Archive for the ‘Wine & Dine’ Category
Chinese New Year Menu
Written by Kelvin on February 11, 2010 – 9:59 am -If you are too lazy to cook, or simply no time to do so because of the visitations and all AND do not wish to pay ‘inflated’ prices because of the festive season, refer to this menu! 
I had personally eaten at this stall and the food is really good, reasonably priced and they even cater to us, Chinese, at their usual fare prices without increasing!
I’ve ordered mine for the 1st Day - have you?
Posted in What to Eat? | No Comments »
Not on the radar but still worth a visit
Written by Kelvin on June 4, 2008 – 3:01 pm -Business Times - 02 Jun 2008
NEW MENU
Summer Pavilion
Level 3, Ritz Carlton Singapore
Tel:
SUMMER Pavilion has got to be one of the more under-rated Chinese restaurants in Singapore. More than just a place for tai-tais who lunch, it’s where you can find very refined classical Cantonese cuisine prepared by its master chef, Fok Kai Yee.
Chef Fok can certainly hold his own against other top Chinese restaurants in town, but maybe it’s the discreet, formal as opposed to friendly service that makes diners feel that a meal here is a little too stuffy for comfort. It doesn’t have the warm, bustling ambience of, say, Hua Ting, Imperial Treasure or Peach Garden, and you do tend to feel lost in this large ballroom-like space. On the other hand, the resulting space and privacy you enjoy here as a result probably suits its regular patrons just fine.
When comparing Chinese restaurants, we like to use an unrefined, but rather effective, yardstick. It’s called the cha shao bao (char siew pau) test. Even top restaurants have been known to score poorly, serving buns with too sweet fillings or dough that is fluffy but afflicted with dampness from improper steaming. Summer Pavilion passes the test with flying colours for its moist buns that are fluffy yet with a nice chewiness, coupled with tasty filling that isn’t too sweet.
It augured well for what was to come - Chef Fok has added a string of new dishes to his menu and they are all good. A must-try, if you are not averse to shark’s fin, is the Double-boiled Shark’s Fin with Bamboo Pith and Chinese Cabbage in Superior Chicken Stock ($52) - a milky broth resulting from seven hours of double-boiling is thick without being too unctuous, with a generous amount of fin almost spilling out of the bowl. Bamboo pith, meltingly soft cabbage and a tasty piece of chicken meat complete the treat.
While your goosebumps may rise at the thought of eating braised crocodile skin with wild mushroom in superior chicken stock ($18), it’s hard to resist the beautiful gelatinous texture of the crocodile skin. Yes, the bumpy surface and squeamish thoughts do intrude a little into the dining experience but if you’re a fan of gelatinous shark’s head or fish eyes from fish head curry, you are going to like this. If not, then indulge in lobster ($21 per 100g) done in a myriad of ways, starting with the whole lobster steamed with egg white custard - the clean tasting shellfish and the yummy egg white flavoured with stock and served with broccoli makes a healthy dish.
For something with more oomph, check out the fragrant wok hei (essence) that wafts from a claypot of fried lobster chunks with Chinese wine. A generous showering of garlic, spring onions and ginger adds heft and flavour.
And finally, who doesn’t like lobster noodles, but this time in a light lobster broth with bits of lobster meat and al dente noodles made from fish meat.
The noodles here are better than what you get elsewhere - they’ve got a nice bite, don’t taste like you’re eating pure fish paste (in which case we’d rather have it as a fish ball) and have a nice noodle-y texture with a pleasant aftertaste of fish.
Considering that a plate of braised goose sailed past us and still looked mighty appetising even after all that lobster says one thing - Summer Pavilion may not be on everybody’s radar, but it’s certainly worth re-discovering.
Rating: 7.5/10
By Jaime Ee
Posted in Places to Eat | No Comments »
Here comes Bordeaux
Written by Kelvin on June 4, 2008 – 2:45 pm -Business Times - 30 May 2008
WINE
Les Cotes de Bordeaux will hold its wine tasting tomorrow, featuring eight producers, writes JAIME EE
WHEN you think of Bordeaux, obvious words like en primeur, Chateaux Latour, Margaux or Palmer come to mind. But most wine enthusiasts tend to forget that apart from the First or Second Growths, which make up roughly one per cent of Bordeaux’s wine makers, there’s still another 99 per cent out there waiting to be discovered by the rest of the world. However, it’s a grape-eat-grape world out there as wines from Chile to Thailand compete for retail space and a place in the heart of the discerning wine lover.Even if you’re a solid, family-owned producer from Bordeaux with some pride and local pedigree, your hands are tied because you’re caught between the big boys with their unlimited marketing budgets and the producers of cheap plonk.
Enter, then, the Union des Cotes de Bordeaux - an association set up to promote some 1,500 producers in the south-west of France.
