Affection for imperfection

WHEN John Legend croons about perfect imperfections in his latest radio hit, he may well be singing about Italian chef Lorenzo Cogo. While most chefs slave for days and weeks to pin down that elusive perfect balance between sweet, savoury, bitter, sour and umami flavours, the 27-year-old Italian chef is quite happy to tip the scales intentionally.

The chef-owner of one-Michelin-starred restaurant El Coq in Vicenza, 70km outside of Venice, elaborates: "I love playing with flavours. Sometimes a dish may be too bitter or too sour - but it's all on purpose, done to prove a point and leave an impact."

Chef Cogo was in town earlier this month for a guest chef stint at the Tippling Club as part of the World Gourmet Summit. In the 17-course tasting menu he presented was a quenelle of cardamom ice-cream topped with a single string of carob tagliolini and finished off, table-side, with a pour of banana-infused grappa. The subtly sweet dessert had a surprising mouthcoating umami flavour that trailed off with a cloyingly bitter aftertaste.