Odette’s Julien Royer and Potager’s Masashi Horiuchi on the importance of collaboration

Potager welcomed Odette to Kuala Lumpur for its very first collaboration in the city

“In the kitchen, we have a lot of routines—each week is the same, which is good, but can also be dangerous,” says Julien Royer of Odette, Tatler Dining Singapore’s Restaurant of the Year, which is located in the National Gallery. “Get too comfortable, and attention to detail can be lost, so it is important to break routine with collaborations like this.”

While Royer has visited Malaysia twice before this collaboration, it is his first time cooking in Kuala Lumpur. “Working together brings a lot of energy to the team, and every time, we learn something new that we can bring home,” he continues. “Whether it is a kitchen technique we can incorporate, getting influenced by new kitchen equipment, or even design, it is how we can become better.”

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Above Masashi Horiuchi and Julien Royer

Above Potager's stunning interior

Royer and Horiuchi first met over ten years ago—at the time, Royer was about to open Odette, and Horiuchi, Tatler Dining Malaysia’s Chef of the Year, was one of the first diners at the restaurant. Last year, Entier, also helmed by Horiuchi, collaborated with another of Royer’s establishments, Claudine, for Kita Food Festival.

“The Claudine team were shown great hospitality and were very impressed with the attention to detail and setup at Potager when they dined here,” Royer enthuses.

Above Green pea and caviar tart, duck and foie gras, Saint Nectaire cheese doughnut, and botan ebi taco were the amuse bouche created by both restaurants

Above Uni & Caviar, a signature dish from Odette

The two chefs spoke after the event and decided that the next collaboration should be between Potager and Odette. “Even though a lot of my team is from Malaysia, we never had the incentive or opportunity to come,” Royer says. “However, we felt Potager was the right location and the right fit, and we are so happy to be here.”

Above Kampot pepper-crusted pigeon

Above Koshihikari rice

Both Royer and Horiuchi have a French culinary background, allowing the menu to come together seamlessly. Royer presents a selection of Odette classics, as well as some seasonal dishes with a twist, but the one he was excited to see diner’s reactions to was a dish of pigeon, crusted with Kampot pepper.

“At Odette, we serve it with a bao with pigeon stuffing, but here, we used koshihikari rice for the first time,” he says. The aforementioned grain is a popular type of Japonica rice, a domestic Asian rice variety. “I was happy to see it was a crowd pleaser, and perhaps we will do it with rice in Singapore next!”

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Above Julien Royer

Above Masashi Horiuchi

Potager classics that utilise the best of Malaysian terroir complement Odette’s dishes seamlessly, such as the Cameron Highlands white corn veloute topped with corn jelly, accompanied by Tanjung Malim caviar.

“We had to present only the best, as it is what diners would expect when [Royer] comes,” chuckles Horiuchi humbly. “It is a dream come true and we are so thankful for the opportunity to learn from such a chef and restaurant—it is truly a great experience.”

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