Kelvin Khoo Online

Mr Tay highlighted that most of the new projects launched were small projects located outside the prime residential districts. ‘The only project targeted at the mass market, the 405-unit Waterfront Waves at $800 psf (per square foot), met with a certain degree of success as evidenced by the 108 units sold,’ he added.

According to URA, prices of private residential property increased by 3.7 per cent in Q1 2008 compared to 6.8 per cent in the previous quarter.

Mr Tay said that while there were no new luxury projects launched, a few units from existing projects were known to have been sold at above $3,300 psf in Q1 2008, with several units in Marina Collection sold at above $2,600 psf.

‘These, and probably some high-priced transactions in the resale and sub-sale markets, could have contributed to the 3.7 per cent rise to the private residential price index from the previous quarter,’ he added.

Interestingly, the 3.7 per cent increase in the PPI is lower than the earlier forecast of 4.2 per cent.

URA said that the last time the flash estimate of the change in private residential property price index (PPI) was revised downwards by more than 0.5 per cent points was in Q4 2001, when it was pegged downwards by 1.4 percentage points.

Jones Lang LaSalle local director and head of research (South-east Asia) Chua Yang Liang also noted that PPI was down by 3.1 percentage points from the 6.8 per cent growth recorded in Q4 2007, the biggest quarterly drop since Q3 2000, when prices declined by 4.2 percentage points.

Dr Chua said that overall, developers remained conservative on their new launches.

But while there was a significant growth in Outside Central Region (OCR) where a total of 813 units were released in the quarter - 60.5 per cent of total launches in Singapore in Q1 2008 - he noted: ‘Demand in this region was however not as strong.’

Take-up rate for OCR was only 38 per cent whereas Core Central Region (CCR) and Rest of Central Region (RCR) reported healthier take-up rate of 89 per cent and 71 per cent respectively.

And Cushman & Wakefield managing director Donald Han believes buyers are prepared to wait. ‘Property is sentiment-driven, and if buyers believe the economy will slow down, they will be prepared to wait it out on the sidelines,’ he said.

The disappearance of speculators from the market may have also dampened sales, as reflected by the lower number of subsales at just 346 transactions, down from 649 in the previous quarter.

‘Short-term speculators have been weeded out,’ Mr Han said. But, as Mr Han notes, it is now also ‘a smaller market’.

Savills Singapore director (marketing and business development) Ku Swee Yong also believes sub-sales have reached a plateau with current data ‘reflecting true demand’.

According to Savills’ own basket of properties launched and sub-sold in 2007 and 2008, the level of subsales fell from 34 transactions in Q4 2007 to just six transactions in Q1 2008. Subsale prices, however, remained stable, suggesting that panic selling for the time being at least is unlikely.

On whether the increasing backlog of unsold homes could pose a potential over-supply situation in the future, Mr Ku said that he believes not all the potential developments will be built.

URA projects that 56,501 units are expected to be completed between Q2 2008 and 2011, of which 29,685 units are already under construction.

Mr Ku said there are certain ‘control mechanisms’ which could see a lower number of units completed by 2011 with the first being the construction factors. Mr Ku said that a project that has not already begun construction is not likely to be finished within two years, simply because of the costs and shortages within the construction industry currently.

Another control mechanism lies with developers. ‘In the previous downturn, some developers held off projects for 10 years,’ he said.

‘If you’ve played some of the racing games out there, the designers have the luxury of making the track wider than it actually is to make the game easier to play, thereby broadening the appeal of their game,’ he says. ‘But we didn’t have that luxury because we had to make our games completely accurate so that the racers could use it to train,’ Mr Ball adds.

This attention to accuracy pays off handsomely. The controls are excellent, especially if you have a steering wheel game controller. And you’ll instantly recognise the track if you have even a passing acquaintance with Singapore’s roads. Even the Singapore Flyer is where it should be, to scale, which explains the minimum hardware requirements of a Pentium 4 CPU and a mid-range graphics card. The game is not easy to play, but it’s extremely authentic. There are also prizes up for grabs, although the rewards structure is different for SingTel subscribers compared with those of other telcos.

The Mobile Racer game for phones will also be interesting, but unfortunately will only be available to SingTel subscribers. With the new number portability schemes, this might just give you an incentive to switch since once the game is in full swing in August, you’ll be able to race against other people in a multiplayer environment. In the initial iteration of the game available from May onwards, players will be able to purchase and customise their race cars using credits accumulated from winning games, and choose between three different difficulty levels.

