I got invited to Shelter on a Thursday afternoon. First time in their backyard, the space behind the main restaurant that's reserved for special occasions. It's all open air, green, feels like a whole new world compared to the main dining room.
I got there at 3, and the atmosphere was already lively. Guests trickling in, free-flow drinks going around, wine, cocktails, margaritas, and the Shelter kitchen team already deep in prep. You could see Chef Stephen Moore and Chef Fran Benedicto Borges chatting with guests while occasionally checking on things in the back. And right in the middle of the space, an open fire pit. Not for ambience. This is where all the cooking was going to happen.
As the night unfolds, it's clear that we're about to experience a cooking masterclass, a barbecue cookout, and the chefs personally hosting their guests, all at once.
The fire comes first
Standing next to the pit was Charly Pretet, French-born founder of Australia's Terra Firma Dining and a leading name in outdoor cooking. But before anyone touched a single ingredient, he started explaining the fire itself. The wood, the coals, the heat zones. "The fire is the most important part of the cooking process," he said. Everyone stood around watching, cocktails in hand, asking questions. It already felt less like a dining event and more like being at someone's backyard where the host just happens to be really, really good at this.
That was exactly the idea. Shelter Sessions Vol. 11 (Bonfire Sessions) was capped at 30 guests in that backyard. Charly joined Steve and Fran for an afternoon built around fire. Oh did I mention, free-flow drinks kept the mood loose: non-alcoholic options, wine, cocktails, margaritas. But the real thing everyone was watching was what was happening over the flames.
A cooking masterclass, a cookout, and a party, all at once
What unfolded over the next few hours was hard to categorise. Part open-fire cooking masterclass, part cookout, part party. All three chefs were running it simultaneously.
Charly started with a whole mahi mahi smoked in banana leaf. He walked through every step right in front of us: slicing the fish, lathering the butter herb mixture, wrapping it in the leaf, putting it on the fire, moving the coals around underneath. All in real time, close enough to feel the heat on your face.
While the mahi mahi slowly cooked, probably seeing the audience drooling already, Chef Steve and Chef Fran jumped in with the first snack: grilled halloumi with wild honey and smoked oscietra caviar. Prepared on the spot, passed around while everyone kept watching and talking. And it's gone immediately.
Then came octopus and pork belly skewers with black garlic mayo and smoked pumpkinseed salsa. Same thing: made right there, shared right there. No pass, no window, no waiting. One minute you watched it being grilled and then another minute it was in your hands.
Charly moved on to stacking t-bones on the fire, explaining his technique as smoke billowed everywhere. Every now and then the wind would blow it straight into the crowd: eyes stinging, people laughing, starting conversations with whoever was standing next to them.
Two happy accidents
Then came what was hands down one of my favourite dishes of the night: log seared tuna crudo with sichuan pepper and ponzu dressing. Flavour packed but refreshing. Served at the same time as grilled pide with green goddess butter. And funny thing: both dishes were born from mistakes.
The tuna crudo happened when Charly was cooking at an event and forgot his grill. So he just cooked the fish directly on the fire log. And the pide? That came from croissant dough gone wrong: butter got mixed in all at once, and when Chef Steve grilled it, it turned into the chewiest, most addictive pita bread.
"Two mistakes that ended up being a showstopper," Charly said after service, laughing. Steve pushed back though: "It's too hard to say which one was a showstopper. They were all belters."
Sun setting, mahi mahi ready
As the sun started going down, the mahi mahi was finally done. They moved it to the serving table and suddenly it turned into full Indonesian cookout mode: everyone lining up with plates, the chefs serving portions themselves. Steve carefully pulled the fish apart, picking out bones as he went. "Be careful, there might still be small bones," he said as he put a big piece of white flaky meat on my plate.
It came with ash roasted squash, whipped feta, and tea-soaked yellow raisins. That last one caught me off guard. I bit into a raisin and pure jasmine tea-flavoured juice just burst in my mouth. First time experiencing that, I expected raisins, but it was more like drinking tea. Not something I’ll forget anytime soon.
The grand finale
Then the staff started swapping out the dining utensils. New plates. Meat knives. You knew what was coming.
Slow roasted t-bone with smoked bone marrow chimichurri, sliced right before our eyes. The beef was Westholme Wagyu from Australia, ethically raised and farmed in the Northern Territory. Served alongside crispy chat potatoes with smoked rosemary sea salt and bits of crispy garlic. Nobody talked for a minute.
And to close: toasted kemangi marshmallows, hand-torched and passed around to guests by the chefs themselves. As an Indonesian, this one hit me differently. Kemangi is something I've only ever known as a side to savoury dishes: lalapan, nasi, sambal. Always savoury, always paired with rice. Now here it was in dessert form. It was so unique and to be honest, it worked really well.
More than the smoke
After service I sat with Steve and Charly. When I asked what to call the evening, Charly had an answer ready: "Not a fine dining experience: a fire dining experience."
Steve put it simply: "We took the guys on a journey this afternoon from building a fire all the way through to cooking seven or eight incredible dishes." Charly added, "We really got to gather everyone around the fire, around this primal live element of fire."
Look, the food was sensational. Every dish. Savoury, salty, sweet, creamy, fatty, refreshing, heavy and light, all in the best way. From the first snack it was clear that skimping on flavour is just not what Shelter does, and every plate after that only confirmed it.
But what I think will last longer than the flavour (longer even than the smell of smoke that stayed in my hair the whole next day) is how intimate the night actually felt. The chefs were hands-on in every sense. Cooking, serving, hosting, sweating, hurting their eyes on the same smoke we were all laughing about. They portioned every plate, answered every question, talked to everyone.
On that night in Shelter's backyard, it wasn't a chef's table or a pop-up. It was just a barbecue with family and friends. Out of love to create and to host.
Shelter Sessions Vol. 11: Bonfire Sessions with Terra Firma took place on Thursday, 23 April 2025 at Shelter Pererenan. The event was an intimate fireside gathering for 30 guests, featuring live-fire cooking by Charly Pretet (Terra Firma), Stephen Moore, and Fran Benedicto Borges (Shelter).
Shelter Pererenan, Jl. Pantai Pererenan No.133, Kec. Mengwi, Bali.