While it has been around since the mid-1980s, it has only been in the mid-1990s or so that the association has bumped up its international marketing efforts, thanks to a shrinking domestic economy.
The Union des Cotes de Bordeaux is made up of four appellations - Cotes de Castillon, Cotes de Cadillac, Cotes de Blaye and Cotes de Francs. All of the vineyards are family-owned and run, and located on the right bank of the Gironde down to Dordogne and Garonne.
Recently, the Union succeeded in getting a common appellation, so their wines are now collectively known as Les Cotes de Bordeaux AOC.
For the first time, Les Cotes de Bordeaux will make its appearance in Singapore, fresh from a marketing mission in Hong Kong for VinExpo. The group has linked up with local wine distributor Caveau, a division of Vinum Fine Wine Merchants, to hold a free public wine tasting tomorrow at its Alexandra Road premises, featuring eight of its wine producers.
But going on the road to win people over with their wines is not the only way the Union des Cotes de Bordeaux is raising its profile.
Knowing full well the combined power of wine and food, the Union tied up with Bordeaux’s institution - Jean-Pierre Xiradakis, chef-owner of the world-renowned La Tupina restaurant - to co-sponsor a programme which would bring deserving young chefs from around the world to Bordeaux to discover its local food products and wine.
Chef Xiradakis started La Tupina some 40 years ago, attracting international press that has rated it one of the top bistros in the world.
He has written books about Bordeaux wine and food and made it his life’s mission to promote the integrity of Bordeaux’s culinary products.
His charming, weather-beaten restaurant serves rustic dishes from an open oven fired by glowing coals, wooing diners with its farmhouse-style cooking and ambience.
Through his involvement with the Jean Palladin Foundation - named for one of France’s best-known food ambassadors to the United States - Mr Xiradakis routinely helped to bring bright young chefs from the US to Bordeaux to explore its produce and cooking styles, in the hope that these chefs would then go home and be walking promoters of the Bordeaux way of life.
Les Cotes de Bordeaux came into the picture in 2004 by inducting young chefs and sommeliers into the Commanderie of Cotes de Bordeaux, a programme that sends them to Bordeaux during the wine harvest, so they can learn about the wines as well as local food products.
The accompanying media publicity, as well as the influences the winners bring back with them, help to spread the word about their appellation.
This year, five chefs or sommeliers from Las Vegas, Quebec, San Sebastian, Hong Kong and Singapore will be heading to Bordeaux under the auspices of Les Cotes.
The Singapore representative will be Galvin Lim of Les Amis’ Au Jardin, who will mark his win with a La Tupina-influenced dinner at the restaurant tomorrow, which is already sold out despite its $188 price tag.
While Mr Lim’s style isn’t exactly rustic, he will bring his own interpretation of it via white asparagus with egg and truffles, tuna with D’Espelette peppers and confit of lamb shoulder in Bordelaise sauce, all paired with wines from Les Cotes de Bordeaux, of course.
So for one night only, you don’t have to fly to Bordeaux - it will come to you.
Registration required for Caveau’s wine tasting. Please call
Posted in Wine & Dine | No Comments »
Food and beer make a gastronomical pairing
Written by Kelvin on May 22, 2008 – 4:20 pm -Business Times - 17 May 2008
By CHRISTOPHER LIM
‘WINE goes great with food; it’s just that beer with food is even better,’ declares Archipelago brewmaster Fal Allen with gusto. While that is a fairly contentious statement, to say the least, it does highlight the fact that it’s certainly easier to pair food with beer than wine, and that’s exactly what more bars and restaurants are doing.
The secret good news to experimenting with different beers and food is that there are no real disasters. Some beers will, of course, complement certain dishes better than others, but you’re not governed by the delicate balance of acid in wines that can result in some pretty awful tastes when you light on an unfortunate combination. So, fiddle with abandon, and you’ll eventually discover a pairing you like.
Archipelago’s Allen suggests a few rules of thumb. ‘Look for similar taste characteristics between the beer and the food,’ he advises. ‘If there are acidic flavours in there, look for a light beer with something like that,’ Mr Allen adds. This would mean that light wheat beers often go well with seafood and dishes with a bit of fruit and spice. Conversely, red meat and game generally go better with dark ales and stouts.
An obvious alternative to blind experimentation is to go with a set menu that’s been collaboratively assembled by a chef and a brewmaster. On April 29, The Pump Room microbrewery and bistro at Clarke Quay organised its first beer pairing dinner, which was a one-night-only affair.
Starters were smoked pork and vegetable terrine, and beef consomme with caramelised onion ravioli, paired with the Lager and Wheat Ale, respectively. A pair of seafood dishes - black mussels in tomato, garlic, chilli and white wine, and assam fish curry - went with Bohemian Lager and India Pale Ale (IPA). And the main course of venison pie with macadamia nut polenta was served with the appropriately nutty Scottish Ale.
