Table of contents for February 2015 in epicure

Omaggio a Tomaso Buzzi tableware Crafted by renowned architect and designer Tomaso Buzzi for VENINI, the namesake vase and coppa are handmade in Murano and come in pleasing earthy shades with silver leaf details. Dress up the elegant opal glassware with bunches of Oriental lilies and lots of oranges to brighten up your home for Chinese New Year. Only 49 pieces available. $2,900 for each piece. Available at Madison & Associates (Singapore), #01-02/03, 36 Armenian Street. Tel: 6733 1171…

Conceptualised by one Michelin-starred master chef Nobumasa Mieda, a kaiseki expert hailing from Hokkaido, and helmed by chefs Kenji Okumura and Keisuke Ohno, Sushi Mieda showcases sushi and kaiseki as haute cuisine in the way only the Japanese can—by marrying delicate flavours to create nuanced dishes. One such example is the trio of snow crab meat, bonito jelly and sea urchin that complement each other beautifully with sweet, umami and creamy hints. You can also go for the eight-course dinner omakase ($400), where chef Ohno doles out dainty morsels at the eight-seater sushi counter. We particular love how the fresh seafood—delivered straight from Tsukiji four times a week—is lightly marinated with a special yuzu-infused soy sauce, lending a gentle aroma to the exquisite creations. Tong Le Private Dining, Level 10…

Only dignitaries such as George Bush and Margaret Thatcher have had the pleasure of dining on Chung Kin Leung’s creations when he was the former executive chef of Hong Kong’s Government House. Chung caters to a wider audience these days with his recent appointment as master chef of Lai Bun Fu, a new restaurant offering fine Chinese cuisine. The menu showcases some of his past VIPs’ favourites, including foie gras prawn cutlets on toast, chicken soup with eel and preserved salty cabbage, and poached thick cut conch with oyster sauce and shrimp paste. The interiors are reflective of Chung’s pedigree, with leather panels and checkered marble tiles reminiscent of a British colonial Hong Kong. 5/F, 18 On Lan Street, Central, Hong Kong. Tel: +852 2564 3868 After operating for 10…

Sofie Chandra, 32, Head of Marketing & Events, Zouk Singapore Eugene Lim, 35, Head of Marketing & PR, Klareti Pte Ltd Both good-looking, welldressed, and at the top of their game, Eugene and Sofie are a match made in heaven. The charismatic couple first met 15 years ago, but sparks only flew in 2013 when the pair bumped into each other in Bangkok, which incidentally, is where they discovered many great fashion finds. The creative duo reveals how work and love have influenced their styles. Clearly, it wasn’t love at first sight for the both of you. What drew you to each other? Sofie: Besides being charming and honest with his opinions, he also has a quirky sense of fashion, which was refreshing and still is. Eugene: We’ve worked together…

Verace The stash: Black Truffle Carpaccio ($38.90) and White Truffle Salsa ($20.90), perfect as picturesque garnishes or flavour boosts to that already appetising handmade tagliatelle. The prized produce is grown in the wild, handpicked and free of imitation aromas and preservatives. #03-23 Coronation Plaza, 587 Bukit Timah Road. www.veracefoodluxuries.com Euraco The stash: Casa da Prisca’s Cider Vinegar Reduction with Orange Blossom ($6.50) and Vinegar Reduction with Sunflower Petals ($6.50). These versatile relishes are piquant additions to canapés, grilled meats or pastries. #04-01, 219 Henderson Industrial Park. Tel: 6276 543 Water & Wine The stash: 2010 Feudi del Pisciotto, Merlot “Valentino” ($60), made exclusively for the eponymous fashion designer, the crimson tipple is a medley of vegetal, blackberry and spice notes. For white wine aficionados, the 2007 Martinelli Chardonnay, Lolita Ranch,…

PENFOLDS KALIMNA BIN 28 SHIRAZ 2012 Grape variety: Shiraz Taste: This “never disappoints,” says Gago, noting that its wine has been released uninterrupted across every vintage since 1959. A fullbodied Shiraz, matured in older small oak barrels, is ready to drink or cellar “across the decades,” thanks to a favourable growing year, resulting in an understated but honest, true-to-style fruit concentration and flavour depth. PENFOLDS BIN 389 CABERNET SHIRAZ 2012 Grape variety: 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 46% Shiraz Taste: Also known as Baby Grange, and “tried and proven across 50-plus vintages. A perennial favorite and collectable—strenuously endorsed by all in the Penfolds Winemaking Team.” This Barossa Valley icon was picked in optimal condition, and enhanced with barrel fermentation and sensitive oak accompaniment. PENFOLDS BIN 51 EDEN VALLEY RIESLING 2014 Grape variety:…