Show me the money, you say? Well, if you’re a top scorer, you’ll win grandstand tickets to the F1 race here. Now that’s got to be worth something. And come August, the game will be upgraded to a three-dimensional version, complete with so-called ghost technology that will represent your opponents based on their best recorded game performances.

If you still don’t think this is a big deal, bear in mind that the PC racing games based on other countries’ tracks are commercial downloads, with Singapore being the only exception. Just because you get it free doesn’t mean it isn’t worth something. These are no cheap freebie games, but are cutting-edge racing simulators.

Owners of the 48 units will keep the $12 million, or an average of $250,000 per unit, they have received so far from the associated Bravo company, Pender Development Pte Ltd.

A Bravo spokeswoman told BT yesterday that the group decided to cut its losses on the investment so far rather than pump in more money as the venture was no longer profitable, given the bad publicity the company had been receiving lately from the rescission of two other en bloc sales to Bravo units - those of Tulip Garden in Holland Road and Makeway View in the Newton area.

Also, a party that was to buy an entire proposed 50-unit cluster housing project to be developed on the Pender Court site pulled out at the end of last month. ‘My breakeven cost would have been about $2.7 million per cluster house. My purchaser withdrew. With the bad publicity that we currently have, I don’t think the project can even fetch $2.3 million to $2.5 million per unit if I were to launch the development now,’ said a Bravo spokeswoman.

‘So we’d lose money. We might as well cut our loss now - I’ve lost $12 million - rather than make a bigger loss by pursuing the redevelopment.’

Even if Bravo had pursued its original plan to build a condo on the Pender Court site, the breakeven cost would be about $1,300 to $1,400 psf today, which would not be viable in the current market, the spokeswoman said.

BT understands that the $12 million that Pender Development has paid Pender Court’s owners comprised two initial deposits of $4 million each - on the $80 million price - and a further $4 million that the buyer paid the owners for the latest extension. The deadline to complete the transaction ended yesterday.

Pender Court’s $80 million en bloc sale was announced in July last year, which is when the Bravo associate paid an initial 5 per cent deposit. When the collective sale was approved by Strata Titles Board on Nov 21 last year, the Bravo associate paid the second 5 per cent deposit.

The completion date, which is when the remaining 90 per cent of the purchase price must be paid up, was to have been in late February. However, when this was not completed, the owners’ lawyer served a notice advising the Bravo associate that if it does not complete the purchase within 14 days, the owners would rescind the deal. Before the 14 days ran out around mid-March, Bravo asked for an extension to April 24 and paid the owners a further $4 million on top of the original $80 million purchase price.

All $12 million have been disbursed to the owners, BT understands.

No further notice of rescission is required under a supplementary agreement signed seeking the extension until yesterday.

Last week, The Straits Times headline for the story on the flash estimate was ‘Private homes sales recover in weak market’. In The Business Times, the headline was ‘Private home sales tumble, prices weaken’.

As confusing as it sounds, both headlines were technically correct.

One reason could be how data is interpreted and the level of optimism or pessimism - the same figures can be read very differently.

Consider the flash PPI for Q1, which increased despite the quarter being one of the worst in recent years for new sales. Yet the consensus appeared to be that the PPI could still rise this year.

The PPI is essentially a transaction-based index. Properties are split into segments to form sub-indices that are then used to calculate the PPI.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) uses the moving-average method to compute the weights assigned to the various sub-indices. The weights, updated quarterly, are based on the moving average mix of transactions over the past 12 quarters.

While the PPI is widely used as the gauge of Singapore’s property market, this method is not used universally.

In the United States, for instance, analysts are more likely to refer to ‘housing starts’ - the number of homes being built - as a gauge of the market, or more importantly, market sentiment.

There are also indices based on the prices of resale homes alone, as some believe this is a more accurate measure of prices the market will bear.

In Singapore, Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) has been looking at other ways to track and gauge property price movements.

Recently, JLL’s head of research (South-east Asia) Chua Yang Liang started to monitor the lowest-transacted median prices of properties in the Outside Core Region because he believes these are a more accurate reflection of price tolerance.

While such an index is in the works, Dr Chua says there could also be variables, pertaining to property size and location, that could have a significant bearing.