The stout-vanilla flute dessert was an excellent illustration of why it’s a good idea to have both a brewmaster and a chef work on the pairings. It was basically Pump Room’s stout with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and consultant chef Karl Dobler advised guests to wait until the ice cream melted before digging in. ‘If you don’t let it mix completely into the beer, the stout will be overpowering,’ said chef Dobler. But Pump Room brewmaster Alex Chasko waved away the suggestion with a smile, saying: ‘You can wait for it to melt if you want but it’s really not necessary.
In this case, Mr Chasko had it right since his stout isn’t particularly strong, and the contrast between its bitterness and the ice cream’s sweetness made this stout float an even better match than root beer and ice cream. Hopefully, the stout-vanilla flute will eventually be added to the regular menu. But chef Dobler’s sensibilities were on the money when he diluted the assam fish curry. Even the robust IPA was drowned out by the dish’s spicy tamarind and chilli seasoning.
‘I do think beer goes better with food than wine,’ Mr Chasko says. ‘Part of it is personal preference, but it’s also about the various processes we have to work with that let us make very different beers, whereas in wine you’re basically restricted to crushing grapes and storing them,’ he adds.
While it helps to have the brewmaster involved with food pairings when you’re dealing with microbrewed beers, the same doesn’t necessarily apply to established Belgian beers, which have proven their suitability with food for years.
Fine-dining bistro Brussels Sprouts, at The Pier, has beer-pairing promotions such as an excellent braised lamb shank with gibelotte sauce and 330ml of Affligem Dubbel for $36. And more down-to-earth Ooster’s, at Far East Square, has beer recommendations for all of its entrees, such as Stella Artois with fish and chips, and Leffe Brune with Boeuf Brabancon. Relish, at Cluny Court, also has specific Belgian beer recommendations to go with its gourmet burgers, which gives a whole new spin to beer and burgers.
If you’re wondering what food to pair with Guinness, however, John Galvin, marketing manager for Asia Pacific Breweries Singapore, has suggestions for both the milder draught variety found in places such as Harry’s and Irish Pubs, and the hardcore Foreign Extra Stout variety preferred in local coffee shops.
‘The rich, creamy and smooth taste of Guinness Draught works very well with Oxtail stew, grilled meats, beef rendang, Hokkien Mee and Char Kway Teow,’ he says. ‘Guinness Foreign Extra Stout in contrast, with its stronger, slightly sour taste, blends better with spicy and rich food such as sambal stingray,’ Mr Galvin adds. How’s that for Singapore-specific pairing advice?
People will have to become more adventurous before there’s sufficient demand for beer-pairings to truly become widespread. For example, only a handful of people showed up for The Pump Room’s $85++ dinner, which is probably why there are still no plans to do hold another one.
Posted in What to Eat? | No Comments »
Having food & fun
Written by Kelvin on May 22, 2008 – 4:15 pm -Business Times - 17 May 2008
BT checks out three places that will please your palate as well as tickle your funny bone
Tampopo
177 River Valley Road, #01-23/24,
Liang Court Shopping Centre.
Tel:
Tampopo Deli, #B1-16.
Tel:
JAPANESE family restaurant Tampopo has raised its culinary game - and not just because it moved up recently from its basement location at Liang Court Shopping Centre to a more prominent space on the ground floor.
In its previous guise, it was a landmark destination for casual dining, popular among locals and Japanese expats for an extensive menu featuring simple, good-quality dishes and specialty items such as sushi, ramen and black pig tonkatsu (breaded pork cutlets) - all at decent prices.
The all-new Tampopo has all this and lots more, including a new-fangled automated delivery system. The restaurant opened a few weeks ago, and the main difference is a larger, spruced-up space and a section with booths built around a conveyor belt system that delivers food directly to your table.
The system is a step up from the more conventional auto-delivery system and was developed in Japan about 18 months ago. It is available in only a few restaurants in Japan. Tampopo owner Takaaki Takagi read about it in a newspaper and persuaded the manufacturer to let him install it here, making Tampopo the first restaurant outside Japan to use it.
Takagi then tied up with a local company to develop bilingual software for the Singapore market. The functions may be basic, but the system allows diners to order via individual touch screens on their tables, and the specific orders are dropped off via conveyor in double quick time. At the moment, the screens are only connected to the sushi kitchen - orders for other items are still taken manually and delivered by service staff.
‘This is a test case, never used before in a family-style restaurant,’ says Takagi. ‘We are still monitoring the impact but we may be able to save about 30 per cent of manpower compared to a similar-size restaurant without the system.’
