Risette’s head chef Steve Scicluna is joining forces with Michelin-starred chef Mickael Viljanen from Ireland’s Chapter One restaurant for a ‘Four Hands Dinner’ on July 12 and 13.

The two chefs got their creative juices flowing to come up with a lavish dinner that includes moules frittes with sauce mariniere, native red prawn with Provencal tomato juice, local grouper with smoked butter sauce, BBQ guinea fowl with Australian black truffle and sorrel, and a wild strawberry tartlet served with cheesecake ice cream. The menu is complemented by a selection of canapes and petit fours.

Born in Sweden but raised in Finland, Viljanen moved to Ireland in 2000. There he worked with Paul Flynn at The Tannery and spent five years in Gregan’s Castle where he won ‘Chef of the Year’ and ‘Restaurant of the Year’ from Food & Wine Magazine, and also won RAI ‘Chef of the Year’.

From there he moved on to open The Greenhouse restaurant in Dublin in 2012 – where he won Food & Wine magazine ‘Chef of the Year’ twice, most recently in 2019. He also won ‘Restaurant of the Year’ in Georgina Cambell guide in 2012 and Georgina Cambell guide ‘Chef of the Year’ in 2019.

September 2015 saw Viljanen entering the Michelin guide with his first Michelin star. In October 2019 the restaurant got promoted to two stars under his leadership – making it one of only two restaurants in Dublin with this accolade and the first one since 2000. ‘Opinionated about Dining top 100’ (OAD top 100) placed Mickael and the restaurant team on 26th place in Europe for classical dining.

Viljanen has travelled extensively over the years and his work has seen him travel to Hong Kong, Scandinavia, the UK and beyond. He has also appeared in Masterchef Ireland as a guest judge in 2012 and judged San Pellegrino ‘World Young Chef’ final in London, 2018. He is also a chef Ambassador for the prestigious Krug Champagne House.

In 2021, Viljanen took over from Ross Lewis in the kitchen of Chapter One, and became co-owner with Ross, and the restaurant became Chapter One by Mickael Viljanen, and was awarded two Michelin stars in the 2022 Michelin Guide. Since then the restaurant has retained its two stars and won many awards including ‘Best Restaurant in Ireland’ in the Irish Restaurant of the Year Awards in 2022 and 2023.

Scicluna’s culinary career started when he travelled to London to study and train at the world leading culinary school, Le Cordon Bleu. He also got the opportunity to experience the culinary industry at renowned restaurants like Pierre Koffman’s at The Berkley and Luca by Clove Club.

In Malta, Scicluna formed part of the initial team at the fine dining restaurant Risette before moving on to other roles. Since then, he has strived to further develop his knowledge and skills. Over the past years, he has travelled to Dublin, Ireland, on different occasions for stages with Viljanen: first at The Greenhouse and then to Chapter One by Mickael Viljaenen in 2021.

For reservations and further enquires, call Risette at Casa Ellul in Valletta on 2122 4821 or e-mail info@casaellul.com.