Review: Potager and Odette’s four-hands collaboration was a showcase of culinary finesse
One for the books
It was a glorious show of pure talent at Potager as two culinary legends united in one kitchen. Masashi Horiuchi and his brigade at the revered Bamboo Hills restaurant opened their doors to Julien Royer and his team of three Michelin-starred Odette from 17 to 18 April for a four-hands dining spectacle. Selling out in a matter of minutes, a seat at one of these tables was among the hottest commodities on the local foodie landscape from the moment the event was announced.
We were one of the lucky few, who got to experience the artistry from both teams first-hand. Hosted in Potager’s bright dining room, the meal was met with major adoration and admiration from diners from start to finish. Ahead, you’ll find our complete recap of the dining experience courtesy of the two iconic restaurants.
A BRIEF INTRODUCTION
Potager quickly ascended to become one of Kuala Lumpur’s leading restaurants after its debut in September 2023. In December of that year, it took home the title of ‘Best New Restaurant’ at the BURO Impact Awards. With chef Horiuchi at the helm, Potager’s cuisine is a delicate dance between French and Japanese flavours on a menu that pays homage to all the lands and hands that its ingredients came from. Chef Horiuchi’s early years were spent growing and selling vegetables with his grandfather in Fukuoka, Japan, kickstarting his appreciation for nature and the culinary spirit.
Meanwhile, Odette has been collecting accolades and laurels since its inception in 2015, most notably earning the top title on the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list in 2020. Its location in the Supreme Court wing of the National Gallery Singapore is as elegant as its menu, which Royer curates to ensure minimal waste is produced. Having been born into a family of farmers from Cantal, France, it is no wonder that chef Royer is dedicated to the craft of displaying the best of what nature has to offer in his food. It is this mutual love and respect for the bounty of the land that brought together these two maestros and their teams.
AMUSE BOUCHE
Kicking off the nine-part meal was a quartet of bites, two from the Potager kitchen and another two from Odette’s. We start with the botan ebi taco, a playful combination of textures as the crispy shell was met with the succulence of the shrimp and a slight spice from the yuzu kosho and salsa.
Next, the green pea tart was an intricate arrangement of green peas split in half within a tartlet shell that is filled with pea purée and topped with local caviar. Best eaten in one bite, this mouthful was a symphony of subtle—yet profound—flavours with the slight salinity and richness of the caviar blending seamlessly with the sweetness from the peas.
For our third starter, we bit into a spherical dream that was Royer’s Saint-Nectaire cheese doughnut, an ode to his hometown. Though it was simple in appearance, we’re sure its cooking process was anything but, as the final result was a cloud-like morsel perfectly accentuated with nutty and earthy notes from the cheese. We then moved on to our final starting bite: a duck, foie gras, and fig jam combination that was the model example of how to pair sweet elements with rich umami tones.
MUSHROOM TEA
For our second course, we were presented with a surprise dish that didn’t appear on the menu: mushroom tea. There were three main components to this dish: the tea itself, a mushroom sabayon, and mushroom toast. “This is a recipe that hasn’t been changed since Odette’s first menu,” states Royer with pride as he pours the tea into our cups of sabayon, making a cappuccino-like broth meant for sipping.
Pearls of buckwheat and walnuts in the sabayon added a pleasant bite to each spoonful of the tea, which was a haven of umami notes. Meanwhile, the toast—topped with paper thin slices of button mushrooms—introduced an element of crunch to enjoy alongside the sabayon and tea combination.
UNI CAVIAR
A signature from Odette’s repertoire, this course was a show of culinary craftsmanship, exemplifying Royer’s deep understanding of flavour and texture combinations. This standout segment of the meal was a double dose of decadence with two components served, each putting uni on centre stage.
The first takes the already luxe Kita Murasaki uni and further elevates it with the addition of a Carabinero prawn tartare, Granny Smith apples, a dollop of silky crème fraîche, and—of course—caviar. Served alongside this is a small but mighty uni toast, glazed with dashi and yuzu zest for a touch of freshness.