The ramen at Tampopo has always been good, but it just got a lot better, thanks to the introduction of noodles made from a special high-quality Japanese flour from a supplier in Ebetsu city on Hokkaido. The previous ramen supplier was also from Hokkaido, but used flour from the US.
According to Mr Takagi, the noodles are in such short supply that they aren’t even available in most Japanese cities. ‘The supply is limited and usually only available in Ebetsu,’ he says. ‘The manufacturer had to get special permission to export. Before, our noodles were high standard - now, they are super standard.’
Indeed, a sampling of the shoyu new Hokkaido version (made with seafood and pork bone stock, $13.80) lived up to the advance billing. Tampopo offers a few different versions of ramen, but the quality is uniformly excellent. The noodles are firm and chewy, with a distinct flavour. Ramen lovers in Singapore have apparently given the thumbs up to the new version, says Takagi.
Meanwhile, Tampopo Deli, a small cake and dessert counter in Liang Court’s basement, is also attracting attention with its Super Light Cheese Chiffon Cake ($5.80 per slice, $48 per cake). The counter was originally meant to supply desserts to the main restaurant but has now attracted its own set of fans. In a market where finding your own culinary niche is key to success, Tampopo is blazing a trail on both the food and fun concept fronts.
By Geoffrey Eu
Bird’s Nest Cafe
160 Orchard Road,
#01-13 Orchard Point.
Tel: 6836-6218
IT may seem bizarre for a restaurant to have part of its dining space decorated to look like a cave for nesting swifts, but for the owners of Bird’s Nest Cafe, it made perfect sense. The six-month-old restaurant is the only place in town with a menu based entirely on bird’s nest, so they merely wanted to emphasise the point.
The decor could be construed as being a little tongue in cheek, but the owners are certainly serious about making a culinary statement through bird’s nest. The cafe, tucked away in a small space in Orchard Point, is a prototype concept and hopefully the first in a chain of much larger bird’s nest restaurants in China and other parts of Asia.
Next month, a much larger enterprise, the Imperial Bird’s Nest Restaurant, will open in a central location in Shanghai. The restaurant is part of an 8,000 sq ft dining complex that will also include a Western restaurant, the Boston Bar & Grill, which will serve steaks and Boston-style seafood.
‘It fits in with the common theme we have within our company,’ says Bernard Tsai, executive director of Starcap, an investment group whose companies in aesthetic medicine and medical tourism, art galleries and food and beverage are focused on lifestyle-related pursuits. ‘We want people to not only enjoy the food but stay healthy - they will have nice complexions and all the things bird’s nest is famous for.’
He adds: ‘We decided on a concept where we combine bird’s nest with high-end food like abalone. Then as we put it together, we thought it would do well in China. The smaller cafe-style outlet in Singapore is a franchising model, while the company will own all the bigger restaurants - linked with our other companies, we will have a full set of high-end products.’
Signature dishes at Bird’s Nest Cafe include braised whole abalone with bird’s nest ($88 per person), double-boiled golden melon with seafood and bird’s nest ($68) and cod fish noodle with bird’s nest and teriyaki sauce ($16.80). There’s also a dim sum combination dish with items like siew mai and har gau with bird’s nest, and pan-friend carrot cake ($7). The bird’s nests are sourced from Indonesia and premium items like abalone come from Australia.
Those who want even more can buy packaged bird’s nest products at the cafe. One kilo of the stuff will cost somewhere between $3,000 and $4,000. ‘We’ll even cook the products for you, any way you want,’ says Mr Tsai.
By Geoffrey Eu
Cheeky Chocolate
233, Upper Thomson Road
Tel:
IT all began with a dream. Aaron Choy’s dream may not be of the Martin Luther King Jr calibre, since it was about chocolates, but it has certainly given him the vision and drive to set up his own cafe and chocolaterie.
‘Being a guy, I don’t even like chocolates that much, although my girlfriend loves them,’ admits the 25-year-old. But he had a dream sometime last year about selling chocolates, and it was so vivid, at a time when he was looking for a job, that he’s been spurred to fulfil it.
Cheeky Chocolate - which opened just two weeks ago - is the result of months of brainstorming for the new graduate, who had studied business in New York. ‘Because the chocolates that are available in Singapore tend to be quite straightforward and mundane. I wanted to sell chocolates with more meaning and emotion to them - because we eat chocolates when we’re happy or sad; and give them as gifts for special occasions,’ he explains.
As a result, his chocolates have names like Happy Hazelnut and Dark & Sexy, instead of just chocolate with hazelnut and dark chocolate; all made with Valrhona chocolate, and priced at an average $2.20 a piece. For the business, Mr Choy took a few crash courses in chocolate-making, but when he finally got the shop in Thomson Road, he realised that he needed to sell more than just chocolates to survive.