Alternative choice Wines from Extramadura have only come to notice in the last 10 years; this southwest Spanish region is challenged by hot summers, cold winters and scarce rainfall. Innovative wineries, such as Cabaral, have laid out their wineries to overcome those difficulties and in doing so, are experimenting with new styles of Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot. In the Carabal Rasgo 2009, with Syrah and Tempranillo blended by Spanish enologist Ignacio de Miguel, you’ll find the expected fruit intensity with something more subtle—slight oak, a lingering of berries and balsamic, and potential to age. $38 from Vinos Exclusivos To drink now Vines between 30 and 80 years old in the Rioja Alavesa area have been in the Sáenz de Samaniego family for generations. Luis Gutierrez, who rated the…

DANIEL CHAVEZ (From coast to coast, page 100) discovered his passion for cooking when he left his hometown Lima for the U.S. at 19. He enrolled in the Florida Culinary Institute and it has been a non stop ride since; he has travelled widely and worked in some of the most prestigious restaurants in the cities he has visited. In Barcelona, he met his mentor, three Michelin-starred chef Santi Santamaria, who defined Chavez’s culinary philosophy and also gave him the chance to be the executive chef at Santi’s restaurants in Dubai and Singapore. Now, he has opened his personal project, OLA Cocina del Mar. When he’s not busy in the kitchen, Chavez loves to eat ceviche—but only with lots of chilli! LIM AN-LING (Check, please, page 124) is an animator, illustrator, sculptor……

The newest French bakery in town Do:Main is helmed by respected veterans Christophe Megel (former chief executive officer of At-Sunrice GlobalChef Academy) and chef Frederic Deshayes. To say Deshayes knows pastry is akin to saying Monet knew watercolours. The French native graduated from Lenôtre and developed all the pastry programmes at At-Sunrice. At Do:Main, breads like baguettes, cereal and multigrain loaves undergo at least 12 hours of fermentation with no commercial yeasts, resulting in well-developed crusts and fluffy, fragrant interiors. Indulge in the Boudelare apple tart ($5 a slice) with minimal guilt; for an entire 20cm-round only comprises 70g of Elle & Vivre butter in its crust. A pleasantly tart Granny Smith compote centre with no additional cream lies in between. Turnovers, danishes and croissants (from $2.80)—which Deshayes laminates personally—employ…

Hotel Infante Sagres is like no other five-star accommodation. The 64-year-old luxury hotel has a humble façade and houses only 70 rooms with no pool or gym, but it boasts an illustrious guest list that includes the Dalai Lama, Bob Dylan, Catherine Deneuve, and John Malkovich. In fact, it’s the accommodation of choice for international royalty passing through Porto, a charming old world city in Portugal that was elected the Best European Destination of 2014. Without the space and amenities expected of a five-star property, one has to wonder what keeps the rich and famous returning to Hotel Infante Sagres.One word: Soul. As Aristotle so wisely put it: “The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” Oozing with character, the hotel…

You’ve planned the perfect menu and picked the right bottle of wine. Now set the stage for your quiet affair for two. Christofle’s timeless collection exudes subdued glamour—restrained enough to let your food shine but also beautifully elegant to make a five-star impression. Set the mood with Miel d’Argent scented candles. Filled with deeply scented compositions by French orlfactorist Barnabé Fillon, they’re finished in metallised glass and feature a palladium plated bee nestled in the honeyed wax. For a more dramatic candlelit dinner, the Vertigo four ring candle holders make sinuous centrepieces for pristine silver or stainless steel flatware to follow. If he’s a whisky man, Christofle’s crystal decanter and Art Nouveau-esque Belle Epoque ice tongs make the perfect excuse to crack open that bottle of 18-year-old single malt scotch.…

Wine aficionados can’t help themselves— their zeal for picking up favourite wine labels can often outpace the amount of storage available at home. Couple that with the festive season or occasions such as birthdays, weddings and births, and the need for reliable, quality storage options is all the more crucial. The good news is that whether you are embarking on your first wine fridge, or adding to your current chiller collection, Kadeka from Japan understands your needs. These distinctively designed, specialist fridges with built-in locks boast advanced features that make certain you get the best aromas and taste from your wines. A charcoal odour filter ensures air circulation remains clean, while three layered anti-UV tinted glass doors block out harmful rays. A standout is the Kadeka KA45WR, a sleek under…

