Inspired by Juan Amador, considered to be one of the best chefs in the world with three Michelin Stars under his belt, The House on the Moon at Food Studio is a contemporary space, fine dining dessert bar that pushes the culinary boundaries between sweet and tangy with meticulously prepared and progressive dishes. Despite being situated in a standard food court, the space in itself is an interesting blend of urbane flair with the set up allowing for an interactive experience, where one gets to witness each dish as it is beautifully plated and presented, looking like a true work of art. Hüseyin Turan, one of the three collaborators at the restaurant, amongst Juan Amador and Berlin based The Science Kitchen Creative Head and Founder David Marx, spoke with us about the behind-the-scenes process that goes into creating world-class desserts for the Lankan audience. [gallery columns="2" link="file" size="full" ids="18418"] “Most of the desserts in our menu were conceived and can still be found in Juan Amador’s restaurants, and in order to preserve their originally intended flavours, majority of the ingredients we use are brought in from Germany. We depend on very little from within the island, except for our tea, which we get from Galle”. The tea, which accompanies every dish, is specifically paired to enhance each dessert option and has a unique flavour perfectly complementing each option. According to Hüseyin: “Tea is not as intense as coffee, and as all of our desserts are very light, coffee would overpower them. So tea was naturally the best choice. We serve our tea without any sugar, but we include Stevia in our tea that gives it all the flavour it’ll ever need. ” The tea at House on the Moon is supplied by the start-up company Ming Té from Galle. Founder Mindula Wijesinghe, who was coincidentally making a delivery when we visited the restaurant, said: “When I first came to Hüseyin’s restaurant, the tea wasn’t that great and I asked him if he would like to taste some of our tea. He was amazed! He asked if we could do flavoured tea, and after a long process and after matching each flavour with each dessert, we decided on a few fantastic options.” [gallery columns="2" link="file" size="full" ids="18419"] What we tried: Cheesecake [gallery columns="2" link="file" size="full" ids="18417"] A modern take on Raw 42°, a method where the food is not cooked above 42° to ensure that no nutrients are lost during the cooking process, this vegan dish consists of cotton candy and strawberry, and is a real treat. The dish really brings one around about vegan dishes, as there’s certainly nothing bland about this particular dessert that is bursting with flavour, perfectly balanced sweet to citric ratio, paired with a mango passion fruit tea – a heavenly combination. It’s a simple enough dish elevated to new heights, with clever paring of flavours that perfectly complement each other. Moon Walk [gallery columns="2" link="file" size="full" ids="18416"] The restaurant’s signature dish, served with smoky theatrics, is the undisputed champion amongst a pool of already extraordinary desserts. Inspired by Frank Sinatra’s “Fly Me to the Moon”, the dessert was created to represent the milky wave; an intergalactic trip for your taste buds created solely of milk products. Consisting of Muscapon cream (Italian cream cheese), caramel iced whey crumble, nut butter, milk ice cream, yoghurt, and coconut mousse, the dish tastes as perfect as it looks and sounds. The coconut fog that infuses all the ingredients together makes for a fun bit of presentation, not to mention it smells magical. Each bite challenges the mind; simple ingredients combined in intricate ways to create playful highlights of flavour, yet remaining not too heavy. Sacher [gallery link="file" columns="2" size="full" ids="18420"] A chocolate and apricot dessert with an interesting history to it – the dessert was born of Franz Sacher, who was at the time a 16-year-old apprentice who created what later became Vienna’s staple dessert. The Sacher, while absolutely delicious, proved to be the least impressive of what we’ve tried so far. However, that really doesn’t mean anything when it is a fantastic, near-perfect dish, only paling slightly in comparison to the rest. House on the Moon’s Sacher is a deconstruction of the famous Viennese cake, and while it was creamy and smooth, it was quite simple and felt rather lacklustre in comparison to the flamboyant dishes available at the restaurant. The desserts at House on the Moon are priced at Rs. 1,400. However, they have a separate package for Rs. 2,800 that consists of an amuse bouche, your choice of classic section dessert, chef’s choice of dessert, and fruits paired with tea. Opening time: 10.30 a.m. to 10.30 p.m. (Sunday to Thursday) and 10.30 a.m. to 11 p.m. (Friday to Saturday) Address: Food Studio at Colombo City Centre, 137 Sir James Pieris Mawatha, Colombo 02 Facebook: HOUSE ON THE MOON BY Dimithri Wijesinghe Photos Krishan Kariyawasam