St. Regis Singapore: An Afternoon Tea with celebrity French Master Patissier Eric Lanlard.

It seems that I only seem to blog about Celebrity Chefs coming to Singapore. A bit too tired after work to write and playing with the little one is more fun than writing!

What am I writing about today?

If you have a minor obsession like me, in minor I mean:
- watching too much food shows online and also on cable,
- love 'stalking' certain celebrity chefs when they are in town,
- buy too many physical cookbooks from Kinokuniya, Book Depository, Amazon,
- have an equally big collection of cookbooks on the Kindle....

I have a good news for fellow fans of French Master Pâtissier Éric Lanlard!
He will be here in Singapore at the St. Regis from 3 - 8 January 2017!

This stalker did take quite a few photos of him, but not with him. There was too many people at 'that' event the other time. Maybe this time I'll take a photo with him.



If you have Éric Lanlard's latest book that came out this year, "Afternoon Tea", you are in for a treat.
Here's my Kindle version of it.


(I am contemplating buying a hard-copy just for him to autograph it when he's here)


The reason I said you are in for a treat is because the recipes and photos in the book will become tangible and edible right before your eyes! Our dear Éric and the pastry chefs at St Regis Singapore will prepare it and you will get to taste it. The regular St. Regis Singapore's Grand Astor Afternoon Tea at Brasserie Les Saveurs will serve things in his latest book!

I did get a peek at their menu for that week, I compared it and hey, almost everything on the menu is in the book!

Here's a tentative menu that I got to see:

On the 3-tiered stand:
Top Tier: Pistachio and Rose Financiers, Tartelettes aux Fruits, Raspberry Choux Craqueline Buns
Middle Tier: Tartes Flambées, Brie and Onion Marmalade Gruyère Eclairs
Bottom Tier: Cacao Beef on Pain Perdu, Egg Florentine Roulade, Lemon Macarons with Smoked Salmon.
Accompanied by Spicy Crab Filo Tartlets

Savouries:
Mini Salmon Mousse and Nigella Seed Paris-Brest, Herb-marinated Boston Lobster Rolls (in the book it's Herby Lobster Rolls), Paprika Chicken Ciabattas, Pickled Veggie Bundles

Scones:
Lemon Scones, Orange Blossom and Bee Pollen Scones, Raw Cacao and Raspberry Scones, Wholemeal Scones, Cheese Scones. (The regular arvo tea here is known for the scones, but it's gonna be equally good with Eric's Scones.)


(screen shot of the Orange Blossom and Bee Pollen Scones recipe)

Desserts:
Gluten-free Chocolate Cake and 17 other desserts. I wonder if they will serve all or selections of it daily. I am thinking of the Clementine and Pomegranate Cake, Scandinavian Apple Cake, Salted Butter Caramel Brownies, Saffron Crème Pâtissiere, Îles Flottantes etc....

The savouries, scones and desserts should be a buffet like their regular Grand Astor Afternoon Tea Buffet.

Price:
$58++ per person from 3 - 6 January (Tuesday to Friday)
$68++ per person from 7 - 8 January (Saturday and Sunday)

If you have your SPG Membership, there's additional discounts and you get Starpoints too!


Photo above from his "Afternoon Tea" book.

For those who don't know Master Pâtissier Éric Lanlard, he's a two time winner of the British Baking Awards' esteemed Continental Pâtissier of the Year prize. His fans who love his food includes Elizabeth Hurley, David and Victoria Beckham and of course the Queen Mother. He has published 8 books, appeared on many TV series and he runs Cake Boy - his cafe, cake emporium and cooking school in London.

Who is excited?

An Afternoon Tea with celebrity French Master Pâtissier Éric Lanlard. 
St. Regis Singapore
29 Tanglin Road
Singapore 247911

Reservations:
Tel: +65 6506 6860
Email: bls@stregis.com
Web: brasserielessaveurs.com

MasterChef Dining & Bar in Singapore @ Ash & Elm, InterContinental Singapore.

If you are a fan of the MasterChef series, you must.. must.. must.. have heard of the MasterChef Dining. The wife and I were strolling in Sydney way back in 2011 and we saw a huge MasterChef Pop-up at the St Mary's Cathedral Forecourt. We managed to take a photo with Adam Liaw, but sadly it was a sold out event so we could not dine there.

(Photo of Marco courtesy of MasterChef Dining / Saffron Comms)

MasterChef Dining and Bar is coming to Singapore from 25 November till 9 December 2016!

Chef Marco Pierre White is coming to Singapore and a few other MasterChef personalities from around Australia, Asia and United States of America will be coming to town. It is the first time Marco will helm the MasterChef Dining and Bar Pop Up.

Oh yes, the MasterChef Dessert Guy, Reynold Poernomo (left, photo courtesy of MasterChef Dining) from MasterChef Australia Season 7, will be here too. I love watching him plate Desserts. He reminds me of Marcus Low from MasterChef Asia. I wonder if Marcus is coming too. Marcus and Lennardy were two of my favourites! I read that Reynold has opened KOI Dessert Bar in Sydney. Reviews vary, but when he's here, I am sure it will be top notch as he will be here in person!

