My Dear Clara has opened in Uluwatu with a fully transparent cheese room, a pasta counter and a cocktail laboratory, led by a chef with roots in three-Michelin-starred kitchens, bringing Sicilian technique to the stove.
In the cheese room at My Dear Clara, staff pull and stretch fresh mozzarella by hand. Ricotta and burrata sit nearby, ready to set. Behind the open kitchen counter, chefs shape dough into casarecce and pappardelle for the evening ahead. In the cocktail laboratory, a rotary evaporator works through a fresh infusion. At the tables, paper covers the crisp linens. A box of crayons sits close by, an invitation guests are apparently quick to accept. This is My Dear Clara Uluwatu, a new Italian restaurant in Uluwatu. It puts its craft on full display before a single plate lands.
Opened on 5 September 2026 on Jalan Labuansait in Pecatu, My Dear Clara seats 140 across two levels and joins a growing list of destination dining rooms on Bali’s southern peninsula. The restaurant comes from the team behind KALA, one of Uluwatu’s established names, alongside sister venues Lola’s Cantina in Uluwatu and Canggu, Lolitas Cantina Mexicana in Uluwatu, and Two Moods in Canggu. Diners familiar with those rooms will recognise the same instinct for spaces that feel sociable rather than staged, though My Dear Clara’s ambitions sit a notch higher, anchored by a chef with genuine Michelin-kitchen pedigree.
A Look Inside My Dear Clara’s Open Kitchen
The design puts everything on show. Soaring ceilings and plush sofas sit against timber and textured brick. The space connects an upper level to the main dining floor. A theatrical open kitchen anchors the whole room.
Four stations run in full view of guests. The cheese factory makes ricotta, stracciatella, burrata, feta, halloumi, mozzarella and scamorza daily from local Java milk. The pasta section shapes classic and contemporary forms, including bigoli, gnocchi, pappardelle and tagliatelle. The pizza bar turns out Roman-style pies, from Margherita to signature toppings. The cocktail laboratory uses the same rotary evaporator to infuse spirits for the drinks list.
At the helm is chef and co-owner Zarrukh Farkhodovich, whose more than fifteen years in fine dining include time in some of Europe’s most decorated kitchens. Notably, he worked alongside Juan Mari and Elena Arzak at the three-Michelin-starred Arzak in San Sebastián, as well as with Jerome Coustillas, David Hemmerle and Glen Ballis. Before that, he trained under two-Michelin-starred chef Nino Graziano and Luca Verdolini at Semifreddo. That grounding shows in the menu, which the restaurant describes as blending Sicilian culinary heritage with contemporary technique, rather than replicating a single regional cuisine.
What To Order At My Dear Clara
The house-made dairy sets the tone before the savoury menu even begins. It has its own transparent room, a claim few other Uluwatu newcomers can match. From the small plates, yellowfin tuna crudo arrives with sun-sweet melon and a catalana dressing. Octopus mortadella comes with pistachio and celery gremolata, an unusual pairing for a Bali menu. It signals a kitchen willing to experiment within an Italian frame.
Pasta sits at the centre of the menu, not as an afterthought. Staff shape it in view at the dedicated pasta section. Beef cheek pappardelle comes dressed with balsamic and pecorino. Duck caramelle arrives in a mushroom butter sauce. Both feature among the handmade pasta highlights. For larger appetites, barramundi acqua pazza represents the seafood mains. Lamb shank and porchetta round out the large-plates list.
Dessert stays simple and shared. The restaurant serves pistachio tiramisu with instructions to take “one spoon” at a time. It’s a small detail that suits the room’s informal spirit. On the drinks side, the cocktail laboratory’s Parmigiano Martini uses the rotary evaporator to work cheese into a spirit-forward pour. The restaurant calls it its most savoury drink. The cellar adds reds, skin-contact wines and spritz-style serves such as the Peach Italicus and Limoncello Spritz.
Later In The Evening
A live soundtrack runs every night, but the mood shifts as the evening goes on, particularly at weekends. Once dinner service eases, the lighting drops and curated DJs take over. The pace lifts into what the restaurant calls a grown-up dinner party. It comes complete with tableside sketching and, on busier nights, dancing.
Co-owner Ryan Jefferson frames this as central to the concept: “We wanted My Dear Clara to be a place that takes the food seriously, but not so much ourselves. We put a lot of work into the food and cocktails, but we still want the room to feel relaxed and fun, somewhere you want to hang around for a while. I have really enjoyed watching the guests of the island appreciate the concept and the details we put into this project. I love looking around and seeing people laugh over a bottle of wine and home-made pasta with home-made cheese on top, while drawing all over the table and getting creative.”
Anyone updating a Uluwatu booking list this month has a fairly rare combination to consider. My Dear Clara runs its own cheese and pasta program in-house, backed by a chef with three-Michelin-star training behind him. The room works just as well for an early dinner as it does for a longer, louder night out.
The Details
- Location: Jl. Labuansait No. 44, Pecatu, Bali 80361
- Hours: 5pm until late, daily
- Website: www.mydearclara.com
- Instagram: @my_dear_clara
- WhatsApp: +62 821 344 4313
