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

Salt Grill and Sky Bar by Luke Mangan @ ION Orchard

Restaurant Week 2014 started last Saturday and we made 2 bookings at 2 very different places to indulge a bit. I didn't book any restaurants last year, partly because when I realised the booking was opened, the places that I wanted to try had all been fully booked. 

Sis has been quite busy, so I thought it would be a nice treat for her. Managed to snag a booking for Salt Grill and Sky Bar on a Saturday. I managed to get booking this time thanks to the reminder email that American Express sent about having priority bookings 1 week earlier for AMEX Card Members. One of the perks that I finally got to use this year. 
 

We started our meal with taking photographs of the view! Ya, we happened to be seated right next to the tall glass windows. After a while, these warm breads were served with olive oil and dukkah. The breads went very well with the dukkah and I think it might be sis' next project. I suspect she might be making dukkah for Christmas gifts this year.

Here's what we had:


'Glass' Sydney Crab omelette. 

Sis saw the menu online and already wanted to order this. It's Luke Mangan's signature dish and it's a very comforting dish. Soft and creamy omelette with a very appetite stimulating miso mustard broth.

By the way, if you want to replicate this at home, Luke's website has the recipe! I recommend coming here for the dish at least once so that you know what it's suppose to taste like. (Making me miss the meals at Glass Brasserie in Sydney!)


Tuna Sashimi 

Sis said order something else, so we get to try other things in the Restaurant Week menu. So I had the Tuna Sashimi with ponzu sauce, smoked enoki and puffed rice. These few weeks, I have been tasting food with puffed rice. Makes me want to plate something at home with puffed rice too!

The smoked enoki has quite an intense flavour and it does gives the tuna a nice accompanying flavour.


Cape Grim Striploin

You will expect the Aussie restaurant to use Aussie beef. Sis asked for medium and said later, she should have asked for medium rare. It was a nice cut of meat and nicely prepared. Served with caramelized endive and swirls of eggplant and salsa verde.

Sis also had Dijon Mustard and Wasabi Mustard. The wasabi mustard is something you should try if you like wasabi. To me, it goes well with the beef. If only the beef was a bigger piece, we know it's a lunch menu only.


Mushrooms

There was an extra menu that was presented to us at the start. If we would like additional sides to go with the Restaurant Week set lunch, we could order. So I ordered the mushrooms for $15.

It was a nice addition to our meal. Sis is not a fanatic mushroom lover (ie don't really eat mushrooms), but she said it was 'ok', so it means it is nice. I also order mushroom dishes to try at certain places to see how it comes out and to remember the taste. This is so that the wife who loves mushrooms can get to taste it when she says 'cook some mushrooms please' at home.


Grilled Snapper

I had the Grilled Snapper with Israeli cous cous served in a tomato and dill broth. A piece of fish that was nicely grilled, still so tender as I broke it with my fork and had a nice crispy skin. Ya, our conversation at the table turned to Masterchef Australia that we are catching on TV now. We said, on TV they will always have the skin crisp up between trays separately, here they still have it intact, quite good skill ya. (Things we talk about....)

It's the biggest cous cous that I have seen. I have to say, the first taste, I didn't like it. As I had the my second mouth and more, it grew on me and I finished it all.


Raspberry Cheese Cake

Sis' favourite part of any meal. Desserts. She already said, we are going to order both on the menu when we sat down. A very beautiful and mesmerizing dessert. For the ladies who loves the slight sourish / tart taste of raspberry. Raspberry cheesecake with raspberry sorbet with a piece of freeze dried raspberry.

Just like how they always say on Masterchef Australia, just one word: Yums!


Banana Parfait with Peanut Brittle

The other dessert on the menu. Banana parfait which has a nice ripe banana taste with pieces of the addictive peanut brittle on it. The 'skid marks' chocolate mousse goes well with the banana parfait, loving the taste of the dark chocolate used.  Oh yes, a 'spoonful' (the shape) of salted caramel sauce to go with it too.

After the meal, we went around the viewing deck. Looking at how beautiful the city is and how much it has been changing over the years (and maybe months and days too!)


Salt Grill and Sky Bar
2 Orchard Turn
ION Orchard
#55-01 / #56-01
Singapore 238801


p/s:

Since I started by telling you that I got the booking early because of the Amex Platinum card I had, might as well, tell you more. People have been asking me where to go and eat and you want it affordable as well. Get the American Express Platinum Credit Card that now comes with free membership to two dining programmes, the Classic Far Card membership and PALATE programme.

I remember a long time ago, it was FAR only, then it became PALATE only. Now it's both and the sweeter deal is that for 1st year it's free membership now.

