Savour Sardinia’s su filindeu, one of the world’s rarest forms of pasta, for the first time in a Malaysian restaurant. Discover other distinctive Sardinian creations, including malloreddus and culurgiones handmade pastas, bottarga pizza and pardula pastries that pay homage to the birth island of chef Mattia Fois.
Nero Nero’s new menu is an exciting exploration of regional Italian traditions with reformist European techniques spearheaded by Mattia, a dynamic 25-year-old chef whose experience include stints at Michelin-starred kitchens in Barcelona.
Chef Mattia has been cooking since he was eight, learning from his grandparents and parents who’ve long loved cooking. Here, Mattia brilliantly revisits the flavours of his Sardinian upbringing and beyond, beckoning Malaysians for an inspirational Italian culinary voyage.
Start with this beautiful Tagliatella di Seppia con Gamberi, in which cuttlefish is sliced into supple ribbons that borrow tagliatelle’s shape. Sweet prawns and citrus-cured onions rest on vibrantly lucid lettuce emulsion, sharpened by clear leche de tigre, with fried fregola scattering a nutty crunch across the plate.
Capasanta shifts into richer, robust territory: Succulent scallops bronzed in brown butter with fleshy artichokes and milky truffle mashed potatoes, decadently delectable with briny bursts of caviar, lifted by parsley flowers and mustard sprouts.
Melanzana Fritta gives roasted eggplant a crisp, golden casing, preserving its soft, smoky centre. Burrata cream and basil mayo bring cool lusciousness, dried tomato skin offers tang, while olive crumble supplies dark salinity for a sophisticated sense of harmonious contrasts.
Su Filindeu is the menu’s most compelling expression of Sardinian scarcity: Italian-milled semolina dough, patiently pulled by hand into gossamer strands by KL’s own L’Osteria e Cucina, crossed in layers and dried into tapestries of web-like sheets before being broken into the bowl. Lamb jus, extracted from meat and bones, softens those fine threads while pecorino melts into the broth, turning an austere ancient craft into warmly sustaining immersion.
Malloreddus alla Campidanese also returns to Sardinia’s rustic foundations. The saffron-tinted pasta is handmade, simply with semolina, water and salt, worked with classic tools into small ridged shells to seize the sauce. Ragù of minced lamb and tomato, slow-simmered for twelve hours, settles into every groove for concentrated satisfaction, while grated pecorino furnishes the final sharpness.
Culurgiones di Pesce carries one of Sardinia’s most recognisable pastas out to sea: Plump parcels aromatically stuffed with a smooth melange of fish, potato and mint, silken with brown butter and Parmesan cream, plus fried sage for a brittle, faintly bitter counterpoint.
Fregola alla Sarda honours Sardinian heritage too: The toasted pasta’s pebbled texture takes on a comfortingly dense cherry tomato sauce for classic cooking, its firm, chewy beads buoyed by clams for oceanic flashes of flavour.
Pizza Sarda summons Sardinia’s coastal pantry on a blistered crust: The pleasurably pungent partnership of bottarga and anchovies is settled over with stracciatella for stretchy lactic folds, tempered by tenderly fried zucchini, peppery rucola and citrusy lemon zest.
Filetto di Cernia brings Malaysian waters into Mattia’s Italian encyclopaedia: Teluk Bahang tiger grouper surfaces with burnished skin and velvety-pearly flesh, bolstered by acqua pazza sauce that fuses inspirations from Italy and Spain, lacquered with 12-year balsamic vinegar, fish reduction and capers for an intensely cutting clarity of savoury tartness.
Other Italian regions remain represented: The Slow-Cooked Australian Lamb Shank is joyously juicy, complemented by creamy polenta that’s rooted in northern Italy, while Sicilian caponata introduces a rich register of rustic vegetable brightness.
For a sensational sweet finish, Pardula reimagines Sardinia’s ricotta pastry as a flourless almond cake perfumed with saffron. House-made ricotta lends the crumb a custard-like melt, while honey and orange marmalade bring sunlit sweetness, fringed with caramelised almonds.
L3-02, Damansara City Mall, Pusat Bandar Damansara, Kuala Lumpur.
Open Daily, 12pm-3pm, 5:30pm-10pm. Tel: 019-667-4546
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