For the MasterChef Dinng and Bar Pop up in Singapore, Ash & Elm, at the InterContinental Singapore would be hosting it. It will be in an open-kitchen restaurant setting so we will get to interact with the Chefs.

The ticketing details:

20 October at all Sistic outlets.

Early bird pricing for purchase of tickets between 20 October - 27 October
$138+ (Lunch) / $248+ (Dinner)

28 October onwards:
$168+ (lunch) / $288+ (dinner)

Daily lunch sessions will feature a 4-course menu while daily dinner will be a 6-course affair. There are only over 200 seats available for the 15 day pop up event. (I read the pop up in London was sold out in 4 days when it was first launched in London).


For IHG Rewards Club / InterContinental Ambassador Level members:

You would have received the non stop announcement pop up (every 2 minutes) on your phone app! I did! You would also have received an email about it.




If you are a fan of Marco, you have 48 hours earlier (i.e. 18-19 October) access to buy the tickets.
The early access code is in your IHG App notification / Email.
The code also allows you 20% off the normal price even if you missed the early bird. 

(I bought mine tickets first (yes, I paid for it), before I blog about it. I am nowadays only blogging about things that interest me a lot!) 


Update (26 Oct):
3 More MasteChefs will be at the Pop Up!
Audra Morrice, Luca Manfe and Woo Wai Leong!

All MasterChef talents would be here for the entire event with the exception of Audra Morrice [25 Nov - 3 Dec] and Reynold Poernomo [4 - 9 Dec].



For latest updates:
Visit their website at: www.masterchefdining.sg
Official Facebook page: www.facebook.com/masterchefdiningsg

Staycation Ideas with Delicious Food and Great View: The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore.

If you are a last minute planner or your partner is suddenly available during this coming National Day holiday, you can consider the "Celebrate with the Nation" or "Explore Singapore" room packages that is valid from 29 to 31 July and 8 to 10 August 2016.

These two packages are offered by The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore and the rooms offered are the Premier Rooms / Club Rooms.

We had the privilege to join The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore folks for a half-day experience of the "Explore Singapore" guided tour and dinner at Colony.



The photo above was taken from the Premier Room.  It will be exciting to witness the fireworks that will light up the sky above and over the Singapore National Stadium where the National Day Parade will be held this year, in the comfort of a luxurious room where you can enjoy a bottle of Moët & Chandon and a variety of snacks.

Below are details of the two packages:

"Celebrate with the Nation" - SGD740

• Overnight accommodation in a Premier Room
• Daily buffet breakfast for two persons
• One bottle of Moët & Chandon champagne per stay
• SGD50 in-room dining credit.

(If you want to snack while watching the fireworks, you can order the Celebratory Snack Platter on 9 August from SGD80 that includes steamed seafood siew mai, California maki and gula melaka cupcakes.)


"Explore Singapore" - SGD1800

• Overnight accommodation in a Club room including exclusive Club privileges
• A three-hour private guided tour by an accredited local guide conducted in English, inclusive of limousine transfers per stay
• Dinner for two person at Colony per stay
• A bottle of Moët & Chandon champagne per stay

Here are some photos of the "Explore Singapore" tour. We joined a local tour where we visited Haji Lane, Kampung Gelam and Chinatown.  The tour guide was engaging and we didn't even realised we had walked for 3 hours!



It's been some time since we last went to Haji Lane. The artistic murals are the centre of attraction.  Our tour guide told us that this area was previously a sea shore and Muslims would start their pilgrimage to Mecca by boarding the boat here.




While we were intrigued by the interesting shops, cafes and bakeries along the way, we noticed many people taking selfies /wefies 'instagram' worthy photos. 


Our tour guide gave us a crash course in the history behind Kampong Gelam.  He pointed us to the "Gelam" tree which Kampung Gelam is named after and also captivated us with the history on the Sultan Mosque, Sri Mariamman Temple and also the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum.

After the tour, we made our way to Colony for dinner.



It was a fully booked night. We have dined here privately on several occasions and noticed the menu is always slightly different depending on the season so we are assured of the freshness of the ingredients.

If you are interested to view photos of what Colony offers, you can follow the hashtag #DiningAtColony on Instagram.



The "Tomahawk" Roast that was the feature "Roast" of that night.  We once had the "Iberico Roast Piglet" during one of our previous visit. I have to refer to the photos in my phone for other visits. It was always changing.



This photo was taken from an iPhone so don't worry if you do not own a DSLR to be able to capture the fireworks.



Here are snippets of the outing.  Sorry for the jerky video as it was taken using a tiny hand-held camera. Enjoy the video.


The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore
7 Raffles Avenue
Singapore 039799

For reservations and enquiry:
Tel: (65) 6434 5111
Email: rc.sinrz.reservations@ritzcarlton.com