‘Even if I sold 300 pieces of chocolate a day, it won’t be enough!’ he says, so Cheeky Chocolates - a bright and cheery cafe - also offers crepes and sandwiches on their menu.
He has hired a young chocolatier to focus on creating chocolates (and desserts), and also a very decent chef who made yummy savoury crepes (check out the Shrooms version which features mushrooms) and an excellent chocolate-drizzled waffle.
Cheeky Chocolate is cheerfully decorated as well, as Mr Choy wants to make the concept welcoming for all kinds of customers, from young families to teenagers to older folk. ‘Looking at the Thomson Road area, it’s mainly residential, so it might be quieter during the day but we get a lot of business at night,’ he says.
For that reason, Cheeky Chocolate offers its full food menu only from 6pm daily, while the chocolates will be available for sale from noon.
Mr Choy’s plan is to have a chain of Cheeky Chocolate shops, but for now, it’s all about making sure his first eatery solidifies.
By Cheah Ui-Hoon
Posted in Places to Eat | No Comments »
Kitchen helpers
Written by Kelvin on May 17, 2008 – 3:27 pm -Business Times - 10 May 2008
There are certain gadgets that chefs simply can’t do without in their kitchen. They rely on these high-technology aids to churn out their culinary masterpieces. BT Weekend checks out some of them
By GEOFFREY EU
WHEN Janice Wong was a student at Le Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris, she never used electrical appliances. That’s because her instructors insisted on a culinary foundation where everything had to be prepared the old-fashioned way - by hand. All that changed during training stints at top restaurants like Les Amis here and WD50 and Room 4 Dessert in New York, where she was introduced to the kind of fancy kitchen apparatus that brings tears of joy to equipment-deprived young chefs.Nowadays, Wong, 24 - who opened the 2am Dessert Bar in Holland Village about seven months ago - creates inventive desserts with a slew of kitchen gadgets. She is representative of a new breed of chef, both professional and amateur, who are taking their cue from avant-garde celebrity chefs and turning to technology (new and old) to come up with their own style of cuisine.Wong swears by her trusty Pacojet, an innocuous-looking, multi-purpose food-processing gizmo from Switzerland that is used to make smooth and creamy mousses, sorbets and ice-creams directly from deeply frozen ingredients. At a retail price of $6,000, the Pacojet doesn’t come cheap. But Wong - and increasingly, others like her - rely on it and other high-tech kitchen aids to make culinary magic.‘Once you start using these machines you’re spoiled and you don’t look back,’ says Wong, who also has in her culinary arsenal a blast freezer, a dehydrator, a vacuum packer, a variety of siphons and a smoking gun (a single or double-chamber device that is used to give a smoky aroma to food items). ‘With these machines, you can play with flavours and be adventurous, without any hassle.’
According to Heng Cheng Fatt of Ruiter Far East, which distributes the Pacojet, Microplane graters, Bamix hand-held blenders, Thermomat low-temperature ovens and a host of other items, more chefs are adapting to changes in technology. ‘When I first started doing this 20 years ago, nobody wanted a vacuum pack machine (which is necessary for sous-vide cooking, where ingredients are sealed in packets and cooked in water at low temperatures) - now, they all need one,’ says Heng.
A chef and his favourite kitchen implements are seldom parted - just ask Jimmy Chok, owner of The Academy Bistro and a popular chef-for-hire at private homes. Chok uses a variety of non-stick cookware - he favours the premium Danish brand Scanpan - at home and in the restaurant. ‘They are durable and consistent - they are very good heat conductors and distribute heat very evenly,’ says Chok. The non-stick pans have a 10-year warranty and range in price from $139 for a 20 cm frying pan to $429 for a 32 cm saute pan with a heavy-duty glass lid.
A great variety of cooking and kitchen gadgets are available here these days, so BT went shopping for some chef’s stuff - and came back with a few interesting discoveries.
Razorsharp
315 Outram Road,
#01-03 Tan Boon Liat Building.
Tel:
THE first thing any serious cook buys for themself is a chef’s knife, and many of the best blades can be found here. ‘Any craftsman takes pride in his tools, and a good one will always look for good tools - you are looking for balance and quality of steel,’ says David Lim, managing director of Razorsharp. The company carries brands like Wusthof and Kyocera, and also specialty makers from Japan such as Hattori and Kasumi, whose top-of-the-line carving knives, made from Damascus steel, cost about $2,000 for a 24 cm chef’s knife.
Ruiter Far East
Block 5, #03-14
Ang Mo Kio Industrial Park 2A.
Tel:
RUITER carries the popular Microplane graters, which are sold at places like CK Tang and Shermay’s Cooking School from $48 to $139. Ruiter also carries products such as the Pacojet and the $350-and-up Bamix mixer, a super-duper kitchen helper that is endorsed by the likes of Gordon Ramsay.