With these 2 programmes combined, you have a few months to try different restaurants, if you try one a week. It's best for couples as you get 50% off. There's also the Platinum Private Deals that you can look forward too. 

The St. Regis Bloody Mary 80th Anniversary Brunch

If you are at any St Regis Hotels and Resorts in the world, you can always order the "Bloody Mary". It's their signature drink and it was perfected 80 years ago at The King Cole Bar, The St Regis New York. Perfected by Fernand Petiot in 1934, the cocktail was once known as the Red Snapper because its original name was sounding too vulgar for that era. 

St Regis properties worldwide will be celebrating the 80th anniversary of Bloody Mary this month. If you have visited the different St Regis property, you would have seen or drank a local interpretation of the Bloody Mary. In Singapore, there is the Cili Padi Mary. I tell you, it's spicy! Many people said they prefer this version that has a kick to the original Bloody Mary.

(In any case, due to health reason at the time, you are not convenient to have alcohol, you can always ask for non alcohol version.)



The St Regis Singapore will joining in the celebration like her other sister hotels around the world by having a gastronomic spectacular every Sundays in October. It's called the St Regis Bloody Mary Anniversary Brunch.

It's kind of an indulgence as you can see in the following photographs. I had the privilege to try it out last weekend. The price starts from SGD 148++ for adults.



It's a 4 hour affair. The Bloody Mary Anniversary Brunch starts at 11am. From 11 am to noon, there's complimentary hour of aperitifs at the Astor Bar. You can relax and start your lunch with the Bloody Mary! Maybe try the Cili Padi Mary as well!

At noon, all guests proceed to Brasserie Les Saveurs. It's where the food indulgence begins. From noon to 3 pm, slowly enjoy the food. You got 3 hours to eat.

There's always live music playing at Brasserie Les Saveurs the times I have been there. Last week when I was there, a group of people started dancing after lunch and then got back to desserts after they got tired after dancing.



The are some options for you to choose:
- Epicurean Delight ($148++) with complimentary flow of freshly brewed coffee and tea.
- Astor Indulgence ($180++) with complimentary flow of wines, beer, soft drinks and juices.
- Connoisseur Experience ($195++) with complimentary flow of Ruinart champagne, wines, beer and juices.

Ruinart Champagne is now the house champagne at St Regis Singapore. The wife and I served this during our wedding a few years ago (at another hotel)!



The selection of fine breads and rolls available. It's always tempting. I was saying to myself, skip this section, carbo will make me fatter, but in the end, I gave in and took them and even spread them with more French butter.



The Cold Seafood section was so tempting as well. North America lobsters, scallops, black mussels, langoustines, oysters, prawns poached in court bouillon, clams, crayfish and Sri Lankan crabs!

Indulge slowly, they are being replenished quite quickly. The few times I walked past, they are being replenish.


So tempting isn't it? It was interesting when I posted this on Facebook and Instagram and ask: Which is the odd one out? The answers that came back shows that people are so brilliant!
- Oysters, coz the rest are cooked.
- Scallops, because it's the only thing that doesn't go well with lemon.
- Clams and mussels, they are bivalves, the rest are crustaceans.



Claws have been cracked, ready to eat lobsters! I like!
Don't get too friendly with Ms Langoustine! She's tricky!



Ms Piggy's dancing ballet! Someone is there slicing it for you, all that you can have!



From the live cooking station last Sunday, there was the Foie Gras done in different ways.
I think they have (or alternate it with) poached Boston Lobsters on certain weeks.



Are you a fan of this?



Oh, I was so happy to see this. Like moods, we sometimes prefer warm prawns to the ones served on the cold seafood section. They have some warm seafood too!



I definitely love warm clams. Reminds me of the delicious ones at Belgo in London. They were tasty like the ones in Belgo, which I think taste better than Léon de Bruxelles in Paris. If you ordered the free flow beer, you can just have this and beer. No, no one will do that, you want to eat everything else right?



The Sashimi counter. It's quite amazing with the salmon head staring at you.
Beautiful, unless you are an OCD and you will want to rearrange everything straight instead of artistically. LOL



Another cooking station is where you get Blinis freshly made and served with accompaniments of your choice topped with Avruga Pearls.



You can choose from poached scallops, poached lobsters or smoked salmon.
Since I was in the queue and I wanted to try everything, I ordered all 3.



I saw this and couldn't resist. Prime Rib of Grass Fed Beef.



A slice of it is not enough. Unless you are too full, you will go back for more.

There's also what they call "pass around food". Service staff will carry big metal trays and let you try special dishes fresh out of the kitchen. Here are the four that was passed around when I was there.



The Tomato and Crabmeat Maki Roll with Bloody Mary Vinaigrette. Interesting flavour!