Recognising that the property market is becoming more fragmented, with the high-end sector in particular supported by foreigners and speculators, URA has provided separate PPIs for different regions, with the Outside Central Region being one and the Core Central Region and Rest of Central Region the other two.

But this has itself led to speculation on which region is performing better.

In one of its more pro-active moves, URA also began releasing monthly data on developer sales in the middle of last year when the market was most ‘exuberant’.

While the rationale at the time was to make pricing of new launches even more transparent, it has inadvertently revealed how prices can be skewed.

Part of this could be due to developers sometimes selling units selectively to ensure prices remain high.

An optimist will interpret this as prices remaining stable, while a pessimist will only see that demand has fallen.

For the current PPI to be meaningful, there should be some correlation with sales volume, as both are tied to the basic mechanics of supply and demand.

However, after comparing sales volume against the PPI since the previous peak in the mid-1990s, no strong correlation could be determined.

One contrarian trend did emerge, and this was that since the last trough in Q4 1998, the PPI is more likely to rise as transaction volumes fall. Unfortunately, this only adds to the confusion.

Both banks yesterday announced these lucrative offers whose cost they are willing to bear - because at stake is the six-year window of opportunity to sell other products such as home loans and credit cards to the parents.

Said OCBC’s head of group wealth management Nicholas Tan: ‘We view this as a long-term and strategic investment to offer relevant products and services to the community. We aim to deepen and expand our relationship with parents and children in the long term.’

Last month, the government announced that OCBC and Stanchart had emerged successful bidders to manage the baby bonus scheme, estimated to be worth some $400 million, with effect from Aug 1.

They take over from DBS Bank, which offers a rate of 0.25 per cent on the Children Development Account (CDA).

Started by the government in 2001 to encourage couples to have children, the baby bonus scheme has two components: an outright cash gift, and matching contributions to the CDA. For the third and fourth child, the total bonus from the government can go up to a maximum of $18,000.

In July 2007, there were 107,000 CDAs with $375 million in them, the government disclosed. On average, 35,000 to 45,000 babies are born each year.

Co-funding from the government into the CDA - which can only be used to pay for medical expenses, childcare and school fees - stops after six years.

OCBC is offering to pay a 0.8 per cent interest rate for a new CDA or one per cent if parents opt to save at least $50 a month.

Mr Tan told BT that the rates are guaranteed until the end of the year.

‘From now till Dec 31, the minimum rates for OCBC CDA and CDA Extra is 0.8 per cent per annum and one per cent per annum respectively,’ he said.

‘I’d also like to take this opportunity to reiterate that parents who choose to appoint OCBC to manage their CDAs will enjoy better-than-market interest rates, a comprehensive suite of product offerings and the convenience that only a Singapore bank can offer,’ said Mr Tan.

In addition, OCBC is offering a fixed deposit CDA even higher interest rates of 1.5 to 1.6 per cent for a 12-month tenure. The minimum amount is $6,000.

Mr Tan said there will be a cap on the amount which can be placed in a fixed deposit CDA, which the bank will announce in August.

Regardless of the amount, no bank in Singapore currently offers 1.5 per cent for a 12-month fixed deposit.

Not to be outdone, Stanchart also gave details of its CDA yesterday. The UK- based bank had brought forward its CDA media launch from Friday after it found out about OCBC’s plans on Tuesday.

Stanchart said it is offering 0.78 per cent for a CDA.

It also offers some extra flexibility where parents can earn a higher interest rate if they ‘pool’ the family savings together for a combined $50,000 and above.

But the bank said it could not guarantee the interest rates although it will do its utmost to hold them.

Stanchart head of consumer banking Ajay Kanwal said unless there is a material shift in movements of interest rates, the bank will not change them.

As for the higher interest rates Stanchart is offering in pooling accounts, he said it was so that parents don’t lose out. ‘We want to have as much money as possible for the child. As a parent, though, I don’t want to lose any advantage if I put money into my child’s account,’ said Mr Kanwal.

Asked if the bank can make money on its CDA product, he said: ‘We intend to do more business than just the CDA. This is a good way to enter into a long-term relationship with the customer.’

The report notes, however, that Hong Kong and Singapore are the two cities expected to be most affected by the credit crunch and global economic slowdown

In Singapore, the impact on the residential market is already being felt, with slowing sales and price cuts.

The number of new homes sold in the first quarter of 2008 was 787, or about half the 1,449 sold in the previous quarter, official data shows.