Smeg
APS Lifestyle Gallery,
9 Muthuraman Chetty Road,
APS Building Level 1 & 2.
Tel:
ITALIAN kitchen appliance company Smeg’s habit of working with well-known architects has resulted in products such as a slick six-hob cooker designed by Renzo Piano. Other eye-catching products include a colourful range of retro, 50s-style dishwashers, washing machines and refrigerators.
Miele
167 Penang Road,
Windland House II, #B01-01.
Tel:
VISITING pastry superstar Pierre Herme held two master classes here during the recent World Gourmet Summit, where he worked with Miele’s latest in oven technology - a 90cm built-in beauty from the H5000 series that boasts a host of special features and functions. ‘Ultimately,’ says Vincent Bourdin, Valrhona’s regional pastry consultant who assisted Herme with translation duties, ‘Miele has taken the performance of professional kitchen equipment and shrunk it down into a home-size kitchen appliance.’ The 90 cm oven will be available in a couple of months.
Metadesign
42 MacTaggart Road,
#01-01 MacTaggart Building.
Tel:
IF you like your Espresso just so but are not equipped with barista-like ability, there’s always Lavazza BLUE, or Best Lavazza Ultimate Espresso, a handily compact coffee maker (designed by Pininfarina) that uses a capsule system so every cup you make is guaranteed to be consistent in quality. ‘It’s user-friendly, yet you still get premium quality coffee, ’says Roberto Albreschi, sales manager of local distributor Metadesign. Two types of capsule coffee machine are currently available, priced at $1,400 and $2,000. Each capsule costs $1.20.
Alessi store at Xtra
9 Penang Road,
#01-01, Park Mall.
Tel:
290 Orchard Road,
#04-45 Paragon Shopping Centre.
Tel:
CUTE kitchen gizmos always go down well in the gift department, and some of the cutest around can be found in the form of Alessi’s ‘Chin Family’, a salt and pepper set, egg cup and pepper grinder, among other things, designed to look like members of the same Oriental family. Equally colourful items can be found at Blue Canopy, where figures atop a dishwashing brush and cheese grater from the French company Pylones are dressed in national costumes. There’s also a kitchen timer that will keep the kids occupied when it’s not being put to culinary use.
Posted in Wine & Dine | No Comments »
Coffee cuppa made simple
Written by Kelvin on May 17, 2008 – 3:19 pm -Business Times - 10 May 2008
By CHEAH UI-HOON
LIKE Illy and Lavazza, there’s another coffee company that has created a machine designed to work only with its own brand of coffee.
Enter Nespresso - one of Nestle’s ‘billionaire brands’ which has made its official entrance in Singapore despite being around for 20 years. The award-winning machines like Essenza and Le Cube - and endorsed by actor George Clooney - makes espresso from Nespresso’s hermetically sealed capsules.
These capsules are the heart of Nespresso, which contain the right portions of roasted and ground coffee blends. To discover your favourite blend, you can taste all you want at Nespresso’s new ’boutique’ coffee counter at Takashimaya’s basement. The staff will show you the beans and the different types of grinds they have in the capsules that look like gaily wrapped chocolates in a box.
When they’re popped into the machine, just a press of a button kicks off the patented high pressure extraction and brewing system, for that perfect brew. There’s no fussing around with filters, measuring your spoons of coffee powder, and figuring which buttons to press and when. Nespresso sources its coffee beans from Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Togo, Kenya, and Ethiopia. Its experts then create blends with different proportions of arabica and robusta beans for different taste profiles.
The Nespresso boutique in Singapore is the first for the South-east Asian region, as the company is riding on the growth of the coffee market in key Asian cities, which has been rising by over 25 per cent in the last five years.
‘There is an unprecedented growth rate in the demand for premium coffee in the region,’ says Stanley Samuel, country manager for South-east Asia.
With this boutique, the company adds Singapore members - you automatically become a member of the worldwide Nespresso club when you buy a machine - to its nearly four million Nespresso Club members worldwide.
Posted in Wine & Dine | No Comments »
Curtis Stone’s kitchen solutions
Written by Kelvin on May 17, 2008 – 3:17 pm -Business Times - 10 May 2008
By CHEAH UI-HOON
COOKING at home isn’t the same as in a restaurant where you’re surrounded with professional cookware - which celebrity chef Curtis Stone knows first-hand, thanks to his hit show Take Home Chef.
‘The mother usually has a three-month old baby in her arms, and a three-year-old running around, while she single-handedly tries to prepare dinner,’ he pointed out during his cooking demonstration in Singapore recently for the World Gourmet Summit.
The premise of Take Home Chef, after all, is that the Melbourne-born chef approaches female shoppers at grocery stores (only in Los Angeles, where the film production is based) and asks nicely if they will take him home to cook dinner AND do the washing up afterwards.
