Heartfelt Japanese-Italian cooking at La D’Oro

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La D’Oro #01-16/17 Mandarin Gallery 333A Orchard Road Singapore 239987 Tel: 8382-6200 Open for lunch and dinner Mon to Sat: 12pm to 3pm; 5pm to 10pm

SOMETIMES, life brings you to a crossroads. Or Mandarin Gallery, with its nasty habit of not telling you which way the mall or hotel is. For chef Yohhei Sasaki, his Japanese-Italian cooking path has led him to La D’Oro – on the first floor of a shopping centre so direction-unfriendly, no signage wants to work there.

Restaurants, he’s helmed a few. L’Operetta, Forlino and most recently, il Cielo. Long enough for him to earn his own stage, instead of fitting into other people’s kitchens. And he doesn’t waste the opportunity either, with a menu that’s equal parts Italian authenticity and Japanese sensibilities. A good dollop of his heart and soul helps too.

It’s the latter that warms the chilly, semi-dark and semi-private dining room where he holds court now. A secret sliding door hides it from the bigger restaurant space, which serves antipasti, pizza and pasta to lost souls who can’t find the shop they’re looking for.

Looks-wise, think gentlemen’s club crossed with airport business class lounge – especially the kind with the inner sanctum where only real first-class passengers get to eat Imperial Treasure dim sum served on fancy chinaware. Outside, you’re drawn to the pastries in a chilled display first, then an all-black interior softened with warm lighting. Leather banquettes and wall-high displays of trophy wines make your wallet want to run for cover, but hold tight. The casual menu is still within reach.

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You don’t have to pay first-class airfares for a seat within Sasaki’s domain, but you’ll still spend a pretty penny for the privilege. Dinner costs S$188 for 5 courses and S$258 for 8 without supplements. (Lunch starts at S$98 for 3 courses.) Since you’re already there, you may as well take the unabridged version, just to taste his entire repertoire.

It starts with the sight of Sasaki himself, floppy-haired and all smiles and earnestness, grinning as he looks up from massaging a bunch of white towels – or so our eyes think. When they adjust to the dimness, it turns out he’s been scraping curls of fresh Raspadura cheese from a large milky white wheel, for us to snack on during the meal. It’s the mild-mannered cousin of Parmigiano – very slightly salty and addictive, with a tender-grainy texture.

We sit around a counter, Japanese kappo style, nibbling cheese off a faux marble stump and trying not to break the precarious tall glass sculpture that Sasaki has tucked his snacks into. Reach into the crevices and pull out a tiny croquette of warm, cosy, crabby creaminess filling out its delicate crumbed crust, crowned with a dab of oscietra caviar. Next is an anchovy-lover’s bruschetta of crunchy toast, yuzu butter, and salty but mellow fish; we prefer the Italian “sushi” of crunchy rice cracker, bincho-kissed isaki or grunt fish sashimi, topped with ikura pearls.

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Sasaki doesn’t cut corners at this price, so even the bread is house-made and good – walnut bread, lavosh and brioche that stay soft and resilient the whole evening.

It’s autumn in Japan, hence the inspiration for his menu.Takibi or bonfire is the cue for grilled mackerel infused in smoke, sitting on creamy burrata sauce with shredded ginger flower to lift the richness. Add a twisty charcoal cracker and a realistic leaf made out of pressed eggplant and you have looks, taste and smell in one pretty package.

You know Sasaki has been in Singapore a long time when he knows the concept of “soup” and “dry”. He spins it into a 2-in-1 wagyu carpaccio featuring snow-aged Niigata A4 beef slices, lightly brushed over coals and assembled with porcini mushrooms in various permutations – cream, crunchy meringue puffs and freeze-dried powder. Half of it, garnished with black truffle and soba crispies, has the full porcini flavour, while the other half’s beefy side is served with a hot wagyu consommé. The soup is the best, as it mixes with the porcini cream for a rich, hearty shabu of sorts.

Hokkaido sea urchin (at a S$25 supplement) is rich and unctuous, and literally just pasta and uni bonding in noodle matrimony. If you don’t like couples getting mushy in public, it’s the same here, as the linguini doesn’t have enough bite to counter the over-possessive uni. A little more al dente, a little less cloying, and you’d have a match made in heaven.

Meanwhile, Japan meets Sicily as grilled tachiuo or belt fish is paired with basil pesto, tomato sauce, almonds, and black garlic foam – components of a traditional Trapanese sauce, presented separately instead. Scoop them all up, and you get the respective flavours all popping at the same time.

For the mains, it pains us to cough up an extra S$40 for the A5 Sendai wagyu, but when its richness meets fruity and spicy green apple sauce, it’s a notch above the duck breast option. Still, the latter passes muster, served with a skinny spring roll cigar and a forest-inspired mixture of chanterelle mushrooms and chestnuts.

Sasaki saves the absolute best for last – and it’s stunning in its simplicity. Slinky, slippery “aglio olio” bathed in a sauce from a reduced broth of 3 types of chicken – French (Malaysia-bred), Australian and black – and noodles made with Italian semolina but cut ramen-style. Take it from a guy who was so poor he survived on aglio olio in Italy. He’s made something that the high-net-worth crowd would lust for.

Sasaki reserves stage time for pastry chef Ohata Keiichi, whom he wooed over to Singapore from the 2 Michelin-starred La Cime in Osaka. Together, they turn Sasaki’s love for lime juice and Coca Cola into a surprisingly punchy combo of Yamagata cola jelly and calamansi sorbet. And can jackfruit espuma ever be friends with Kyoho grapes and its powder? Absolutely, especially with rice crackers for crunch.

While a lighter hand with the salt and cleaner flavours could be worth looking into, Sasaki’s found a strong footing at La D’Oro. He may have taken a circuitous route, but he’s definitely on the right path.

Rating: 7.5