How top chefs in Malaysia create beautifully plated meals

Tham says for sauces and other liquids, he typically measures the amount that is required for each plate, so that his team doesn't end up putting too much and ruining the dish. - ART CHEN/The Star

It is nearly lunchtime on a clear, sunny Monday and the kitchen at critically-acclaimed fine-dining restaurant Nadodi is a hive of activity. There are six hours to go before the restaurant even opens its doors to diners, but the team is already busy – darting seamlessly around each other as they do all the things that are required to hold together a fine-dining restaurant that typically serves between nine to eleven courses per person each night.

In the centre of this hubbub is head chef Sricharan Venkatesh, who is hunched over a plate, his face a rictus of focus and concentration. One hand is moulded around a large chef’s tweezer, which he uses to delicately position a tiny little edible flower, seemingly the final touch to the dish.

Sricharan likes experimenting with different colours and plates. - AZMAN GHANI/The Star