After cooking at hundreds of homes, he has now come up with a wide range of kitchen ’solutions’ - he doesn’t call them cookware - to help the home cook cope better in the kitchen.
‘I realised that there were manufacturers of kitchenware who didn’t cook, and chefs who didn’t know the technical side of the kitchen equipment,’ he says, explaining the partnership he formed with Bambis, an Australian distributor of kitchenware that deals with brands like Swiss Diamond in Australia.
Their joint venture company is called Foodfight, and the equipment offers unique, chef-designed solutions, rather than basic products merely endorsed by ‘celebrity’ Stone.
‘We started discussing this idea three years ago,’ recalls Harry Pourounidis, of Bambis. He met Stone about six years ago, when the company asked him to endorse Swiss Diamond.
Instead, Foodfight was formed, with Stone involved in every stage of design, he says. The top-seller today is the Chef’s Workbench, ‘because when you’re preparing ingredients, you’re constantly reaching over to throw things into the bin’, explains Stone, who used his own workbench during the cooking demonstration.
The workbench is a box-like chopping board, with a hole in the corner where you can shove your debris. On the other side, three one-cup-size stainless steel bowls collect your cut ingredients.
The ‘Bump & Grind’ is Stone’s take on the traditional mortar & pestle. The solid cast iron mortar is lighter than granite, and the boat shape makes crushing fresh herbs and spices easier and faster, while the spout is good for pouring wet marinades.
And then there’s the ‘Juicy’ Carving Board, which is set at a two degree angle so juices from a roast can flow into removable, stainless steel channel to use as gravy later.
‘Most people know you need to let meat sit before serving, but it usually sits in their own juices if you don’t drain it out,’ says Stone.
These and about 30 other items will be available at Takashimaya in July, says Pourounidis. Singapore is the second country to carry Stone’s cookware range, after it was launched in Australia last year. At the end of the year, the cookware will be launched in the United States and South Africa.
‘The workbench is the number one seller so far because it’s so functional,’ says Pourounidis. For an idea of prices, the workbench is expected to retail for around $350.
He has seen a lot of interest in the solutions from Singapore, which is the fourth or fifth country generating the most hits on Stone’s website.
You might not be able to take the hunky Stone home to cook for you, but soon you’ll be able to take home one of his designs. Which is a close - if not as satisfying - second, we think.
Posted in Wine & Dine | No Comments »
F&B in a village, a park and club
Written by Kelvin on April 26, 2008 – 5:08 pm -Business Times - 19 Apr 2008
Over the past couple of years, bars, cafes and restaurants have been sprouting up across Singapore faster than you can say ‘lifestyle hub’. As a result, we are seemingly spoilt for choice when it comes to new F&B clusters to check out. BT Weekend weighs in with some of the new candidates
Wessex Village Square
5B Portsdown Road
THE leafy confines around Wessex Estate, a quiet, 28-hectare colonial-era residential enclave in the Portsdown Road area, are looking pretty spiffy these days, having been given a polish as part of an extensive makeover that is intended to retain the area’s retro charm while injecting some new life into the neighbourhood.
Previously, social and culinary life in the area revolved around Colbar, the cult local hangout and eating house that has been around, in one form or another, for over half a century. It was relocated a few years ago to its present tree-lined site and has now been integrated into Wessex Village Square, the just-opened multi-purpose space that master developer JTC hopes will become the heart of the Wessex Estate community.
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
Posted in Places to Eat | No Comments »
The feast is about to begin
Written by Kelvin on April 16, 2008 – 12:58 pm -Business Times - 11 Apr 2008
As the World Gourmet Summit kicks off, JAIME EE and CHEAH UI-HOON get a taste of what to expect.
THE high-profile chefs may not have arrived yet, but the World Gourmet Summit kicked off this week with a series of dining events showcasing the best of what local restaurants have to offer.
Saint Pierre - Evolution The first question was: So what culinary ground is Emmanuel Stroobant going to break this year? After all, in 2006, he released balloons filled with herb-scented air in Saint Pierre’s dining room in his homage to molecular gastronomy. Last year, he turned nasi lemak and chicken rice into deconstructed works of art. Having set the bar so high, it’s only natural that some fireworks were expected at his Evolution dinner on Monday, but what the mostly corporate crowd got was a lot of fancy champagne and dependable Saint Pierre cuisine, but sans the wow factor.
The one-night partnership with former Guy Savoy pastry chef Hugues Poguet would have been fun if the dessert element had run through the entire menu. The first course of wild salmon gravlax with kalamansi sorbet and a streak of vanilla chantilly cream worked very well - salmon and vanilla have always made surprisingly compatible partners and with the sorbet, had a successful sweet-savoury effect.
