THERE is a reason to be jolly when stepping into Pavilion Kuala Lumpur Shopping Centre on Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur.
As a child growing up in Sandakan, Sabah , Raphael Peter Lee recalls being poor and eating very simple dishes, like rice and eggs. His grandparents weren’t around so Lee says that unlike many chefs, this also meant he didn’t have very strong culinary influences driving his childhood memories.
He says it was while he was in Australia that he began questioning his purpose and identity as a chef. But he also realised that at that point, there were no other restaurants in Sabah utilising the wealth of endemic ingredients in the state. Ultimately, he had to figure out if he wanted to run a restaurant driven by pasta or purpose. He chose the latter.
When Lee finally opened Oitom, arguably Sabah’s first fine-dining restaurant with a local lens, his focus was purely on using Sabah ingredients, not on traditional Sabahan cuisine. He says when he looks back at his food now, some of it was just embarrassing, but he was also figuring it out as he went along.
Oitom is now in a somewhat unassuming new location, surrounded by other shop lots but you’ll know you’re in a different space once you enter the eatery, which is chic and sophisticated and centred around a huge open kitchen. “This year, what has changed is we have moved into the history and culture behind traditional recipes. So we would digest for example, what is linopot? What is the essence and meaning of it?
“So even though Oitom has been operating for close to five years, for me, 2024 is just the starting point. I think this year is the true beginning of my journey,” says Lee.
Sabah Oitom Kota Kinabalu Linopot Tapai
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