Zanellato says he has been to a few countries in Southeast Asia and received training in Ryugin, a Michelin three-star restaurant in Tokyo, but it was the first time he had been to China.
"I have traveled a lot around in Asia, but I never had connections or friends in China. I always prefer to go a place if I know someone."
He and Katie Li, the owner of Tiago, met last year when she dined at LuMi in Sydney.
The gist of Zanellato's cooking philosophy is to use seasonal and local produce.
"We try to highlight the produce as much as possible, with very low manipulation of food," he says.
"My first ever short stint in China as a guest chef has been very difficult and tricky because I am not familiar with the produce here.
"At the moment in Sydney we are working in a hot summer with a refreshing menu. Here in Beijing I cannot use my light and refreshing dishes. I went back to my winter menu and started to see if we could get the produce and ingredients in Beijing."
Some special ingredients he brought from Sydney included lime kosho, eucalyptus oil, which is native to Australia, and dry fennel pollen.
He later found that "Beijing's produce is great".
"The language is the hardest thing. To get myself understood about how the food should be seasoned, how the textures and the temperature are very difficult. The menu requires more attention to details."
What surprised him most when he explored authentic Chinese food in Beijing for the first time was the sophistication of flavors and textures.
"The sticky texture, and the sweet-and-sour flavor of the Chinese dish squirrel fish impressed me. There must be a lot of techniques and skills."
He was also fascinated by the Cantonese claypot rice in which "the crunchy and crispy layers of rice associate with something similar to paella and risotto".
Asia has approaches to food similar to those of Mediterranean countries such as Italy and Spain, Zanellato says. "The love of food that Chinese people have is incredible. Having a meal is still a very important part of the day. People are obsessed with food, the same as in Italy. I don't find the same in Anglo-Saxon countries, like the UK and Canada."
Federico Zanellato returned to Sydney this week. But his menu of modern Italian food with Asian twists is still available at Combal, or his own LuMi restaurant in Sydney.
If you go
Combal by Tiago
Monday to Sunday: 11:30 am-2 pm; 5:30 pm-9:30 pm
127-129, 1st floor, tower C, COFCO Plaza, 8 Jianguomennei Street, Dongcheng district, Beijing
010-6528-2280
LuMi
Lunch: Friday to Sunday from 12 pm
Dinner: Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday from 6:30 pm; Friday and Saturday from 6 pm
56 Pirrama Road, Pyrmont, 2009 NSW, Australia
+61 2 9571 1999