The White Mary Liquid. It's Bloody Mary Sherbet and Vodka Celery Jellies.
Try this, it's very very appetising. The sourness of it will make you go for more beef!



Yellow Fin Tuna Tataki that is coated with sesame seeds and served with citrus salsa.



Poached Egg fans, eat this. Poached Hen Eggs topped with foie gras foam.


Video clip that I loaded to Instagram.

There are also Main Courses that you can order, they will prepare it on the fly and serve it to your table. It's the warm food that's cook when you want to eat it. Here's what we had:



Poached Cod Fish that was served with White Mary Vodka Beurre Blanc, sauteed leek and celery. The Slow Dried Cherry Tomatoes, that little thing was bursting with umami. Very nicely done.



There are also 'passed around desserts' in addition to the ones at the buffet. This was the Cherry Tomato Mousse. It was interesting that a tiny cherry tomato has been emptied and filled with tomato mousse. Served with chocolate cream.



If you are bringing your kids here, the price is $75 per child (4 - 12 years old).
They have their own mains too that you can order for them.
This is the Snapper's Fish Fingers with french fries.



There's always the chocolates and desserts that you can eat here.
There are many more food options that I can't possibly show all here. If you like what you see, you can book the brunch here. 

It is available on Sundays, 5 to 26th October 2014.

St Regis Bloody Mary Anniversary Brunch
St Regis Singapore
29 Tanglin Road
Singapore 247911

Tel: +65 6506 6860
Web: http://www.stregissingapore.com/bloodymary

#FIJIWaterLimeTruck Pop-up raised $9,821.00 for Charity - Willing Hearts.

On 15 and 16 August 2014, The Lime Truck, winner of Food Network's "The Great Food Truck Race", in a collaboration between FIJI Water and Kerbside Gourmet whipped up some great food at Orchard Gateway.



It was a pop-up event that had all proceeds going to Willing Hearts (http://www.willinghearts.org.sg), a local charity / soup kitchen that provides 3000 meals daily to the needy in Singapore.

For the 2 days, the #FIJIWaterLimeTruck raised $9821.00 for Willing Hearts. For all of you who were also there, thank you for your generosity in buying the food.



That's Daniel Shemtob serving food to the crowds!

Daniel's the CEO of The Lime Truck and he's quite a talented guy who have 2 successful restaurants in LA. For more details, you can go to www.thelimetruck.com



There sure was a huge crowd and the food was sold out quite quickly. All thanks to these people who bought a few sets, they helped raised funds for Willing Hearts.

Willing Hearts do need volunteers, to help prepare the food and also to deliver the food. When I was more energetic, I woke up early on Saturdays before sunrise and took a bus the soup kitchen and cut and cut and cut lots of onions, vegetables etc. If you have time, go volunteer your time and energy!



This truck you see is actually Kerby. I am sure you have seen Kerby without this temporary green skin at my pop up events.  I was standing there looking at them serve out food and the crew are such happy people.



Here's a short clip that I took on Instagram on 15 August.
Love the way they shouted the orders that came in.



The menu for the 2 days. Each was $10 and it all came with a bottle of FIJI Water.



Braised Pork Belly Taco with Tomatillo Pico de Gallo and Sriracha.
Oh, it was so so lovely, the pork belly and the Sriracha that was drizzled over it. The fatty pork belly went very well with the Mexican salsa. It cuts through the fats of the pork belly and quite yummy with the hot sauce.
 

Fresh Fish Ceviche Tostada
The fish cured with citrus juices was very appetizing. One of it is not enough and it makes you even more hungry!



Blue Crab Jicama Taco
A very different kind of taco. Never thought that the bang kwang we usually eat can be made into tacos. Ideas for the next house party!




I hope they come back for Round 2 soon!

Afternoon Tea at Brasserie Les Saveurs, St Regis Singapore.

It was one of those days that the wife and I happened to take leave on a weekday. We don't have a helper at home, so the day was meant for me to do the household stuff that is more labour intensive. Maybe also this OCD husband needs his taps polished and grout lines in the bathroom to be 'white' and thinks the wife can't do a good job. When the Grohe taps in the bathroom and kitchen had been nicely polished and grout lines visibly clean it was already past 1 pm. (obviously we did not wake up that early just to do housework)

The other eye sore that I had to do for the day before the wife gets angry. The stack of newspaper that I have been stacking on one of the tables at home. As I was clearing them, I was flipping the makan section and saw that Sheraton has a unique Japanese Afternoon Tea. I tip toe to the wife showing her the article. I have worked hard enough today, let's go, I treat you. She gladly agreed and said she'll call and see if there's a table. To our horror, it seems that many people in Singapore don't need to work, the place is fully booked! It's the 2nd time in 2 weeks that we wanted to book something at Sheraton and it's fully booked. (We found out it's because of the various 1-for-1!)

