of saffron in Pollo Allo Zafferano, a salad that combines sliced baked chicken thigh marinated in saffron with herbs, tomato and French beans. Derrar keeps the juices from the baking tin, adding a squeeze of lemon to make a dressing for the salad.

But I’m totally in love with his Avomela, a gorgeous salad with chunks of avocado and green apple, arugula and gorgonzola cheese and walnuts in a tangerine dressing. The citrusy edge of the dressing and the fruity apple make good partners.

Equally lovely is the Ratatouille Linguine, tossed with chicken breast, bell peppers, peas, porcini mushrooms and oregano.

“All pasta is made in the house,” says Derrar. “For this dish, we use a tomato linguine.”

The bell peppers, roasted and skinned are fabulous. Just as they are in the Pasta Milanese, a vegetarian offering with the peppers and other grilled vegetables. The papardelle-like flat, broad pasta is tossed with a tomato-based sauce. Simple, yet stunning.

If you like risotto, there the delicious risotto Nero calamari, a gleaming dish of inky black rice with wilted spinach.

You may not appreciate the rice turned black with squid ink but one mouthful is all that’s needed to change your mind. It’s creamy and fragrant with the strong smell of the sea.

Or have paella Italiana. Each grain of rice is perfectly cooked, cocooned in a riot of flavours from the chicken, mussels, prawns, clams, squid, octopus and fish and scented with saffron, garlic and black olives.

Pasta also comes with Asian flavours. There’s one with Thai spices (RM25), with garlic, olive oil, salted fish and Thai basil as well as an Asian seafood pasta (RM30) with garlic, chili padi, Thai basil, olive oil, shrimps, squids and mussels.

The roasted lamb loin with roasted potatoes, ratatouille and prune sauce is tender and juicy. But what I enjoy even more is panfried duck breast with orange sauce and polenta croquettes. Though I thought them a tad on the salty side, the polenta had a good texture. The slices of duck are juicy with just the tiniest gamey hint that makes the bird so endearing.

For dessert, there’s panna cotta, slippery soft and served with a home-made basil apricot jam as well as lightly poached pears with a custardy amaretto zabaglione.

L’Opera also offers a three-course set lunch on weekdays at RM35++. The menu changes weekly.

RISTORANTE L’OPERA

Piccolo Galleria

Jalan Bukit Bintang, KL

Tel: 03-2144 7808