Our first impression on gallery-turned-restaurant Clara and affordable Mexican joint Tortilla Quemada.
An element of surprise in moments
Aformer art gallery, Clara has been transformed into one of Bangkok’s best looking restaurants. Set in the by-lanes of Yen Akart, a perfectly manicured lawn leads you to the spacious restaurant. Executive chef Christian Martena and maitre d’ Clara Del Corso-Martena are the husband and wife team behind Clara, which can best be described as romantic with its dim lights and candlelight dining. The menu, according to chef Martena, is a modern approach to Italian, using local produce wherever possible. The restaurant is only open for dinner from Monday to Saturday, 6pm-midnight, and offers two tasting menus: 7 Moments menu (B2,680++, with wine pairing B1,680++) and 9 Moments menu (B,3080++, with wine pairing B1,980++).
“We are trying to work, as much as we can, with local produce. We like when people recognise the flavours and want people to be comfortable with what they are eating. We don’t want to take people far way with things they don’t know. Italian cuisine is comfortable in that way,” says the chef.
Brace yourself for no menu, as is the fashion in high-end restaurants to allow more flexibility with the chef’s creations. “I like to enter the kitchen and have the freedom to create new dishes,” as the chef puts it, though he “needs approval from my wife”.
Begin with something fresh with the classic Italian prosciutto e melon. However, the melon is paired with rocket pesto to balance the sweetness and for texture, hazelnuts from Piedmont. The olive oil ice cream is added for more freshness. The next course is a take on an Amalfi Coast favourite: squid and potato. Local squid is cooked on a low temperature, marinated to give it an umami flavour and served with smoked fish roe and martini Bianco. It is then covered with an emulsion of potato, yoghurt and lime. Though the chef calls it squid carpaccio, it is steamed and served with black lemon, finger limes and squid crackers.
The red prawn from Sicily is served with local cherry, which is pickled and fermented. Paired with ginger ale foam, it is finished off with a gin bisque, made with chef Martena’s favourite gin — Gin Del Professore, handcrafted in Rome.
In Italy, either pasta or risotto is served before the main course. However, at Clara you are spoiled by being served both. The pasta has an unusual pairing with taling pling, from the chef’s garden, and sea urchin emulsion. All the small bits of broken linguine aren’t thrown away at Clara. Here they are cooked for a long time (“really long for an Italian” laughs chef Martena), so that all the starch is removed. It is then dried and turned into a powder, sprinkled on top of the pasta.
“I love escargot and this risotto is refreshing with a lot of herbs. It’s a bit of a ‘terroir risotto’ and is served with a cold water fish, Jerusalem artichokes and local mushrooms, that we pickle ourselves,” says the chef of his risotto dish. The dish is finished with a raw green sauce of garlic, parsley and spring onions.
The main course of beef uses wagyu from Korat, served with local daikon and herbs. The pre-dessert is a lemon, made from two kinds of meringue. The first is made from the classic Italian cocktail sgroppino, which is turned into an emulsion and then using liquid nitrogen is turned into a granita.
The dessert is an “elastic” mousse using Kad Kakao chocolate, almonds, amaretto and sambuca, another classic Italian liqueur. Coffee beans are infused with amaretto for the coffee ice cream. A crumble is made from sambuca and served with the chocolate mousse.
Since Clara opened nine months ago, this has been the third menu change and chef Martena hopes to change the entire menu every three months. “During the three months, I change one or two dishes, like the risotto is a new dish. Depends on what I am working on at the time.”
Clara has recently launched an a la carte menu (A La Carte in 3 Moments at B2,480++), which may be followed by a weekend lunch in the near future.
Clara, Soi Prasart Suk (Prasat Suk Alley), Chong Nonsi / Call 095-879-6257 or email clara@clarabangkok.com, visit clarabangkok.com.