CORN
When Potager first started welcoming diners into its space, there was a single dish that struck the chords of almost every patron. Paying homage to the bountiful produce of Cameron Highlands, ‘All of Corn’ is a dish that sticks with you long after the meal concludes. It presents the humble corn in four different ways, putting the ingredient to full use and showcasing its potential.
First, we were presented with a delightfully sweet corn velouté, combined with truffle milk foam, toasted corn kernels, and pickled baby corn. The plate is topped with a corn tuile that we broke into the sauce to enjoy. Besides the velouté are a corn jelly topped with local caviar, crispy corn kernels, a corn bread bite, and a Potager loaf to share between two. According to Horiuchi, the best way to enjoy the corn jelly was by mixing it into the velouté for the ultimate mouthful.
LANGOUSTINE
Moving on to yet another standout dish, Odette’s langoustine dumpling with vin jaune sauce and black truffle. It arrives at the table as a simple—yet elegantly creative—plate with the dumpling and a shiso leaf beneath a crystal clear dashi and vin jaune jelly disc. The showmanship then begins with the pouring of the glossy sauce and the shaving of black truffles.
After taking a single bite of this dish, it dawned on me that no other dumpling would compare from that moment on. The langoustine was perfectly cooked, while the sauce wasn’t overpowering and uplifted the aromas from the truffles. Meanwhile, the shiso leaf was a welcome addition to each mouthful with its herbaceous fragrance cutting through each mouthful.
SAWARA
The sawara dish came from the Potager team and was one that Horiuchi was particularly proud of, based on the beaming smile on his face during his dish introduction. The sawara—or Spanish mackerel—was sourced from the coasts of Sabah and cooked on a Josper grill before being served atop of lacto-fermented potato mille-feuille. On the plate, it was accompanied by paprika-smoked mussels, a seared Hokkaido scallop, and a watercress-coconut reduction sauce.
To top things off, Horiuchi grated fresh wasabi for an extra kick and aromatic layer to the dish. An ode to the sea, the dish presented contradicting flavours in a manner that simply worked. Tied together with the sauce, each component held its own distinct flavours that blended well with one another at the same time.
PIGEON
For our star main, we were served an exquisitely cooked pigeon that had been crusted with Kampot peppers for a spicy yet sweet touch to the dish. The perfectly pink pigeon—which was fed a chestnut-only diet—was paired with a fragrant serving of koshihikari rice adorned with the best produce of the season.
The colourful medley included morel mushrooms, green and white asparagus, and broad beans. To bring it to the next level, the team added cubed egg yolks, egg whites, crispy chicken skin, and pigeon skin into the medley. While the pigeon is usually served with a bao at Odette, Horiuchi and Royer decided to use this rice dish for the special occassion.
PALATE CLEANSER AND DESSERTS
Our palate cleansers arrived with some fun and whimsy as we were challenged to guess the flavours of the granitas and sorbets. After a few curious mouthfuls, we found out that they were belimbing, soursop, mangosteen, lemongrass, and dry longan. Then came “Blanc”, an aptly named dessert of amazaki pudding with Hokkaido milk vanilla ice cream, salted caramel, fermented rice crispies and milk powder. Creamy, mild, and smooth, the dish was a vanilla lover’s dream.
To conclude the meal, a colourful army of bite-sized treats appeared before us with recipes originating from both Potager and Odette’s kitchen. This final course comprised matcha marshmallow lollipops, chocolate tarts with fresh tonka beans, lemon tarts, espresso fudge, and strawberry tart.
While I wish the meal lasted forever, I left Potager’s grounds not only with a full stomach but also a full heart. The entire experience was what I like to call “bucket list material” and I remain hopeful for a future of more exciting and meaningful collaborations such as this one.
For more food and drink content, click here.
| SHARE THE STORY | |
| Explore More |