Disappointed, sweaty and hungry, I was clearing my bag and saw the Supper Club card that was given to us sometime back. Basically it gives us discounts, if you are interested you can read it here. We haven't been using it, and suddenly remembered the wife mentioned that she wanted to go there for Afternoon Tea. I dangled the card at her and she smiled. Yes yes, let's go. Wait, let me call first, don't want to have 2nd disappointment for the day, she said. Oh yes, there's space for 2 of us. It starts at 3 pm.

So to 'tong' until 3pm, we opened our chocolate fridge and yup, indulged in some chocolates. Then showered, clean up and then we left the house.



I tell you, after a morning of polishing, I saw fine lines on this teapot and I wanted to polish it!
It's clean and a few tiny lines outside doesn't matter, I had to tell myself.

The afternoon tea here is called "The Grand Astor Afternoon Tea".
We saw the tea menu and it had a nice selection of Black, Red, Green and White Tea. There are also tea blends. They source their tea from TWG. The Mrs had the Pai Mu Tan and I had Emperor's White Garden Tea.



This is what greets you when you enter Brasserie Les Saveurs. It's cakes and all kinds of sweets that reminds me of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat.



Oh look, it's a Stairway to Heaven!

Since I started with Joseph the musical, let me name more songs. Are you a Led Zappelin Stairway to Heaven person? Or Neil Sedaka Stairway to Heaven person? Or are you like me the Korean Drama Stairway to Heaven Drama person?

Ok, back to the food.....



No, we did not start eating desserts and cheeses first. It was too beautiful to miss. I took photos first because everyone, almost everyone was walking around with the mobile phones taking photos of themselves and their food. So it's the best time to take without looking weird!



They have a selection of western, Asian and local sweets and savouries for you to indulge.



Guess what I spotted? If you have been following me on Instagram, you would know I have a soft spot for Curry Puffs! They are not hand twirled for the corners, but this vegetarian curry puff was really quite nice. It had the soft gooey flowy kind of texture inside. I think they don't serve it daily. Everything changes depending on what the pastry chef feels like making.



If you are a scones person, you probably want to come here and have your afternoon tea here. 4 kinds of scones served on that day. I like the cranberry scones while the wife likes the pesto scones.

They rotate the flavours of the scones too. The Duck and Orange Peel scones were not available that day. Someone said the bacon ones were good too. Another time perhaps.



If clotted cream's not for you, (it's not for me, the wife loves it) there's the honeycomb drip honey!



Or choose from 10 different jams / conserves.



Yes, I like my honey and lemon curd.
(ahem, yes this statement applies to my dining companion too and she's reading this.)



On the menu we saw the 'big' word used to describe this.
Presenting the "Quintessential Three-Tiered Silver Stand"!



On the silver stand there's the Pot Pie, Soup and Quiche of the Day and also with the classic finger sandwiches. That's our pot pies and the carrot soup. Nice warm carrot soup, something I can try to replicate at home!



Here's a peep into the Pot Pie. It's chicken and mushroom and quite aromatic and flavourful.



The quiche of the day, I could not really catch what the serve staff said, but tasting it, it's mushroom and we smell a bit of truffle too.



Two mouths of rice for the day came from the sushi. I can survive without rice for days, but when I saw the rice, I thought I will still have a bite! They serve the sushi in half portions! What an excellent idea!



They had live stations with someone making crepes and waffles as you order it.
Who can resist not ordering waffles?



I always pick the chocolates here. The one with the SR initials is the 64 Manjari Chocolate Ganache and is one of my favourite. White Chocolate with Sicilian Pistachio is nice too!



This made me laugh. I was thinking of having Chai Tow Kueh (Asian Carrot Cake) in the morning, but got to eat this Carrot Cake instead.



I took one of this because it's pretty. Yes, admit it, there are things you pick to eat because it's beautiful and you know people will be tempted on Instagram! LOL!!!



This last photo because I love ice cream / gelato and I can help myself to as many scoops of it.
The Yuzu sorbet is really really good. Help yourself to 2 scoops or more if you like it!

Something happened when we were asked for the bill. Something that was common when we were growing up, but seldom nowadays. Remember the old times that our parents used to foot the bills of their friends if they happen to dine at the same place. It happened to us. The wait staff said: "Sir, Mr S has foot the bill for you." So 'pai seh', but thank you!

The afternoon tea here is priced at $48++ per person Sundays to Fridays.
On Saturdays, there's a Tea Dance and it's $58++.

Afternoon Tea at Brasserie Les Saveurs
St Regis Singapore
29 Tanglin Road
Singapore 247911

Tel: +65 6506 6888
Web: http://www.stregissingapore.com/