Standing at Do Forni, a ristorante Italiano, at 11:30 on a Friday morning with a flute of Prosecco in hand I smiled. My darling friend Anthony – a senior psychiatrist in Sydney – once quipped: “Hedonism and decadence come naturally to you, don’t they?” It was an apt observation and I have been quoting him ever since. And in true hedonistic style, I held out my flute for a top up. Prosecco is a single-grape sparkling wine. Like Champagne, it is now name-protected and must be grown in the Fruili-Venezia Giulia or Veneto areas of northeast Italy.
Andrea Molinari is the new executive sous chef at the Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra. He has been in Cambodia less than a month and already he is putting his Lombardy stamp on the Italian cuisine at Do Forni.
“I don’t cook with tomato sauce,” Andrea confides with an air of disdain in his voice. “It masks the taste of the food. I prefer that the flavours come through.” Andrea is no stranger to the large, open space at Do Forni. In the kitchen even before he was out of nappies, Andreas had a mother who cooked for 10; early on her son chopped things and ran errands. A natural in a chef’s hat, his career has taken him to the Sheraton Hotel in Abu-Dhabi and the Berjaya Hills Hotel in Kuala Lumpur.
[quote align=”center” color=”#999999″]“I don’t cook with tomato sauce,” Andrea confides with an air of disdain in his voice. “It masks the taste of the food. I prefer that the flavours come through.”[/quote]
On to the decadent brunch. First up was chopped salmon that was about three minutes old, topped with what looked like green caviar. Andrea explained it was actually little beads of cucumber to contrast the flavour. Next was Andrea’s signature dish that won a gold medal in Italy in 2003: risotto with melon, shrimp and Gorgonzola. The five at our table ate every bite and wondered how we might wade through another two courses. I was beginning to wish I’d worn trousers with an expandable waistline, a handy banquet-survival tool I’d picked up when I lived in China. There, one never knows when the food will stop coming.
The sea bass was done to perfection. Light and beautifully seasoned, it provided a perfect balance for the risotto. Then a cup of tiramisu, generously sprinkled with chocolate and graced with a ladyfinger, appeared. I hate to admit that I couldn’t quite polish off the tiramisu; next time I will wear those expandable trousers. The food, the bubbly and the service added up to an epicurean experience to rave about.
Insider’s advance notice: foodies, mark July 1 in your diary. Andrea’s ambitious undertaking is Five Steps Around the World: dishes from South America, Europe, Africa, North America and the Asia Pacific. Each has an accompanying wine from the continent. Andrea is also going to appeal to the five senses, although after a sneak preview of the menu the only food ‘sound’ I could find was Popcorn Bombe Alaska.
Do Forni, Sofitel Phnom Penh Pokeetra, Sothearos Blvd; 023 999200.