Found wild in temperate seawater and freshwater habitats and farmed in Spain, France, China, U.S., Canada and New Zealand, the widespread availability of mussels means that it turns up in dishes as varied as Indian and Dutch. This ubiquity has led it to be perceived as the ‘poor man’s shellfish’, but don’t discount it as a lesser mollusc on account of its abundance. Edible varieties include the common blue mussels, Mediterranean, Baltic and greenshell mussels, all of which have thin, dark oval shells. The plentiful shellfish’s juicy flesh varies from a bright orange to a pale cream, though its taste doesn’t differ—the former indicates a mature female specimen, while light-coloured meat belongs to males or immature females. Attaching themselves to underwater surfaces with byssal threads, also known as beards, the…

nine years ago, we celebrated my mother’s 60th birthday at Xi Yan. If you had told me that I would one day be replicating some of the dishes I was eating then, I would have laughed. The dishes were deliciously complex and flavourful, certainly not the kind amateur cooks could achieve in their home kitchen—or so I thought. And yet, the restaurant's celebrity consulting chef, Hong Konger Jacky Yu, has released six books that promise to do just that. Published last July, the 233-page Cook It Yourself @Home is his newest title. AT A GLANCE: With English translations of all the 50 Chinese recipes within, this is a book for both the modern cook and Mandarin-speaking matriarch. However, while the Chinese recipes are packed with juicy nuggets of information that…

growing up in a quieter, more rural district of London surrounded by the countryside, Debbie Wild liked to create her own scents from crushed petals and leaves in the garden, pretending she was a perfumer, then gifting them to friends and family. It seems only apt that her childhood roleplay led her to Jo Malone London, where she is now lifestyle director. Her enviable job involves travelling extensively to open new markets for the fragrance brand, including North America, Spain, Korea and China. Which region has made a particularly huge impression? It’s hard to pick but I particularly like travelling in the Middle East—there’s a special cultural role for fragrance and there’s scent everywhere you go, with precious oud and incense diffusing in the air. I love the way they…

Haviland #02-18/19/20 TripleOne Somerset Metro Centerpoint #01-14 The Centrepoint Tel: 6788 3322 Monopole #01-16, 23 Tagore Lane Tel: 6554 3680 Ni-night 7 Joo Chiat Place Tel: 6440 7567 Pip Studio www.facebook.com/ butterflyhome.asia Thirsty - Craft Beer Shop #01-01 3 Seng Poh Road Tel: 6532 0116 Tokyu Hands #B1-07 Orchard Central Tel: 6834 3755 Vinos Exclusivos www.vinos-exclusivos.com.sg Water & Wine #06-24 Lobby A Techlink 31 Kaki Bukit Road 3 Tel: 6745 4470 www.waterandwine.net Wine Exquisites #04-06 Excalibur Centre 71 Ubi Crescent Tel: 6883 1021 www.wine-exquisites.com.sg Xi Yan Private Dining 38A Craig Road Tel: 6220 3546 Xi Yan Shaw #03-12/13 Shaw Centre Tel: 6733 3476…

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Yan Ting attains another level of refinement with the arrival of new executive Chinese chef Tony Wun, who has more than 35 years of experience working at fivestar restaurants and hotels as well as serving public figures such as former U.S. president George H.W. Bush and Singapore’s Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew. He brings to the table a slew of new creations such as the nourishing Double-boiled Sea Whelk Soup with Black Garlic ($28 per person), which is served in a teapot—the caramelised garlic is less pungent that ordinary bulbs and lends a subtle sweetness to the broth. You can also sample Wun’s specialities in his Signature Set Menu ($168+), which includes the crowd favourite of Steamed Yellow Fish with Preserved Vegetables and Minced Ginger, impressing with tender flesh shrouded…

Fattoria La Tagliata in Positano, Italy, is one of those restaurants that can proudly say Bill Clinton ate there. But the farmhousecum-trattoria has a lot more going for it. Its location in the Amalfi Coast boasts a stunning panorama of Capri. It sits on three terraces, with organic vegetable gardens supplying produce to the kitchen. The elevator on the third level opens up into La Cantina, the wine cellar that still retains the exposed rock in which it was constructed. Specialities of the region are offered here: housemade salami, fresh ricotta and ravioli with provola cheese. The friendly faces you’ll meet here are all family members of founder Don Luigi. His wife Dora crafts all the pastas, his son Vincenzo is the chef, and two other children Peppino and Antonietta…

Joy Seah, 37, director of business development, Ministry of Design Colin Seah, 43, director of design, Ministry of Design Colin Seah, the founder of awardwinning design firm Ministry of Design, and Joy—his wife of almost 13 years—are hard to miss in a crowd. An architect by training, Colin is often decked out in offbeat blazers, while his other half channels effortless chic with her all-black ensembles and Cleopatra-esque mane. We find out what makes them tick sartorially. Since you’re both working together in the creative line, do you influence each other style-wise? Colin: When we dress up, we definitely take cues from each other. Visually, we hate it when our general styles are different. I guess we bring the idea of ‘oneness’ in marriage into our sartorial choices too. How…

