KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 28 — All over the world, Spanish flavours are popping up on the dining scene. This year, Spanish restaurant El Celler de Cane Roca topped the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list.
Other Spanish restaurants like Mugaritz and Arzak also made it to the top 10, making modern Spanish cuisine the hot ticket on the dining scene.
Unlike Singapore, Kuala Lumpur’s restaurants tend to be lacklustre. Most times, chefs from Europe are more attracted to the bustling gourmet scene down south.
Well, we’re lucky that Toni Valero Ruiz, 26, decided differently. The young Spanish chef wanted a challenge. That’s why he took up a job as head chef for Ohla Tapas & Cocktails in The Intermark. With that role, he hopes to introduce excellent Spanish food and wine to Kuala Lumpur.
Walk into the five-month-old Ohla and what grabs your eye is the long bar counter that fronts the open kitchen. It’s the best seat in the house.
Like a friend once remarked, it’s like watching the Masterchef reality television show play out “live” in front of your eyes. Sit here and you will be riveted by the movements of Ruiz and his crew working in harmony to come out with the fabulous small plates.
Taking pride of place in the kitchen is the Spanish Josper Oven – a hybrid with grill and oven functions that uses charcoal instead of electricity. According to Ruiz, the oven is capable of reaching temperatures as high as 400 to 500 degrees Celsius. However, he admits it can be a tad difficult to control. “The food cooked inside it is totally different. In Spain, we have a long tradition to use charcoal in cooking so all the smoky flavours are in our food, especially items like the lamb and suckling pig,” says Ruiz.
One of the pleasures in Spain is the tapas tradition – friends gathering together over drinks and nibbling on small plates. “In Spain our most famous concept is a tapas bar where chefs cook inside an open kitchen with nothing hide. You can speak to the chef who will explain the food,” explains Ruiz.
Unlike a traditional tapas bar, Ohla is what Ruiz terms, “a gastronomic bar” with a modern outlook. “We try and export the best produce from Spain, cook it the best way we know for the people.” Even though the food quality is on par with the best tables in Kuala Lumpur, Ruiz believes Ohla is a different ball game from the fine dining establishments. “The difference is the ambience as there are no tables and it’s just casual. That is the concept of a gastronomic bar that serves very nice food.”
The menu is a compact one with 15 items that showcases various regional food from Spain including Ruiz’s Catalan roots. “There are many differences in the various regions and the menu shows a breadth of Spain.” Even though Spanish cooking has evolved, its character is grounded in traditional recipes that hold fond memories of the past.
Ruiz incorporates what he remembers best from his childhood, like the Arroz Negro con all i oli or Mediterranean seafood black rice with an aioli, cooked by his mother. Using Spanish Bomba rice, each grain is infused with a rich lobster stock and mixed with squid ink. Fresh langoustines top the aromatic rice. You mix the smoky tasting garlic aioli with the rice to enjoy the seafood infused dish.
Ruiz’s family recipe for samfaina or slow roasted vegetables like eggplant, red peppers and thyme, also appears together with pan fried tuna dusted with caper dust to create a modern dish. Ruiz explains that the samfaina is similar to the French ratatouille.
Spanish food has the influence of its neighbours like Italy, as seen in the Canelon de Pollo con Setas y Aceite Verde or Roasted chicken cannelloni with mushrooms and parsley oil. This dish is a tradition in Catalunya, where it is served every Sunday. Other regions like Segovia in the mid-west of Spain is represented by the Cochinillo Iberico con Verduras or Slow Cooked Iberico suckling pig with vegetables. Ruiz uses the prized black Iberico pig which has a fork tender texture and a crispy skin.
Keeping the flavours as authentic as possible, Ruiz sources for his ingredients from Spain. “I try to import everything from Spain like the octopus, bomba rice, Iberico pig, monkfish and even the foie gras,” says Ruiz. It’s interesting to note that Ohla is one of the rare establishments that brings in fresh foie gras. The duck liver is pan fried and its creamy texture is excellent when mixed with the truffle potato puree and confit egg. Even the taste of the Spanish grilled octopus is different since the Mediterranean sea it is sourced from has warmer temperatures.
Ruiz’s magical touch elevates even a simple pumpkin soup. The creamy soup is paired with broccoli couscous, beetroot cubes, pumpkin seeds and oil with orange segments. “The combination of pumpkin with the orange gives fresh warm flavours that explode in the mouth,” says Ruiz.
Ruiz’s culinary background boasts of stints in London and Barcelona, including at Michelin star establishments like El Cellar de Cane Roca and Mugaritz. Ohla is his first foray into Asia, as he decided to move away from the stressful restaurant world in Spain to explore the world. “It is a new phase for me that allows me to clean my mind after the pressure,” says Ruiz.
In the kitchen, Ruiz works with a crew of chefs from Myanmar and the Phillipines whom he has taught how to prepare the Spanish fare. Even in his absence, the crew have proven to be able to consistently produce the same quality of food, demonstrating consistency, which Ruiz believes in strongly to pull in customers. “One of the first things the Michelin star reviewers do is they visit the restaurant for a few times to ensure it follows the same level all the time. It does not matter if the chef is not there or the waiter is sick in the hospital. The food must be the same, as the people will be the same.”
Also in attendance is another Spaniard, restaurant manager Ferran Benavent who is in charge of the wines and the waiters. Like the tapas menu, the wine and cocktail list features Spanish wines, cava and beer. “We want to show that Spanish food and wine is the same level of quality as France and Italy,” explains Ruiz. In future, Ruiz hopes to bring in Spanish sparkling water. Moving forward, Ruiz plans to open the place for lunch. The bistro styled menu will be based on the market specials and rotate daily.
Ohla Tapas & Cocktails, Lot G-18, The Intermark, 348, Jalan Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur. Tel:017- 8700536. Prices for the tapas range from RM22 to RM100. https://www.facebook.com/OhlaTapasCocktails
This story was first published in Crave in the print edition of The Malay Mail on December 27, 2013.
