16 hours Ago
As a child, Diego Reali recalls spending countless hours basking in the womb of his family’s multi-generational restaurant Hosteria Amedeo in Rome, which was opened by his great-grandfather in 1958. As the years went on, his grandmother took over the reins at the eatery. Eventually his mother ended up working there too.
“When I was a kid, I used to bring bread, water, cold cuts and wine to the tables. And then, basically I moved to the kitchen to help my mum. That’s where I learned all the recipes and cooking styles with my grandmother,” he says.
Reali’s culinary education happened entirely in this family restaurant, which was where he learnt to make pastas and pizzas from scratch. When he turned 18, he decided to work abroad and spent the subsequent 20 years of his career working in restaurants in England, Oman, Australia and Thailand, to name a few countries. He has been in Malaysia for nearly 10 years now and was instrumental in opening restaurants like Natalina Italian Kitchen and Brasa.
With Stefania, the charming Reali aims to pay homage to the Roman food his mother taught him to make. — ART CHEN/The Star Early this year – in collaboration with Kesavan Purusotman (KC), the managing director of Continuum Hospitality Group – Reali opened Stefania. The restaurant is named after Reali’s mother and is his love letter to the family matriarch and the food of his childhood.
“The idea of Stefania came from KC and me, together. Basically, everything I know in the kitchen is because of my mum. Even until today, I still call her sometimes to ask ‘How do I make this?’.
“She was the one who taught me everything in the kitchen, from basic food skills to how to cook. Of course, I also learnt a lot when I worked abroad. But the basics are still the most important,” he says.
The eatery has an old-world charm that is elevated by the foliage that surrounds it. — ART CHEN/The Star Classic dishes At Stefania, Reali’s focus is on classic Roman dishes imbued with his own tweaks and twists that still optimise two essential things: quality and flavour. “The flavour has to be very punchy and strong because for me, when customers go to a restaurant, they need to feel satisfied when they eat.
It can’t be like, you go to a certain restaurant and then you come out and you’re like ‘I still didn’t eat enough and I’m not satisfied.’ “So here, you will be satiated with flavours that are similar to the ones you eat at home, and then you will go more than once a month. That’s why I didn’t want an ‘atas’ (swanky) place that people would feel scared to go to,” says Reali.
The restaurant is on the ground floor of the Naza Tower in central Kuala Lumpur and has lovely views of the tree-lined street beyond. The interior has a rustic charm swathed around a cosmopolitan edge yet doesn’t feel overly fussy. On a Monday afternoon, the space teems with people from all walks of life – from families straddling little babies to corporate types out for lunch and even couples looking for a quick bite.
Burrata and tomato confit make for satisfying bedfellows in this inspired vegetarian offering. — Stefania To begin a meal here, look at starting with the Burrata (RM62) which features freshly imported burrata (Italian cow’s milk cheese), alongside a tomato confit and a wild rocket salad. This is a dish built entirely on a vegetarian foundational structure and yet it is one of the most satisfying plant-based meals you are likely to have savoured in a long time.
The cheese itself is thick and cloudy and pairs remarkably well with the tomato confit, which highlights the lusciousness of the fruit. Together, this dynamic duo is unstoppable in their quest to seduce your senses into submission. Up next, try the Polpettine Fritte (RM52) which is essentially deep-fried wagyu meatballs served in an arrabbiata sauce with grated smoked ricotta cheese heaped atop.
The meatballs are fantastic – plump and juicy with rich meaty overtures. This is juxtaposed against the rich arrabbiata sauce and the nuanced peaty opulence of the cheese. It’s a masterclass in how to cleverly position hedonistic elements together without going overboard.
Reali's gnocchi represents comfort food at its finest. — ART CHEN/The Star Feast of pasta Move forward to the pasta portion of your meals with the Gnocchi Al Tartufo (RM68) which is essentially gnocchi, truffle paste and sage butter paired together. Gnocchi are tiny dumplings made from potato, flour, egg and salt that Reali’s family makes every week.
Because it is potato-heavy, it can sometimes be too starchy. In Reali’s incarnation, the gnocchi is sublime, largely because it has found its soulmates in the other two elements here – the truffle paste and sage butter. Together, this trio is a triple treat that offers rustic, woody notes, oleaginous undertones and an overall aura of a bonafide star.
The Ravioli Al Nero De Seppia (RM78) is made up of pasta pockets stuffed with prawns and squid and coated in a rich marinara sauce. The ravioli is stuffed with seafood and surrounded by a protective moat of lively marinara sauce. — ART CHEN/The Star This sea-faring dish takes you on a dip through aquatic waters, surfing through oceanic bounties and serving up fat ravioli parcels filled to the brim with seafood and complemented by a marinara sauce with pronounced underwater leanings.
It’s a wonderful exploration of the pleasures of marine life and marinara sauce intertwined. Explore another underwater offering in the form of the Sogliola Alla Mugniaia (RM162) which is something that Reali’s mum used to make when he was little. The Dover sole features tender fish in a sage butter sauce that showcases how simplicity and opulence can co-exist harmoniously.
— ART CHEN/The Star The dish is essentially Dover sole cooked in sage butter, alongside capers, black olives and lemon zest. This comfort dish draws together the joys of simple pleasures edged with a touch of opulence. The fish is firm to the touch and is saturated in the sage butter, which is enlivened by the acerbity of the lemon zest and the tanginess and salty dimensions of the capers and olives.
It’s a meal that most people will find kinship in because it is both uncomplicated and yet oh-so nirvanic. Glorious ending From the Josper grill, look at sampling the Australian Wagyu Striploin MB6/7 (market price). Reali loves cooking steaks and is clearly very good at it, because his striploin retains a stand-out charred crust on the skin that then yields to meat that is perfectly pink in the middle, has a good chew and bite and is succulent to the touch.
Sweeten the end of your meal with the Classic Traditional Tiramisu (RM56) which is made without cream (but with alcohol). This is honest-to-God, one of the best tiramisus you are likely to find in the Klang Valley. Light and creamy, with a caffeine underbelly and just the right amount of fluffiness, this is a dessert befitting the word ‘euphoric’.
The tiramisu is a sweet sensation that will seduce and bewitch you from the get-go. Reali says he has no plans to expand Stefania and this is probably for the better, because a meal here would be hard to replicate. It combines the familiar and the comforting with the allure and thrill of the new and unknown, all built on the charms of mama Stefania’s home-cooked Roman fare and buoyed by Reali’s global culinary chops.
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