A Culinary Meditation at Il Tempio

Snuggled at the edge of the jungle just a few minutes from the modernised city of Kuala Lumpur is soothing temple of comfortable blue walls and running waters. Living amongst the peaceful setting, however, are not praying monks but a fine serving of Contemporary Italian cuisine and a Picasso of food that makes the most meticulous food composition for the visiting diners.

Il Tempio means ‘the temple’ in Italian, and it is put together with structural and conceptual designs inspired by elements of Asian temples, an avid love of the owner’s, Federico Asaro.
The restaurant built itself around the natural setting and opens out to the neighbouring tropical enclave.The main dining area is the veranda, which is a replica of the ones available in the Thai temples for monks to pray in. Coinciding with the blue theme are cascading water walls and a staircase fountain, which during Valentine’s Day, waiters set up tables in to serve food to the diners. Il Tempio is also equipped with an open concept kitchen, where diners can watch the house chef Daniele Sarno, going at it with all his live cookery action.Although still considered a young one in the culinary industry, the 28-year-old Daniele Sarno is equipped with vast knowledge from his string of work experiences, covering from caviar and champagne specialities, and nouvelle French cuisine, to brick-oven pizzas and pastas, and fresh meat and grilled seafood.

Coming from a family that travels constantly, Sarno picked up his aspiration to become a chef, and inspiration in his complex food creations.“I like to experiment the different food available to the different cultures around the world,” Sarno said. “With that, I try to work it into the Italian cuisine I have grown up with.”“For me, life is all about being passionate of what you do,” he added.“My philosophy in being a good chef is to love what you’re doing. Be prepared to spend hours – even days – in the kitchen if you must to get the perfect dish right, and don’t be afraid to break traditional boundaries to come up with something better.”

Il Tempio on Virtual Malaysia. Read on. Great writing!