DTZ Debenham Tie Leung, for one, points out that the numbers represent the second-lowest quarter of developer sales since Sars-hit Q1 2003.

The lacklustre performance is expected to continue, say property analysts.

‘The current market sentiment is likely to continue into the second quarter,’ says Li Hiaw Ho, executive director for research at CB Richard Ellis (CBRE).

Nicholas Mak, director of research and consultancy at Knight Frank, agrees. ‘Sales are expected to stay thin in the coming few months due to the continuing uncertainty about the US economic outlook and financial market problems. Home-buyers, especially in the mass-market segment, are expected to remain cautious until there is a sustained recovery in financial markets and economic conditions, which would spill over to the property market.’

Interestingly, news has emerged that some developers are starting to cut their prices - a sure sign of weakening market sentiment.

A recent media report says property heavyweight Far East Organization has achieved encouraging sales for three 99-year leasehold suburban projects - after it trimmed their prices 3-5 per cent after the Chinese New Year.

‘If the credit crisis or economic slowdown deepens, launches and take-up would remain subdued and prices are likely to ease,’ according to DTZ. ‘Some smaller developers have lowered prices to dispose of their units and this may spread as the residential property market is largely affected by sentiments.’

UBS Investment Research notes similarly that it expects mass-market projects to be launched at lower-than-expected prices. Sentosa Cove prices have also fallen - 13-20 per cent in Q1 2008, potentially wiping out the profit of Sentosa sites bought by SC Global and Ho Bee, UBS notes.

‘We expect the negative news to motivate sellers to close the wide bid-ask spreads and home prices to fall further, with high-end prices most at risk due to a lack of foreigner interest,’ UBS analyst Regina Lim says in a recent note.

Her research team has downgraded its residential price forecasts for 2008 and 2009 by as much as 20 per cent - expecting prices in prime and mid-range segments to fall 20 per cent and 10 per cent respectively. Mass-market prices are expected to hold steady.

Rent increases for private residential property are also likely to moderate due to budget constraints and the slower influx of expatriates, analysts say.

And residential investment sales also fell hard in Q1 2008, data from property firm Colliers International shows.

‘Investment sales value dipped some 35.7 per cent in Q1 2008 to $2.27 billion, from $3.54 billion in the preceding quarter,’ the firm says.

Colliers notes, in particular, that the residential collective sales market virtually ground to a halt in Q1, with just one deal - that of Ban Guan Park for $31.1 million or $871 per square foot per plot ratio. This was a big slide from $1.16 billion sealed in Q4 2007 from 10 collective sale sites, and a dramatic plunge from 41 collective sale transactions totalling some $6.53 billion sealed during the peak in Q2 2007.

Despite all the negative news, there seems to be some optimism. DBS Group Research, for example, recently upgraded its call on the Singapore property sector from ‘neutral’ to ‘overweight’.

But many are taking a wait-and-see approach to the market, including the residential segment.

‘We believe Singapore’s property secular uptrend is still intact, thanks to its ongoing efforts to transform itself into a globalised city-state,’ says DBS Vickers Securities analyst Lock Mun Yee. ‘However, in the near term, spillover uncertainties from the credit crunch and talks of a possible US recession have affected sentiment.’

According to Margaret Thean, DTZ’s executive director for residential: ‘It is still too early to gauge the residential sector performance as this is just the first quarter.’

This was attributed mainly to income from its one-third interest in One Raffles Quay Pte Ltd, the acquisition of which was completed on Dec 10, 2007.

K-Reit said the contribution from One Raffles Quay was $10.9 million, comprising income support received from the vendor, interest income and dividend income.

Distribution per unit (DPU) for the quarter was 4.6 cents, or 1.3 percentage points more than forecast. K-Reit said this amount will be included in the advance distribution payout, estimated to be 6.45 to 6.5 cents per unit, for the period Jan 1 to May 7, 2008.

Net property income for the quarter was $9.1 million, or 41.5 per cent higher than $6.5 million in the corresponding quarter in 2007. This was underpinned by higher gross rental income from properties, K-Reit said. Gross rental income increased 30.2 per cent year on year to $11.2 million in Q1 2008.

Committed occupancy of K-Reit’s portfolio is 99.6 per cent. With the contribution of the one-third interest in One Raffles Quay, the average monthly gross rent of its portfolio grew 69.4 per cent year on year and 14 per cent from end-2007 to $6.86 per square foot in March 2008.

