CUISINE Gourmet by Nathalie is probably one of KL’s better-kept secrets. Set in a corner of Menara Taipan off Jalan P Ramlee, in the shadow of KL Tower, the establishment is hidden from the hustle and bustle of the city by a verdant buffer of trees and shrubbery, helping diners forget that they are in the thick of urban chaos.

The restaurant’s tables are dressed in white linen and are accompanied by plush purple and grey armchairs, offering a subtle touch of colour. The menu is an elegant repertoire of French nouvelle cuisine, often with a prelude of finger food and a finale of candy-coloured macarons — that is if you order one of the sets cleverly crafted by chef Nathalie Aberfeuille.

When her friends used to say, “You should open your own restaurant,” Aberfeuille would simply laugh and take such teasing statements with a pinch of salt. Yet, here she is today with two establishments to her name. Nathalie’s Gourmet Studio in Solaris Dutamas, her first, is an innovative set-up that combines a restaurant with a cooking studio in which Aberfeuille conducts cooking classes for food lovers itching to try their hand at preparing haute cuisine. Meanwhile, Cuisine Gourmet by Nathalie downtown is a collaboration with a local partner, a chic destination for creative French food.

Aberfeuille’s foray into the food business began with a journey across continents. In 1998, she left a job in advertising and her native France to follow her husband on a job posting to Southeast Asia. They spent 1½ years in Malaysia and five in Bangkok. Finding herself with a lot of free time, Aberfeuille rediscovered her passion for cooking, a talent she had inherited from and honed in the kitchens of her two grandmothers.

“By the time I was 12, I was able to prepare a full meal for my family. At 15, when my mother was entertaining a lot, I was always left to take care of desserts,” recalls Aberfeuille.

The self-taught chef started offering cooking lessons to friends and later on to paying clients. Setting up a company in Bangkok, she decided to offer catering services as well, orchestrating lavish dinners for the likes of the French ambassador to Thailand and even Princess Sirindhorn.

“Then in 2005, we came back to Malaysia, again because of my husband’s job. I started offering cooking classes and catering services. After three years, my husband was supposed to go back to France, but we felt so settled in here in KL that we decided to stay on. My husband was also keen to start his own telecoms business. So once we decided to stay on, I figured it was the best time to open my restaurant,” says Aberfeuille. “Opening a restaurant is a big investment and I wanted to make sure I was around long enough to see it grow.”

If you are going to take a leaf from Aberfeuille’s book, then keep your friends close and your Michelin-starred chef friends closer. With no professional training, Aberfeuille knew that if she wanted to get into the business seriously, she needed to step up her game. She recruited the help of close friend and internationally renowned chef Anne-Sophie Pic, who allowed her to apprentice in her three- Michelin-starred restaurant Maison Pic.

“Being trained in a three-Michelin-starred kitchen gives you not only the basics, but also the strict rule of how to do nice cuisine with the finest flavours,” says Aberfeuille. “This was what I wanted to do. I am an epicure — I love good food and I love to eat. And I love fine food.”

Petite in stature, warm and gentle in demeanour, Aberfeuille shares the vigour of the Energizer Bunny. The mother of two girls, aged 17 and 12, is at Gourmet Studio from morning right through to lunch service before zipping across town to Gourmet Cuisine in the afternoon to attend to dinner service. Unless, of course, she has a catering job, for which her clients often expect her to be present. In between, she continues to lead the cooking classes as well as create new dishes for the restaurants — Aberfeuille changes the menu for both restaurants every 1½ months.

“I try to be everywhere and I don’t sleep a lot,” she smiles. “One of my stronger qualities is that I don’t sleep a lot. I’m very strong and have a lot of energy. It’s really saving me at this point as I can be at a lot of places, handling a lot of things. Of course, I don’t know how long I will last like this.”

Aberfeuille has entrusted the major tasks — the running of the restaurants’ day-to-day operations — to chefs Philippe Gadon and Jean Philippe Guiard at Cuisine Gourmet and Gourmet Studio respectively. They are of high calibre, Aberfeuille assures, and are most necessary to maintain the standard of quality at her signature restaurants.

Aberfeuille is proud of the team she has put together and the work they have achieved thus far. But there is more to be done. There are challenges, particularly with Cuisine Gourmet. As lovely as it is, its location in the city centre is a most efficient deterrent to diners who would prefer not to spend a lot of their time stuck in rush-hour traffic. And that its façade is concealed by the same foliage that gives it the stunningly peaceful ambience in the middle of the city is the ironic cherry on top. Parking was an issue, but that has been sorted out with a valet service that runs along the restaurant’s service hours.

“We can’t do better than what we are already doing now. We have really put ourselves in the restaurants,” says Aberfeuille. “We deserve to be discovered by people. If they have some curiosity about French food or creative cuisine, they should come and try.”
And you must, at least once. Aberfeuille’s culinary style is clean and light. Presentation is key. You would know it was Nathalie Aberfeuille by her emulsions, airy and bubbly sauces, with flavours that truly honour the ingredients.

“This is my big project — I would like people to try real French food,” the chef says earnestly, “that is very trendy and in fashion in France right now. There, when they go out, they don’t go to eat a cassoulet or confit; they know how to cook these at home. Especially in Paris, they go out to find non-classical French food that they can’t find anywhere else. I want to offer this part of French culture.”

There are French expatriates who have been to Cuisine Gourmet and say the restaurant really reflects what is big in France right now.

Aberfeuille adds: “Sometimes, they say they are eating better here than in France, which is a very big compliment for me.

“This kind of work is truly a work of passion. You need to have the passion to keep going in this business because it is very tiring and very difficult. You are working towards people enjoying themselves, so you really have to give a bit of yourself to the dishes to make them happy. And you have to be generous.

“I love what I do ... it’s always a pleasure to cook, to share with my team. I love creating a new recipe, there is always excitement in the kitchen when that happens. I love the fact that there is an exchange of creativity between me and the chefs I work with, and I think it is reflected in the dishes,” she beams.

“When I go around to talk to the diners, when they tell me how much they enjoyed their meals, I believe they can feel the passion on the plates.”

This story first appeared in The Edge weekly edition of Feb 4-10, 2013.