Pietro Ristorante Italiano,
Bangunan ECM Libra,
8 Jalan Damansara Endah,
Damansara Heights, Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03-2093 6433
Business hours: 11.00am-3.00pm (lunch),
3.00pm-6.00pm (tea) 6.00pm-10.30pm (dinner)
Photos CHAN TAK KONG
AUTHENTIC Italian comes to mind when dining at the double-storey Pietro restaurant located at the ground floor of Bangunan ECM Libra.
With soft music playing in the background and the smell of freshly brewed coffee filling the room, diners can now indulge in their new menu which also consists of an Asian inspired section.
Opened since October 2011, Pietro in Damansara Heights sees a mixture of locals and expats dining in, with regulars requesting for a taste of Asian flavours.
“They asked for more spices to be added in, as seen in European countries, most restaurants there have Asian inspired dishes added into the menu,” said restaurant owner Wendy Woo.
And being in Malaysia, where one family itself may have split food preferences with the mother and children wanting Italian food, and the father craving for local flavours.
With this addition to the menu, Pietro can now cater to groups of people who want both Italian and also Asian dishes.
“No one has to sacrifice their cravings now as non-Italian food lovers can opt their choice,” she said.
Woo, who opened up Pietro with another friend, said head chef Juwahir Mustafa has created his own blend of chili padi paste with olive oil to be tossed with pasta.
This blend of chili padi and olive oil can be requested for by patrons, who want to try a something different.
Pietro also encourages diners to make requests and tell the chef how they want their food cooked.
“Choose your own cooking preferences and the chef will custom make it and personalise it to your own taste buds,” she said.
She explained that most Malaysian diners still do not have the habit of requesting for their own preferences and rely mostly on menu choices to order from.
This is part of the reason why Pietro came up with new dishes to be added into the menu after two years in business.
To give diners more variety, Woo and the chef experimented and came up with a selection.
The chef, Juwahir Mustafa, also known as chef Ell has been in this line of work since he was 17 years old and has over 14 years of experience in reputable Italian restaurants in the Klang Valley.
The Johor Baru born has also worked under renowned Italian chef Federico Michiletto and has worked in places like Mount Kiara and the Tai Thong Group of restaurant’s Western division.
“Even so, I hope diners will still make a point to choose their own preference, like if they want their pasta more spicy or with special ingredients added in,” she said.
Pietro currently has about 70 items on their menu including dessert, with half of them new dishes and the other half diner favourites and restaurant specialties.
Among new dishes introduced is the fresh Burrata cheese served with cherry tomatoes, rucola salad and drizzled with extra virgin olive oil.
Comes served in a little white ball made up of mozzarella and cream, this rich soft textured dish tasted a little buttery and yummy when eaten with the homemade bread served.
Burrata, which means “buttered” in Italian, is usually made with fresh cheese and goes well with tomatoes and greens.
Once done with the starters, diners can order their new Roasted Butternut Soup served with pecorino and basil oil.
This pumpkin based soup called Arrosto Butternut, was neither too creamy nor rich, making it easy to drink.
The texture of the creaminess was just nice for either dipping with bread or to just drinking as it is.
If not a fan of butternut, diners can still go for Pietro’s best selling soup, the Spicy Seafood Soup.
This signature dish was retained in the menu due to popular demand and with an abundance of seafood inside, it is served with a side of garlic bread.
Similar to the butternut, this red tomato based soup is not creamy but a little spiced.
Seafood lovers will love this dish for it contains prawns, scallops, muscles and squid.
To live up to its Italian restaurant name, Pietro does serve some new interesting pasta dishes like the ear-shaped pasta cooked with fresh tomato puree.
Unlike the ordinary penne or macaroni shaped pasta, Pietro chose to use ear-shaped pasta which was nice and chewy.
Due to the fresh tomatoes used for the puree as well as mixed with a handful of cherry tomatoes and topped with rocket leaves, this healthy dish was refreshing to eat.
Meanwhile, regulars can still opt for their all time favourite, the Mushroom Ravioli stuffed with Duck.
The flying saucer shaped pasta was nicely stuffed with braised mushroom and duck, served with truffle cream sauce.
Another one of their signature dish is the Bouillabaisse Sauce Risotto topped with Spinach and Jumbo King Prawns.
Bouillabaisse sauce is the French traditional fish stew, which is made different from other fish stews by its use of herbs and spices.
Here, the restaurant decided to merge French and Italian cuisine, but cooking the risotto in Bouillabaisse sauce.
While trying it out at the food tasting, we thought that the risotto was cooked perfectly, neither too hard nor mushy.
Another French-inspired dish served as part of their new menu was the Pan Fried Foie-gras.
Served with roasted apple, port wine sauce and micro lettuce on toast, this highly rich dish tasted really fragrant and sweet with every bite.
Eating the smooth and soft textured goose liver dish itself would already leave a flowery fragrance in the mouth.
Called Fegato D’oca, the texture, richness and sweet fragrance of this delicacy may not be liked by all.
Downing the liver with a little red wine will add more flavour to the dish, if you are up for a little night of wine and dine.
Another one of Pietro’s new recommendation is the pistachio crusted lamb rack marinated with rosemary and shiraz reduction.
This lamb rack was cooked to a perfect medium rare, and the meat was juicy and tender.
Not forgetting the pistachio crust, which made it crunchy as well as chewy.
This dish also comes with a few slices of home made fries stacked at the bottom of the lamb rack.
To end the night, try out Pietro’s Lemon Meringue Tart, served with all its sour lemony goodness.
Instead of it being a typical sweet dessert, we found this sour lemon tart a refreshing dessert which went really well with the fresh sweet meringue.
Pair it with a cup of freshly brewed coffee and voila, your perfect night is complete.
But if craving for a little something sweet, try their newly introduced White and Dark Chocolate Mousse Cake.
This two coloured cake is served with Amarena cherry and almond praline decorated all over the plate and cake.
They also cater for both corporate and private events with a capacity of about 500 people being hosted at anyone time for a cocktail party.
There are also three private rooms upstairs which can fit 20 people in the biggest and six to ten people in the smallest.
This is the writer’s observation and not an endorsement by StarMetro.
