With slight shyness, Chef Godfrey Laforteza peeks around the corner at his guests on Wednesday. "These journalists are hungry", he says half to himself, "and not for news".

The 28-year-old recently took up a position in Edogin -- Hotel Mulia Senayan's Japanese restaurant. He has a knack -- a sixth sense, if you will -- for knowing what his guests want to eat.

This was honed in 2005 when Beyonce Knowles walked into Nobu, the restaurant where Laforteza was working in New York, and ordered "omakase".

Omakase (pronounced oh-mah-kah-see) is basically a request to dine chef's choice and so gives the chef the opportunity to take the initiative, to decide what he will serve, based on the best ingredients at hand and considering any likes or dislikes of the guest.

Or it's a multi-course meal where you put down, say $200, and the chef adjusts the menu according to the price.

"Beyonce was all smiles," Laforteza said. "But she was very tired -- fragile and vulnerable -- underneath.

"I had prepared these adventurous off-the-menu combinations and all she really wanted was comfort food, regular food."

"Somebody pointed out to me, 'Look, Beyonce's really not having a good day.' And, so I made her Teriyaki Chicken. And that was it, I became her favorite chef."

Laforteza loves food - "just look at my body," he says (he's rosy and round-cheeked) - and he just loves making people happy.

Though born in the Philippines, he grew up eating Japanese food and says his first cooking experience was boiling a sausage and an egg when he was hungry and his Mum was out.

He received his training in New York, working for four years at Nobu New York (and one year at Nobu Hong Kong). Now tables are booked one month in advance at the Japanese restaurant, which is a favorite with celebrities.

Laforteza has also a way of making diners feel special, with food that is clean-tasting and "guilt-free". Even the tempura.

On Wednesday he served the media crew a selection of tempura dishes as the Mulia is holding a tempura promo (April 15-30).

It's designated "Chef Godfrey's Tremendous Tempura".

We began with the Japanese Scallop Salad with Orange Vinaigrette and worked our way on. This one had cuts of spanking fresh scallops and octopus layered in an OJ dressing with a hint of green chili.

The Oyster Tempura with Rocket Salad was probably, no certainly, the best fried meal I have ever tasted. The oysters, succulent, lightly battered, were served with an oyster shell heaped with amber cubes of tangy ponzu jelly. The whole thing burst with flavor!

Next, the Prawn Tempura which was nestled in a purple red lettuce leaf, drizzled with spicy mayo.

The White Snapper Tempura, now that, consisted of snapper in a tempura batter flecked with seaweed that Chef Laforteza said had a "more bite to it than the usual sushi seaweed". It is served with Japanese rock salt and just a squeeze of lime.

Black Cod Miso with Foie Gras is a brilliant mix. The cod is marinated in a miso sauce for three days and broiled in the same sauce, the creamy sweet flesh falling away.

Ah ha! Laforteza said the cod was Beyonce's favorite. (Though she of Bootylicious body did ask him to hold the foie gras, which is perhaps calorific.)

"Everybody's favorite, The Pan Seared Kobe Beef with Lychee Truffle Sauce," said Laforteza. The sauce infused with truffle oil, sweet with a spicy kick.

We should mention The Salt Baked Cod with Chili Garlic Vinaigrette, quite rustic, served within a crust of salt, looking like a french bread within which silky cod is wrapped in a lotus leaf.

Laforteza, ah Laforteza! He treated the fortunate few of us to a Uni Cantaloupe Martini, a dinky little appetizer that consists of vodka infused with cantaloupe with a slip of creamy sea urchin floating within. And a green olive.

He said one of the things he most likes about been a chef is the interaction, the roving from table to table.

He has prepared two special Set Menus to introduce Jakartans to his style of cuisine, with prices ranging from Rp 700,000 to 900,000 a head. Omasake is also available, though Laforteza suggests you phone at least a day ahead for that. Then there is also ala carte, with many of the dishes on the special menu being able to be ordered separately and there's a buffet that Lafortza oversees, a lower price option.

Laforteza says that cooking for him is like breathing air. "If I didn't do it, I'd die."

He has been nervous about his reception. Will Jakarta like him and his food?

"If I could, I would stand on the street corner and hand out fliers", he said. "I'd do that."

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