A kiss on my beef cheek A Valentine’s Day meal should be one to remember. I wanted to combine European techniques with Mexican produce and cuisine to create dishes that are bold, fun and sexy.”—EXECUTIVE CHEF REMY LEFEBVRE, EL MERO MERO Figs falling…in love Gillardeau oyster chaud-froid Oyster tartare, parsley royale, Cevennes Onions The perfect Valentine’s Day fare is simple, ingredient-driven but yet delightfully dainty. The premium produce should speak for itself.” —HEAD CHEF JULIEN ROYER, JAAN Avocado discovery…

MITZO RESTAURANT & BAR Level 4 Grand Park Orchard, 270 Orchard Road. Tel: 6603 8855 “how is your meal? how is everything?” comes the dreaded refrain, the 12th time over our course of six dishes. Our food cools while waiters engage in stilted small talk. A bungling manager frantically flips through the menu pages to ask us where each item can be found. On the lacquered white table, food debris is left intact, even after dessert plates are removed. Our second visit for lunch feels like Groundhog Day as the same incompetent service manifested itself. We are also repeatedly asked where we heard of the place. It feels more like an interrogation than an upmarket dining experience. Mitzo, named after the Chinese honey date, replaces the hotel’s Open house all-day…

Previous Winners 2012 Eric Li, Raffles Hotel 2013 Eugene Tan, Ku Dé Ta How it works: F&B establishments, individuals and organisations may send in a nomination that includes a sommelier biography, sommelier credentials, and description of his/her wine programme at the place of work. Fill in the nomination online at www.epicureasia.com/rs2015nominations A panel from epicure will shortlist the eligible candidates for the next stage of competition. The top scorers will be invited to take a qualitative exam during the final round of competition in early April 2015. The finalists and winner will be announced at epicure’s fifth anniversary gala dinner in May 2015. Eligibility: • Currently working as a sommelier for an F&B establishment in Singapore. • Not more than three years’ work experience in the F&B industry. • Previous…

SAINT AMOUR 50ml chocolate-infused cognac 15ml vanilla-infused whisky 20ml Grand Marnier 20ml Amaretto liqueur 10ml Amarena cherry syrup garnish chocolate shavings edible gold dust (optional, available from Phoon Huat) orange peel mint sprig Amarena cherry •Combine all ingredients except garnish in a shaker. • Shake vigorously for at least 15 seconds. • Double strain into a double-walled martini glass. • Sprinkle over with chocolate shavings, add edible gold dust if desired, and arrange orange peel, mint and Amarena cherry for garnish vanilla-infused whisky The key is moderation. nakashima uses a simple whisky like Famous Grouse which won’t impart strong characteristics to the cocktail, and infuses a few vanilla pods in the bottle for just one day. chocolate-infused cognac Use a ratio of 100g of 85% cacao chocolate, Lindt or other…

This year, Pan Pacific Singapore is primed to usher in a season of true abundance. From 2 February to 5 March 2015, the hotel’s restaurants will offer a diverse selection of festive goodies to kick-start the celebrations. With seven food theatres dishing out a la minute delicacies, Edge has plenty of room to showcase traditional delicacies and contemporary interpretations alike. Enjoy a dazzling spread of Yusheng with Hokkaido King scallop, Chinese roast pork with kumquat compote, Teochew cold crab, seafood chowder with abalone in puff pastry and bak kwa-pineapple pizza. From $118 between 18 to 20 February 2015, and $88 from 21 February to 5 March 2015. For a Japanese twist to the enduring tradition of lo hei, Keyaki rolls out a version with the freshest tuna, salmon and yellowtail…

brought to you by Q What are some creative ways I can introduce osmanthus into my dishes? A Marrying osmanthus with Western ingredients enhances its already sprightly flavours. Add the buds and snow pear to pan-fried goose liver, where the sweetness of the blooms is an immaculate balance to the richness of the protein. Other meats like steak and foie gras pair well with both ingredients as well. Otherwise, introduce cinnamon and sliced lemons to osmanthus sugar for an original and aromatic dip. —david Liew Wai Yen, senior executive chef, tungLok QThe traditional yu sheng dressing is far too sweet for my liking. How can I create a dressing that is less cloying, but still flavourful? AAn easy way to cut back on the sweetness is to reduce the amount…

Designed for bon vivants who share the belief that food is the ultimate universal language, epicure is on an enthusiastic quest to seek out the latest dining trends, sniff out remarkable wine vintages and uncover the dynamics and intricacies of the local and international culinary scene. Each month, the magazine will profile celebrity chefs and winemakers, showcase exclusive recipes for entertaining as well as highlight the latest destinations for well-travelled foodies. These insightful articles are complemented with lush, captivating photos to stimulate the senses. Three lucky subscribers to epicure will each receive an exquisite set of chopsticks and rest from Royal Selangor. Part of the Year of the Ram collection, the sandalwood chopsticks and gilded pewter ram rest make for a unique gift for family or clients. One of the…