THE NOTION OF tiny chips of colour artfully arranged to create an impacting image is a very fitting one for chef Chris Salans' food. It derives both from his French-America roots and from an unabashed love of Asia, a true 'fusion' that comes artfully and precisely wrapped. And unlike many other attempts, this cultural mélange that he calls 'market cooking' really works!
A lush tropical garden, candlelit at nights, is the setting for Salans' culinary adventures, complex combination of local seasonal foods married deftly with an extensive selection of high quality air-freighted components.
So, the house Caesar salad transpires to be two polenta-crusted soft-shell crabs stacked on a tousled pile of anchovy mayo-dressed shredded lettuce, capped with a parmesan wafer, while the succulent suckling pork 'provencal' has adopted a honey soy crackling and accompaniments of young jackfruit and cape mushrooms.
Beef is sourced from King Island, lamb from Gippsland, and salmon from Tasmania, but the other fish is local and super-fresh. A thick slice of jobfish, pure white, moist and meaty, is simply anointed with a surprisingly compatible chanterelle and ginger sauce; the king snapper is lapped by a lemon ginger balsamic meuniere. Salans, who was cooked with David Bouley in New York, takes from both west and east and, unlike many who have tried before, manages to merge both cultures successfully.
Don't be perturbed by his rather lengthy menu descriptions, necessary for those who don't like surprises (or find the candlelight too subtle to appreciate the look as well as the flavor of the meal) - just swallow with trust. And be sure to indulge your sweet tooth with such heady combos as sweet basil and spice poached persimmons, mangosteens with ginger ice-cream, or the exemplary fluffy lemon curd meringue tart with kaffir lime custard.
Don't, however, let the tranquility of the setting divert you from very carefully considering the wine list, by Bali standards and adventurous one, with appetite-suppressant prices (because of high excise levies).