The Potluck Review: Preludio's Author Cuisine Menu
Chef Fernando Arevalo showcases elements of his cooking memories from different chapters of his life.
After traversing diners to sometimes cerebral concepts that challenge diners to think beyond what’s on their plates, chef Fernando Arevalo, chef-owner of contemporary restaurant Preludio takes a more down-to-earth approach for its latest menu iteration, Author’s Cuisine. Unable to return to his native Colombia for the past 4 years (due to COVID-19 movement restrictions and now business commitments), Arevalo has gotten nostalgic and waxes lyrical about food from home.
He has fallen back on the safe and trusty route of tapping on his food memories from the different chapters of his life - from growing up in Botaga to his cooking stints in New York, Hong Kong and Singapore. To sum it up, the menu is chef Fernando’s take on modern Latin American cuisine - how a homesick chef connects with food while being away from home. Of the menus that Preludio has presented over the past close to four years, Author’s Cuisine, which started in February, is the most straightforward one.
We loosened our belts for the Complete Experience menu ($238), which comprises 11 dishes of contemporary interpretations of classic Colombian dishes imbued with his stories and perspectives through his dishes in the different chapters of his life.
The meal opens with a proud Colombian angle that sets the stage. The trio of snacks - hearty Caldo de Pollo (chicken consomme) with chervil root puree that thickens the stock with an earthy touch; an espresso cup-sized sweet white corn pancake with a luxurious pop of caviar and Preludio’s signature rye bread that is incredibly umami without any stuffing - thanks to the glossy layer of bacon and maple glaze and fermented mushrooms.
Continuing the Colombian thread, the Chicharron con Todo, a slab of aged Sawara (Japanese Spanish Mackerel) which has been salted and torched, rests on a bed of crisp but pale-looking Chicharron, or deep-fried pork belly. The Chicharron also doubles up as a crunchy layer of fish skin, though we wished that the crackling could be more crispy than puffy.
The Almeja de Primavera arrives next, bringing a slice of Japanese influence from Colombia’s culinary history. One of the lighter-tasting courses, the Hokkigai surf clam is fresh and briny - it is a chewy foil against the rich buttered chimichurri and crunchiness of the bits of white asparagus and salty fingers. Continue digging and you would find bits of Piquillo peppers hidden at the side of the clam that rounds off each bite with some heat.
Then came one of the signature dishes of Colombian cuisine - the Ajiaco that got us all thrilled. Chef Fernando’s rendition is a condensed version of the famed Colombian stew - with the intense flavours of the chicken and potato packed in each spoonful. The mash-like potato cream, made with 3 types of potatoes, including Andes potato), is so thick that the chef has to pound the bottom of the jar to get everything out.
The dense and velvety potato cream has the maddeningly hearty scent of potatoes. It cloaked the crescents of avocado, capers, and corn heavily and almost made us forget about the tender medallions of Poulet de Bresse at the side of the plate. While the dish is a good introduction to the initiated, the dish pales in comparison flavour-wise to the earlier dishes. If you are looking for bouquets of spices - possibly drowned out by the heavy blanket of potatoes.
Walking down childhood memory lane is Mothers Knows Best, which has a wagyu roll (of marbling score 9) served alongside house-made tagliatelle. Chef Fernando upholds his Italian mother’s tradition of serving the meat and a neat twirl pasta separately. The unassuming star of the dish is the parmesan sauce that carries a light zing from being concocted with tomato water.
And off we traipsed to the beach with La Guajira, a colossal coastal Caribbean desert covered in sand dunes and stunning beaches in Colombia. The blushing pink Boston lobster tail looks as if it is seek refuge from the sun under beach umbrellas in the form of plantain chips on a crunchy ‘picnic mat’ of Heart of Palm.
In another nod to Japanese cuisine, the lobster is perched on a shari-styled Acquerello rice cooked in vinegar and coconut water and served with coconut cream, cauliflower and parsley oil sauce.
The main dish of the menu is presented as a crown jewel - Jewel - a golden slab of kinki that is fried till it is intensely crispy and its flaky scales curl upwards. The fish sits on a contrasting yuzu and sunchoke puree that brings shades of sweetness and earthiness, while being studded with crunchy Chinese artichokes.
Throughout the 9 courses, the meal weighed in on us with its hefty loads of puree and cream-based sauces, so much that we were actually craving any semblance of acidity to cut for a respite from the richness. Well, it looks like all the tart elements were saved for right at the end of the meal - when Fruitos de La Paz showed up dressed in pink. The feminine-looking dessert appeased our palate with a liberal dose of tartness - raspberry and soursop sorbet and yoghurt surrounded by a pool of in-season cherry blossom jelly.
We enjoyed the sojourn to Colombia through the Author's Cuisine menu and tasting the various chapters of his life. But one thing’s for sure, life could do better with a pinch of sourness.
Author’s Cuisine is available at Preludio. To book, click here.
Follow me on Instagram (@kenneats). Got news? Get in touch at kennethgohsz@gmail.com. Tuck into previous editions of The Potluck here.