K-Reit is now engaged in a rights issue. The expected gross proceeds of $551.7 million will be used to partly repay a bridging loan of $942 million drawn down for the acquisition of the one-third stake in One Raffles Quay.

This will reduce K-Reit’s aggregate leverage from 53.9 per cent to 27.7 per cent and provide it with additional funding capacity to acquire further properties.

The rights units are expected to be issued on May 8.

K-Reit said it expects to benefit from positive rental revisions, given its current rents are below market rates and that 42.2 per cent and 20.2 per cent of its portfolio’s net lettable area is due for lease expiry and rent review respectively between 2008 and 2010.

K-Reit’s units closed one cent higher at $1.41 yesterday.

Yesterday was a proud day for Mr Kwek, 67, as he witnessed the official opening of St Regis Singapore, which will be his flagship hotel in Singapore. ‘We have many hotels around the world - M&C has 112 - but none as luxurious as this one. Normally, it takes a hotel about three years to stabilise earnings. However, for St Regis Singapore, I’m confident we can stabilise in a year’s time.’

The 299-room hotel, said to be worth about $1.2 million a room, as well as the next door 173-unit St Regis Residences, were developed by a joint venture involving CDL, Hong Leong Holdings Ltd and TID Pte Ltd. TID is a partnership between the Hong Leong Group and Japan’s leading real estate company Mitsui Fudosan.

To date, 157 of the 173 units at St Regis Residences have been sold.

‘The planning for a branded hotel and residences concept in the same development took about five years,’ Mr Kwek said.

‘I am quite excited, because this development was not acquired, but conceptualised and built from scratch.’

Mr Kwek started the group’s first hotel, what is now known as Copthorne King’s, at Havelock Road, in 1970. ‘When I was younger, I was bolder. In the early 1990s, the international hotels sector was competitive but it is very much more so today. There are more and bigger private equity funds among the major international players. The financial landscape is also much more different than when we went international over 14 years ago, or when we opened our first hotel more than 30 years ago.’

Mr Kwek acknowledged that the opening of the two integrated resorts will boost Singapore’s meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions business and pose a challenge to existing hotels and upcoming ones, but the market segments they cater to are not necessarily the same.

‘They will help make Singapore a tourism hub and ensure that Singapore is a key destination,’ he said. ‘Not forgetting that we have the new giant aircraft A380, and the increased popularity of budget airlines, so Singapore will have increasing numbers of visitors.’

He also said that talent is a key challenge ahead for the Singapore hotel industry. With India and China opening up, their hotels are taking up a significant portion of the global hotel talent.

‘Labour cost, which is a concern by itself, is bound to increase,’ he said. ‘In Singapore, because land is scarce, construction costs are high, and prices of building materials such as steel are also rising, so there is a challenge if one plans to build budget hotels, a sector which will be much needed here.’

The Village Square, comprising a couple of single-storey buildings that were disused for many years and the spruced-up open courtyard between them, is made up of an arts-themed space and a three-pronged F&B component, that already has eager residents licking their lips in anticipation. The estate is already home to many people in the creative industry and The Village Square is seen as a natural extension to the existing community.

Laurent’s Cafe & Chocolate Bar

IT’S been almost two years since Laurent Bernard, the man behind those distinctive turquoise boxes and some of the best hand-made chocolates in Singapore, opened his cafe and chocolate factory at The Pier in Robertson Quay. When a space in Wessex Village Square came up, he grabbed the opportunity to expand the business and increase production.

‘For me to work as an artisan, it’s the best place,’ says Bernard, citing the artistic environment, the greenery and a sense of like being in a small town in France, where locals gather in the village square for coffee and to pass the time away. Here, he will focus on chocolate production, which has increased five-fold since he started business. ‘Since the beginning, we’ve only had good problems,’ he says.

The larger space will also enable him to devote a section of the cafe to displaying and promoting works by local artists, specifically those who live and work in Wessex Estate. Bernard also plans to move to the area when living space becomes available later on this year.

Customers who drop by can select from a menu that offers the likes of hot chocolate, chocolate souffle and a variety of cakes - not to mention those delectable chocolates, of course. ‘The environment is calm and beautiful,’ says Bernard. ‘When I first saw it two years ago I fell in love with it. We are artisans - I’m not into mass production. I’m happy to work in this kind of place, where, there is something for the eyes (art), the palate (chocolate) and ears (music from Klee, the new bar next door).’

