epicure

We love to hear your feedback nida@media-group.com.sg As much as we like to rave about the latest culinary techniques, lab-grown food or high-tech kitchen equipment, we never forget the basics. Even with simple cooking methods, a dish can shine and dazzle the taste buds. One just needs the right skills, mastery of the fundamentals and quality produce. It is this philosophy that Nicolas Tam embraces (p18). The head chef focusses on bringing out the natural flavours of seasonal ingredients at his new restaurant Willow. Read about the inspiration behind his contemporary pan-Asian dishes such as Tachiuo Roll (on our June/July cover), Hotaru Ika and Amadai with Crispy Scales and Conpoy Ankake which are given a fresh approach without the need for any complicated techniques. Sometimes all you need is a little spice to transform…

CELEBRATING ASIA’S BEST RESTAURANTS Singapore restaurants did the country proud with a total of seven entries on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2022 list. Odette, which was at No.2 last year, dropped to No.8 but was still the highest ranking restaurant for the country. It was also the 2022 recipient of the Gin Mare Art of Hospitality Award in recognition of operations director Steven Mason and his team. Their combination of ultra-professionalism and warm individuality elevated the dining experience to new levels. Next notable entry is Meta which made its debut on the list at No.20. Last year, it was the winner of the American Express One To Watch Award. Other familiar favourites are Les Amis at No.23, Zén at No.37, Labyrinth at No.40, Burnt Ends at No.41, and Cloudstreet at No.44. Cloudstreet…

Chef Mauro Colagreco of three-Michelin-starred Mirazur is set to open his new restaurant Fiamma (which means flame in Italian) at Capella Singapore on 15 June. In an exclusive interview with epicure ahead of the opening, the Argentinian chef shares the inspiration behind the restaurant, his Italian heritage and what we can expect from the menu. “It’s being created as a very personal restaurant. We are not trying to create something new; it’s a return to simplicity. I want to offer an authentic experience with Italian flavours,” he says. Described as an embodiment of “chef’s burning passion for cooking”, the highly anticipated restaurant is a salute to culinary traditions and an homage to his Italian roots. However, Colagreco will present his own approach to the dishes. “My roots are Italian but I’m…

Indonesia’s only entry in Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list five years in a row is at it again. Renowned for exclusively working with local ingredients and sustainable practices, the progressive restaurant Locavore in Ubud has announced its new tasting menu: The Unknown: An Edible Mystery Explored. The 19-course menu is an exploration of the lesser-known parts of an ingredient – spices and spice-related plants and trees - as well as parts that end up in the bin. The new tasting menu is separated into four “explorations”. In “Exploration One”, the chefs push the envelope by making charcuterie out of local seafood. Cold smoking, dry ageing and curing were applied to cobia and bonito fish. Their bones also don’t go to waste – they are turned into smoked fish-bone butter. Made with…

Earlier this year, Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants crowned chef-owner Natsuko Shoji of Été (Tokyo, Japan) as the 2022 recipient of the Asia’s Best Female Chef Award in their first ever pre-announced special awards. The restaurant ranked No.83 on the coveted list. It has been a hard-won journey ever since Shoji’s interest in the culinary arts was piqued during her teen years after making cream puffs for a high school assignment. After graduation, she spent her formative years training under the highly acclaimed Hiroyasu Kawate of Frenchinspired Florilège (ranked No.39 in last year’s World’s 50 Best Restaurants). In 2014, a young 24-year old Shoji ventured out on her own and opened a single-table restaurant and cake laboratory, Été, in the Shibuya neighbourhood of her hometown Tokyo, on a mission to become Asia’s Best…

Chef Nicolas Tam of Willow describes himself as a simple man who just likes making simple food. “Personally I prefer to go back to the basics, to be able to cook with precision without special equipment such as sous vide machines,” he says. “At Willow, I celebrate that simplicity to deliver sophistication, elegance and purity.” Not that he is inexperienced in using novel techniques and ingredients – in fact, Tam has an impressive 14-year resume, beginning with an internship at Tippling Club followed by a stint at The Cliff at Sentosa Resort and Spa. He was part of the team that won the gold medal at the 2012/2013 Bocuse d’Or Asian qualifier, an experience that sparked the desire to constantly learn and evolve. His subsequent stints in world-class establishments such as…