But the rest of the menu was typical degustation fare - yummy poilane toast round topped with lobster and Japanese mushrooms; deep fried cod on a stick topped with savoury sago pearls and crisp bacon, served with leek terrine; and a divine kobe beef square stuffed with foie gras and accompanied by a sweet potato cake.
Hugues Pouget’s thin chocolate tart was a classic hit, although he did do some quirky sweets like diced tofu creme brulee with berries, chocolate and pepper in a parfait glass. But chocolate covered asparagus? Let’s say we won’t be buying a box of them anytime soon.
Still, with champagne such as Dom Perignon, Bollinger and Pol Roger - all 1996 - and more, there was no reason to complain but to hope that next year, we’ll see some real fireworks.
Tung Lok Signatures Central - Up Close with Abalone
It’s hard to resist abalone, even more so if your pocket allows it. Sure, you can cut corners and order the cheaper South African variety but sadly, there is no such thing as a bargain-priced abalone. Not if you want to enjoy the dense, smooth and gently resilient texture of a fine grade abalone. And if you’re obsessive about abalone texture, then you have until tomorrow to bite into the unctuous delight that is a Koh Yong abalone.
Named after its founder, Singapore-born, Australian entrepreneur Simon Koh Yong, this Aussie abalone is processed in a way that when it’s braised, it cuts with a satisfying stickiness, very much like the Chinese New Year rice cake, nian gao. A measure of the abalone’s quality is the way it sticks to your knife, as Mr Koh himself will tell you. He is part of the attraction at Tung Lok Signatures Central, where if you order the WGS Celebratory menu, he will personally serve you your lovingly braised 10 or 12 head abalone.
It’s the second consecutive year that Tung Lok has hosted Mr Koh for the WGS, but there’s no danger of abalone fatigue in this case. At $248++ for lunch, you get a 10 head, palm-sized fella lovingly braised to yield the perfect bite. Add to that a satisfying meal which includes braised shark’s fin with crab meat in a rich orange-hued broth, deep fried battered sea perch in a white wine sauce and pan fried kurobuta pork.
If you order the abalone a la carte, it’s $198++ for the 10 head and $168++ for the 12 head. Yes, it’s a pretty penny to pay, but going by the brisk business the restaurant is enjoying, the Abalone King sure has a lot of fans.
Garibaldi’s Extra Virgin Olive Oil menu
After chef Roberto Galetti’s visually and intellectually scintillating ‘inverted menu’ last year, you’d think he’d be hard put to match his feat last year. But this year’s olive oil menu is no less interesting, if less dramatic, and targets gourmands who appreciate the use of quality base ingredients in their cuisine.
In this case, oil. People are beginning to acknowledge that oil is no longer just ‘grease’ these days, says chef Galetti. At least seven different types of extra virgin olive oil were used for this dinner, most of which were cold-pressed, such as the Cutrera oil from Sicily, which used a single variety of tomato-toned Tonda Iblea olives; and oils from Tuscany, Puglia, Liguria, Veneto, Lombardia and Molise.
The Tuscanian Santa Cristina was bitterly green and very spicy on its own, but its characteristics were submerged in the richness of the langoustine-flavoured cannelini bean soup. The buttery Le Pietre Brune oil from Liguria lovingly wrapped the olive fettucini pasta; while the Puglian Tormasresca was robust enough to be married with a burrata cheese and tomato emulsion, delicious when spread over a bar of crispy puff pastry. Despite all the oils used, you don’t feel like you need to down a teapot of pu erh tea to cleanse your palate - that’s how light and fresh the oils are. The six-course menu is available for lunch and dinner until April 12, at $118++ per person.
Exotic Seasons of India at Rang Mahal
Spring was the main season feted in the Seasons of India themed dinner this past Tuesday, which also saw a Mumbai Se fashion show. Chef Amandeep Singh created food which was light and contemporary, but it was the fashion show which provided more pizzaz and upped the luxe factor of the event rather than the cuisine itself.
What’s more amazing to the non-Indian diner is how the presentation of Rang Mahal’s cuisine constantly surprises, as the complex blend of herbs and ingredients have been prepared in such a way that it’s difficult to identify ingredients in a blind tasting. The fennel flowers and kiwi soup, for instance, tasted much like a gentle potato cream soup with a tangy base. Of course, marinated meats are obvious, but tastily done as well. Every bit of the masala marinade seems to have permeated the pores of the tender lamb morsels, for instance, and the same for the pomery mustard-marinated jumbo tiger prawn. If you’re usually a meat-eater, try going for the vegetarian option for the main course which sees innovative selections, with highlights such as bottle gourd stuffed with cottage cheese, potato and baby corn.
Lunches are buffet style at $42++ per person, while dinner is a six-course degustation menu at $88++ per person.
Posted in Wine & Dine | No Comments »