Pietrasanta

NAMED for the Tuscan town where the owners come from, Pietrasanta is the latest family-run Italian neighbourhood eatery to open. Loris Massimini, his wife Jennifer and his brother Giuseppe have created a little slice of Tuscany in Wessex Village Square. It’s the sort of place that works well in Singapore, appealing to people in search of a casual trattoria that serves decent Italian fare.

Pietrasanta - the restaurant - is the personification of rustic charm, and there is also a strong connection to art. Its 1,200-year-old namesake in northern Tuscany is famed as the place where Michelangelo sourced the marble for his sculptures. ‘I’ve been in Singapore for 12 years and for the last 10 years, I’ve wanted to do something in this place,’ says Massimini, who like Laurent Bernard, also plans to live in the neighbourhood. ‘For my wife and me, it’s a dream come true.’

Steaks, pastas and pizza take precedence on the current menu, but owner chef Loris Massimini, who worked previously at restaurants such as Portofino and La Braceria, plans to gradually introduce a full slate of Tuscan food and wine. ‘Sixty per cent of high-end Italian wines are produced in Tuscany, and it’s the same for food,’ says Massimini. ‘Tuscany is the mother of culinary culture and we will slowly turn this place totally Tuscan.’

Klee

KLEE, the cocktail bar located in a separate building next to Laurent’s Cafe and Pietrasanta, is the third piece of the new F&B puzzle at Wessex Village Square and like its neighbours, seems to have captured the mood of the place. Housed in a building that used to be the caretaker’s lodge for Wessex Estate, it exudes an easy sense of laidback cool and savoir faire that people with artistic intent do so well.

Klee, which opened last week, is run by the people who own the Timbre F&B outlets at The Substation and The Arts House. It may be a neighbourhood bar, but don’t expect it to serve wine or beer and peanuts. According to co-managing director Edward Chia, the bar will feature specialty cocktails, made with freshly squeezed fruit juices and premium brands of alcohol.

‘The main aim is to lift cocktail culture,’ says Chia. ‘We will go back to the basics by offering bespoke cocktails, focusing on the product, the level of service and creating a sense of intimacy between the bartender and the customers.’ Customers sit in retro-style chairs alongside a bar that runs the length of the room.

By next month, there will be live entertainment as well, and weekend barbecues are on the cards. There is also a gallery component, with works by local artists displayed on the walls. It may be a different generation from Colbar a stone’s throw away, but Klee, and the rest of Wessex Village Square, has retained the original spirit of the place.
By Geoffrey Eu

6-9 Rochester Park

IF the new outlets at Dempsey Village have taken wining and dining traffic away from Rochester Park, four new concepts opening in the remaining black-and-white houses there soon should entice the crowd back.

Numbers six to nine are four buildings on the elevation above the existing row of Rochester Park dining outlets that opened last year. What foodies, drinkers and even cooking fans can expect is a gastronomical ‘village’ of sorts, featuring a smart casual restaurant, a gastrobar, a bakery and a vodka and caviar bar.

Even as walls are yet to be painted, works of art to be hung and tables re-arranged in all four buildings, the first to open is Cassis, a restaurant helmed by young French chef Eric Guilbert, who earned a Michelin star when he was at Lido restaurant at the Las-Dunas Beach hotel and spa, in Marbella, Spain, in 2004.

Cassis soft-opened this week, but it’s best to give it a couple of weeks for serving and kitchen staff to ’settle in’ and iron out the kinks. The two bars and the bakery will soon open their doors at this ambitious gastro-project, which comes under Caprice Holdings, set up by Singapore-based Tolaram group which is an international conglomerate.

In the process of food ventures in Africa, Tolaram’s folks came across ‘lifestyle entrepreneur’ Mahesh P Ramnani, who had built up a chain of cigar lounges in Estonia besides founding the Gastronomy Society there. With Mr Ramnani heading Caprice Holdings and Italian-Finn Elena Natale as his right-hand ‘woman’, who has also overseen F&B establishments in the Nordic region, we can surely expect a dose of Euro-style management at the new establishments.

The combined energy of Mr Ramnani - Ghana-born, English educated, by the way - and Ms Natale should surely inject some fresh vibes into Rochester Park; on top of the new F&B concepts.

