MANY COME TO BALI FOR THE CULTURE, LANDSCAPES, SHOPPING AND CLIMATE. NOW THERE IS A NEW REASON: CHRIS SALANS’ WORLD-CLASS GASTRONOMY AT MOZAIC RESTAURANT CULINAIRE, A MINI-EMPIRE THAT MAY SOON INCLUDE A HOSPITALITY SCHOOL.
IT IS A FULL HOUSE AT MOZAIC. The dining room and garden area gently hum with the sound of satisfied guests. The burly figure of chef-owner Chris Salans can be seen in the open-plan kitchen. He is applying his gastronomic genius to each dish, whisking, stirring, turning and adorning with the grace of a shadow puppeteer. It is mesmerising to watch. No dish leaves the kitchen without passing through his hands. His pursuit for perfection leaves no room for a slip of the puppet strings. Every second counts and he must produce a stellar performance night after night. The pressure is on and has only become more intense as Chris’ reputation has grown since he opened Mozaic three years ago. At the time, Chris worried about the restaurant’s relative isolation. But despite being located in the temperate hills of Ubud, Bali’s cultural heart an hour’s drive from Denpasar; Mozaic has won a loyal following. It is often lauded as Indonesia’s best restaurant and compared to the finest in Europe (at a fraction of the price). Certainly, it is the first and only restaurant in this sprawling archipelago – and among just two in Southeast Asia to be awarded a member of the exclusive Les Grandes Tables du Monde (The Best Tables of the World), by Traditions & Qualité. That places it in the company of the world’s best French restaurants including Lucas Carton (Alain Senderens) in Paris and The French Laundry (Thomas A Keller) in Napa Valley. It is no coincidence Chris trained under both of these luminaries after graduating from Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris.
Like many successful chefs, Chris’ passion for cooking began at home. His mother, from the Sologne region in France famous for its game and mushrooms, brought him up to appreciate fresh, home cooking and good wine.
It was under David Bouley in New York that he developed an awe forAsian cuisine. This would lead him to Bali and a love affair not just with his future wife - whom he married in 1997 in a traditional Javanese ceremony - but with the culture, language and flavours necessary for his inspired creations.
Today, Chris merges Modern French techniques of cooking and presentation with local ingredients and flavours. The result is not fusion so much as an instinctive creativity that defies accepted doctrines. There is no one word to describe it, and the 34-year-old is blushingly reluctant to talk about his food. During an interview, he is more concerned that this article recognise the contributions of his sous chefs Ida Bagus Mardita and Wayan Sudarsana and manager Cokorda Bagus Senajaya. Luckily, there is no shortage of credible fans willing to offer their views.