Bvlgari Resort Bali’s Il Ristorante – Luca Fantin presents the Four Hands Dinner featuring Chef Yusuke Takada

This August, Il Ristorante – Luca Fantin at Bvlgari Resort Bali welcomes Chef Yusuke Takada from La Cime in Osaka to create an exclusive dining experience

A definite highlight of any stay at Bvlgari Resort Bali would be dining at the storied Il Ristorante – Luca Fantin. This August, on the 23rd and 24th of the month, Chef Luca Fantin himself and Resident Chef Alessandro Mazzali have invited Chef Yusuke Takada – from the two Michelin-starred La Cime in Osaka, Japan – to create a “four hands” dinner experience fusing their collective culinary talents.

This exclusive dining experience will consist of an eight-course tasting menu, which can be further elevated with wine pairing featuring exquisite vintages from Il Ristorante – Luca Fantin’s Wine Spectator-awarded wine list.

And recently, Prestige Indonesia had the chance to chat with Chef Luca Fantin to gain extra insight into this special culinary experience…

Can you share the backstory of the upcoming collaboration between Bvlgari Resort Bali and La Cime’s Chef Yusuke Takada? What motivated or inspired this partnership?

Chef Takada and I have been discussing this a lot over the past month, and we are excited to bring this experience to Bali. The vision is to bring my 15 years of experience in Japan and Chef Takada’s experience – which is obviously longer than mine – to the beautiful landscape of Bali.

Chef Takada is a very flexible Japanese chef; he is versatile with the ingredients he uses and very creative. Chef Takada’s style isn’t exactly French; it is more along the lines of international dishes done with French techniques using local ingredients. So, we see the same philosophy apart from the French and Italian techniques.

What do you expect will be the main takeaway for those lucky enough to experience this special dinner?

For sure, the energy of three different chefs will greatly impact the restaurant. We will bring some new ideas, some new flavours that the restaurant hasn’t seen before in Bali. It will also be a new experience for guests who have never been to Chef Takada’s restaurant. Chef Takada is stepping outside of his comfort zone, working with ingredients that he’s not familiar with. The collaboration will be like a jazz concert; it is not scripted but an interpretation of many factors. In this case, we are doing jazz music with ingredients in the restaurant. It will be a new experience for everyone involved.

What would you say is the key to a great collaborative event involving multiple highly experienced chefs such as Chefs Yusuke Takada, Alessandro Mazzali, and, of course, yourself?

The fact that we all have a similar idea of beauty, we like to present food in a delicate way, and everything needs to be very pretty. There will be collaboration among the three of us, and this will help all the staff to see different personalities and talents in the kitchen.

What do you look for in a potential collaboration? What are some of the qualities of another chef or another restaurant that would pique your interest?

We love to work with quality people so we can have quality time inside the kitchen – getting together to talk about ingredients and the evolution of cuisine. This is the most interesting part for me in creating collaborations. I also like to think about giving my team exposure to other people. Maybe Chef Takada prefers things sweeter and crunchier, and my team can see how each chef is different.

For anyone not able to make it to this month’s special dinner but are now eager to experience Il Ristorante – Luca Fantin at Bvlgari Resort Bali for themselves in the future, what would be your advice to get the most out of dining at this incredible restaurant?

To keep an open mind. Here in Tokyo, we have constantly evolved over the past 15 years and the menu never stays the same. Alessandro has always tried to change the experience for customers in Bali; it’s an evolution. That’s what I have seen at Bvlgari Il Ristorante – Luca Fantin Bali. Every time I come back to the resort, I see the evolution of Il Ristorante. The connection with the suppliers for Il Ristorante – Luca Fantin’s special ingredients contributes to the ever-changing experience at the restaurant.

For further information, inquiries and bookings, click here.