CHEF Nicolas Joanny isn’t a stranger to fine diners who’ve previously enjoyed his French fare, at the former Intermezzo and briefly, Les Saisons. After a four-year hiatus in Bangkok, chef Joanny has returned to set up his eponymous restaurant.

By doing so, he delivers a touch of fine French to Keong Saik, which, of course, has already been pulling in the bourgeoisie foodie crowd, thanks to Ember at Hotel 1929, the new-age yoga place Whatever, and most recently, 25 degree celsius, a store specialising in cookbooks.

With the restaurant’s white interior made warm by yellow lighting and dark wood-backed chairs paired with sharp white-clothed tables, Nicolas is a presence of calm in the colourful street – where a dinner visit last week had us basking in the fragrant smells of bak kwa, being grilled along the five-footways, in the generally festive Chinese New Year ambience before we stepped into the restaurant.

A brief refresher of chef Joanny’s career: he’s from the south of France, and graduated from a well-known culinary institute in Burgundy at the age of 17. He started his career in a two-Michelin Star restaurant, La Barbacane in the south-west of France, before moving to Belgium’s La Cusine Des Anges.

Then, it was over to Paris before his interest in Asia took him to the Duxton Hotel’s L’Aigle d’Or, then Intermezzo and Les Saisons. His stint in Bangkok saw him as executive chef and partner at Le Vendome Restaurant, located at a swish two-storey private house in the city.

Post-Bangkok, the 30-something-year-old chef’s cuisine continues to be excellently light, contemporary and refined, and also more pared down, capitalising on well-juxtaposed tastes and textures.

The amuse bouche we tried, for example, was a tier-ing of 36-month-old parma ham, crispy olive oil bread and onion marmalade. Taken individually, these are all familiar ingredients, but the caramelised onion offset the salted savouriness of the parma ham nicely, while the crunch of the thin brioche-like bread provided the crackle. It’s an amuse bouche that should delight even the more jaded of palates.

A few of the dishes that we tried from the degustation menu are featured in the $38++ lunch set as well, such as the light green pea soup with white truffle foam that came in a little espresso cup, served with his characteristic blue prawn pastilla – a thin, finely browned pastry hugged around the prawn.

And then there’s the all-time favourite – pan-roasted foie gras. Chef Joanny’s version was a well-seared liver which was still soft and buttery inside, lifted by the lemon grass-infused green apple caramel. Asian herbs – kaffir lime – featured in the tartare of langoustine as well, but ever so lightly that it tantalised the edges of your tastebuds.

Our two main courses consisted of a confit of ocean trout and the roasted Tasmanian rack of lamb. The ocean trout was excellent, being so slowly cooked that it looked raw and red, but was cushiony to the bite. It was paired with a ravioli of blue prawn and coriander, with mussel/Spanish saffron emulsion. The lamb, medium rare, was also delicious, appealingly served in a cast-iron pot, and smoked with fresh sprigs of rosemary. Our creamed potato accompaniment came in an espresso cup on the side, richly infused with garlic.

Dessert was a chilled pomelo and berry “soup” served in a martini glass, a refreshing end to a gourmet degustation of dishes all very pleasantly presented by restaurant manager Kelvin Sia.

Nicolas looks set to tune the gourmet character of Keong Saik Road up by a couple of notches, with his degustation menu and boutique a la carte selections.

As Nicolas will be open throughout Chinese New Year, patrons can also expect a special New Year set. Otherwise, on a daily basis, set lunch menus are $38++ per person, consisting of an amuse bouche, four choices of a starter, a main course, and a selection of two desserts, coffee or tea. The degustation dinner menu is $90++, orders are by table.

Nicolas Le Restaurant
35 Keong Saik Road
Tel: 6224 2404
Rating: 8/10

Citibank cardholders enjoy 0 per cent off a la carte food bill at Nicolas from Feb 2 until Jan 31, 2009 .

This article was first published in The Business Times on Feb 4, 2008.