Cassis

CHEF Eric Guilbert made all his male cooks shave bald the minute they showed up for work. We saw a shave in progress when we popped by earlier this week for a pre-arranged media tasting. Guests can easily check out the cooks’ shorn heads by peering through the show kitchen, although all of them still have their hats on, so maybe you’ll see shaved sideburns.

Anyway, that’s a good illustration of the precise nature of the 33-year-old’s cooking. There’s a touch of perfectionist in the fare that we tried, which isn’t your standard French French, but is more contemporary and ‘international’ in feel.

The dishes are sophisticated but not formal, and quite approachable - such as a duet of scallops, served as a flavourful flan and pan-seared. The grilled beef tenderloin was dramatically plated - a very tender, thick and round meat smack surrounded by a moat of creamy celery puree. Those are some of the chef’s signature dishes, including a seven-hour slowcooked leg of lamb which wasn’t stringy, served with a truffle potato puree. Entrees are between $30 and $40, while main courses are between $40 and $60.

Chef Guilbert didn’t go through formal cooking school, although he has taught Cordon Bleu students before. Given his apprenticeship roots - he started work at 15 - all the fine on-the-job training he has received shines through. One should go there with high expectations of this master of the kitchen.

In terms of decor, Cassis is flamboyant with a touch of eclecticism: ’sunken’ outdoor seating surrounded by shimmering ‘pools’; a glass-covered patio with creepers trailing up on curved ladders; and a swanky indoor double-storey dining area complete with ornate modern chandeliers.

Pinchos Gastro Bar

SHADED in deep red and black, the gastrobar flaunts a modern yet rustic feel. It will boast a list of more than 300 quality wines in a walk-in wine ‘cava’, while an extensive menu of nibbles will be served.

Twelve+One

WITH a floor painted macaroon pink and furniture in French country style, this bakery is meant to delight children and the inner child in adults. The name is derived from the 13th century term baker’s dozen, used in times when bakers would characteristically give 13 for the price of 12, thanks to a law which dictated that customers should not be short-changed.

Once the bakery is up and running, cooking and baking lessons will be held upstairs - for adults and children.

Minx

OPENING in May, Minx will be the ‘jewel’ of 6-9 Rochester Park, smacking of Russian opulence. Caviar takes centre stage while drinks will focus on vodka. Caprice Holdings’ owners have had a long trading history in the land of vodka, so guests can expect the best.
By Cheah Ui-Hoon

Polo Club
Singapore Polo Club,
80 Mount Pleasant Road.
Tel: 6854-3999.

THE Singapore Polo Club isn’t the first place you’d think of for a quiet meal in an interesting location, but given the number of restaurants opening in green neighbourhoods (such as Wessex Village Square and Rochester Park), perhaps it’s time to view it in a different light.

Restaurants in the vicinity of The Saddle Club and former Turf Club, such as Mimolette and Picotin, have shown that stables and staples go well together, but it isn’t so well known that the restaurants at the Polo Club are open to the public. The club took over F&B operations from an outside caterer earlier this year, and now offers various dining options at four different outlets - The Mountbatten Room, which is a fine-dining restaurant, a bar, an al fresco dining area and a poolside grill.

The Polo Club was founded in 1886, and along with an unmistakable sense of history, it has retained a veneer of its colonial-era charm - overhead fans, comfy armchairs, trophies in the display cabinet and the clink of gin and tonic-filled glasses on the verandah. On the wall beside the open-air bar, there are photographs of polo-playing luminaries, plus a painting of a scene in India, titled ‘The Game of Sahibs and Rajahs’. And of course, there’s the vast green expanse of the polo field just beyond the verandah railings.

‘At any other polo club in the world, you’d expect a certain standard of cuisine,’ says Dennis Kool, F& B manager at the club. ‘It used to be the same menu at all the outlets, with both local food and Western dishes but now we offer a fine-dining option as well.’

The menu at the more formal Mountbatten Room features a selection of classics such as lobster bisque, stuffed quail and beef cheek, as well as one or two Chinese cuisine favourites, such as braised lobster noodles. ‘In a sports club like the Polo Club, you have so many different cultures, so you want to make sure that you have something for everybody,’ says Kool.

A meal at the club is good value, with a daily three-course set lunch at The Mountbatten Room priced at $19.90. The public pays 10 per cent more than members but in return, you can immerse yourself in a storied venue, have a decent meal and let that peaceful, easy feeling wash all over you.
By Geoffrey Eu