The laksa pesto pizza pays homage to the humble daun kesum and is very good from start to finish. — Photos: Fire & Slice
Many restaurants use the term “farm-to-table” both liberally and very loosely. Often this just means a supplier is sourcing vegetables from farms or the eatery is getting selected produce from local farms.
But when experienced chef Shawn Koh and three other partners decided to open Fire & Slice, a brand new pizza place at Sentul Depot’s Tiffin At The Yard in Kuala Lumpur, they went very firmly against the grain.
“I have a very close friend who owns an urban farm in Shah Alam (Selangor) and one of his business partners owns a farm in Cameron Highlands (Pahang). Both of them came down for a barbecue session with me and I tried their Momotaro tomatoes and when I tasted it, I was like ‘These are the best tomatoes I have ever tasted in my life!’
Koh is the chef-owner of Fire & Slice and the driving force behind the eatery’s local produce-inspired pizzas.
“From there, I said, ‘Eh, let’s open a restaurant together’. So from that conversation, it became a reality and now we are actually running it,” says Koh.
Interestingly, Koh only came back to KL during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic when he lost his job in Singapore, after spending 10 years working in the neighbouring city state.
What makes Fire & Slice different from other farm-to-table joints is that both farmers are actually investors in the restaurant, which means Koh and the farmers literally work together to bring the produce to the table.
Before opening the restaurant, Koh and his team even spent two months working on the farms just to understand the farming process and what went into growing local produce and conversely, how much ended up being wasted (about 40% on many farms) when the produce didn’t make the cut (i.e. wasn’t considered A grade vegetables). To combat this, Koh decided to utilise as many wonky vegetables as he could on his menu.
Koh spent two months working on the farms to learn the ins and outs of growing produce. Both the farm owners that he works with are now investors in the restaurant.
“I told my Cameron farmers, for those odd-shaped vegetables, we can cut them and make them into sauces. So they send me these vegetables in large batches now and we work hand-in-hand to reduce wastage,” he says
Koh says that currently about 85% of the ingredients at Fire & Slice are directly from the farm. The idea to use local produce on pizzas was also inspired by Koh’s stint at famed Singaporean pizzeria Osteria Mozza, where he trained under celebrity chef Nancy Silverton.
“Many of my team members at Fire & Slice also trained at Mozza, so we naturally thought of making pizzas. But then we didn’t want to do exactly what we used to do, because we also wanted to showcase what we can do with local vegetables on pizzas, so the menu was developed around that, although we also have regular pizzas so people are not too scared off,” says Koh.
Although Koh and his team tried to replicate the pizza dough that they perfected at Mozza, it simply wasn’t possible as some flours were not available and others were far too expensive for the Malaysian market. After experimenting with over 15 different kinds of flour, Koh finally found his magic formula and describes the dough as “neither too bready nor thin crust, but somewhere in between.”
The Langkawi pizza features the inspired addition of bunga kantan infused pineapples and smoked duck.
To start a meal at Fire & Slice, opt for one of the signature farm-to-table wood-fired pizzas like the Baby Kai Lan (RM38) which as its name implies, makes use of baby kalian, garlic cream, fennel marinated chicken, chilli and the curiously named mui heong bagna cauda. Bagna cauda is a traditional Italian hot dish similar to fondue that is made from garlic, butter, oil and anchovies. In this instance, Koh has replaced the anchovies with local threadfin salted fish, also known as mui heong.
The result is oh-so surprisingly good. The star of this constellation is the kai lan, which retains a lovely crunch but also has a pleasant char to it. This is accentuated by the fish, salty undertones from the localised bagna cauda and the firm mouthfeel of the chicken. Also Koh’s pizza crust is delightful – neither too thick nor too thin, with yield, stretch and bite and a crust that has a pleasant crunch. Be aware that Koh makes his pizzas intentionally greasy, so expect to mop up each slice with a side-serving of grease – just the way the pizza gods intended it.
All the pizzas are cooked in a wood-fired oven.
Up next, try the Laksa Pesto Chicken (RM38) which is underscored by a pesto which does away with basil and replaces it with daun kesum (affectionately known as laksa leaves). This is accentuated by fennel-marinated chicken, jalapeno and mozzarella in what proves to be a riotous, tropical affair that underscores the herbaceous local quality of the pizza in a very successful way.
Another one of Koh’s signature offerings is the Langkawi (RM45) which is essentially bunga kantan infused seasonal local pineapples, smoked duck from Perak, mozzarella, jalapeno and the eatery’s signature Momo-Doro sauce, which is made up of odd-shaped Momotaro and Pomodoro (plum) tomatoes.
This is a lovely, refreshing pizza – basically a homegrown spin-off of the ever-popular Hawaiian pizza. Except in this instance, the pineapples are given an innovative local twist in the form of the bunga kantan facelift and the addition of the smoked duck, which is a very nice touch. The tomato-based sauce is also very good and proves to be an excellent backdrop for the rest of the ingredients.
If you’re not all that adventurous and prefer your pizzas to be of the regular variety, Koh has options to whet the appetite too. Perhaps the most opulent of his other offerings is the Spicy Steak (RM75) which features generous portions of sliced Angus sirloin steak, beef pepperoni, angel hair chilli, Momo-Doro sauce, jalapeno and mozzarella cheese.
The steak pizza alludes to Koh's experience as a grill chef in Singapore.— FIRE & SLICE
“Before this, I was actually a grill chef and I spent a lot of time working on a lot of cuts of meat, so the steak pizza kind of explains my experience,” says Koh.
The pizza is superlative – the steak has been cooked perfectly and each slice yields meat that is tender, juicy and has a lovely pink core. This is buoyed by the pepperoni, cheese and tomato base in what is most definitely a sure-fire winner.
Moving forward, Koh says he will definitely open a brick and mortar outlet one day with farm-to-table as its core ethos.
“That is actually our aim, I will always have the same ideology of farm-to-table, because we want to try to use local ingredients, so all the restaurants that we build in the future will always revolve around the idea of this. If we can’t do 100% farm-to-table, then we will do as much as we can – that’s the dream,” says Koh.
Fire & Slice
Tiffin At The Yard
Jalan Strachan
Off Jalan Ipoh
51100 Kuala Lumpur
Open Thursday to Friday: 5pm to 10pm; Saturday to Sunday: 10am to 10pm
