The elegant Viceroy resort in Outer Ubud enjoys one of the most surroundings in Ubud with well groomed garden, a spa, dining and pool complex overlooking the Petanu Valley .

We met for dinner with Anthony, General Manager of The Viceroy Bali. Their new Chef, Jean Francois, hovered in the background, at hand to answer any insightful and penetrating questions we might want to throw at him.

Anthony's take was ‘don't talk about food, talk about the concept-a concept of quality over quantity.” But that would be almost impossible. The food was terrific.

While Belgian Jean Francois is one of the new breed of young designer chefs (he cooked at Living Room, New York and Dubai before migrating to Ubud) with ideas and dreams to fulfil, he has plenty to say. His cuisine is a combination of French - pan Asian - fusion and he is happy to have finally been granted the freedom to create and conduct a kitchen to his own level of perfectionism.

Not to mention the cool quiet confines of The Viceroy. While we were talking, Jean Francois disappeared into the kitchen and reappeared with a huge Alaskan crab leg and proceeded to describe what he would do with it. As we ahead and aaahed over it he told us how he would cut it into pieces, steaming part of it to serve with a risotto of parmesan and white truffle, while the other half was to be split and grilled simply with butter and garlic. It sounded good enough to eat! And of course it was.

The main course of scallops, baked veal shank and the Black Angus fillet cooked blue were excellent. Dessert were particularly good. Both the subtly flavoured Grand Marnier soufflé and the individual serving of bakes cheesecake were worthy of note.

Jean Francois will come into his own in the next few weeks and the grand opening with full new menu should be ready by the first week of April - check for updates.

One of the things Anthony totally wanted to talk about was the humungous wine selection they are amassing with a selection of two hundred varieties of the best French, Australian, Chilean, Portuguese, South African, and a Spanish. They have a sommelier to assist guest with wine parings and the exact wine to match their chosen repast.

As many of the guest stay for a few days, the hoteliers like to create an intimate rapport with them and the chef who can cater to their every need. If they are on a spa and wellness retreat, he can create a special dishes, or if on a luxury stay they can have all the best. It is all part of the service.