Truffles Celebrations @ Prego, Fairmont Singapore

Black and White Truffles. The last few months they are in season! Are you a truffle fan? (Am not talking about truffle oil, that's another debate by itself, nor am I talking about chocolate truffles, we are talking about real truffles here).

This post is a little late, but better late than never. It's only available till the end of January and you still have time to go for it. The best if you also happen to have the FAR card. (we no longer have it, but we dine at the restaurants that has discounts with our friend that has it haha..) FAR Carders get 20% off.

Each month since Nov 2013, Prego has around 10 truffle inspired dishes on the menu. This was a preview lunch courtesy of wonderful ladies at Swissotel/Fairmont Singapore and Chef Antonio Facchinetti and his team.



Chef Antonio Facchinetti brought out a glass and left it on the table for us and everyone's camera zoomed in to take a photo of it! White truffles that gives the wonderful aroma and can hypnotize someone to do whatever you want.


Truffle Ricotta Cheese with Shaved White Truffle

A ricotta cheese fan? How about mixing it with some truffles? Then top it up with a shave of white truffle? This was a wonderful starter.



I love these little glass bottles, they look so pretty and food served in them seemed extra special. Sorry I went off topic, back to truffles.

Is there difference between black and white truffles? Yes. The flavours are the earthly and chocolately aroma of black truffles (Tuber melanosporum) vs the garlicky earthly aroma of white truffles (Tuber magnatum). There are also the Summer and Winter harvests which has differences in aroma too. There's also the French vs Italian thing. You can find a whole afternoon reading about it if you want to find out more.



I was just happy to indulge in some ricotta with truffles with these freshly baked breads and sticks from the Prego kitchen!


Grilled Tomino Cheese, Endive Salad, White Truffle ($38)

I have not tried Tomino Cheese and it was the first time I had it and the cheese being grilled was  delicious. It was not ripened so there was no pungent smell and it was soft and creamy inside.

It went well with the endive salad. Crunchy fresh salads with oh the yummy white truffle shavings.



Tartare di Manzo, Acciughe, Uova Quaglia, Tartufo Bianco – Angus Beef Tartare, Anchovy, Quail Eggs, White Truffle ($40)

If you like beef tartare like me, you will love this. This is a more luxurious version of it with white truffle shavings. The aroma of it just makes the difference. I can eat two portions of it and feel extremely satisfied.



If you feel like having some wine, there are some fine selection to pick from.


Polenta Bianca, Roasted Foie Gras, Wild Mushrooms, White Truffle ($36)

For foie gras frans, you can order this and enjoy it with a very nice creamy polenta.


Risotto al Tartufo Bianco – White Truffle Risotto ($75 for entrée portion, $40 for appetiser portion)

This white truffle risotto will charm you with the seductive aroma. Nice warm risotto will bring out the aroma of the truffles. It goes together and you will be warm both in the tummy and heart.


Uova da Raviolo – Spinach, Parmesan, Ricotta Ravioli, Poached Egg, White Truffle ($38)

Don't be deceived by this simple looking dish. Inside this huge ravioli is a poached egg!
Poached egg fans would be quite amazed by how it's done! The poached egg rest on top a bed of spinach. Intriguing indeed!


Cotechino and Black Truffle Stuffed Whole Quail, Nebbiolo Sauce, Shaved White Truffle ($46)

We were all awaiting for this dish. A quail that's been stuffed with cotechino. You won't notice it until it's being cut open.



It was delicious. The cotechino and black truffle with the quail. To put it simply, we need to get back here to have our own portion and not a shared portion. ;-)


Poached Rhubarb with Wine Jelly, Vanilla Crema, Black Truffle Ice Cream and Cocoa Nibs ($30)

I am not a fan of rhubarb, that's my brother's kind of food. However, I am a fan of vanilla crema with the oh so delicious black truffle ice cream on top of it. That black truffle ice cream is just so good. The aroma as you smell it and taste it on your tongue. Only those who love truffles will know.


Black Truffle Meringue with Hazelnut Truffle Soil, Citrus Mint Cremeux and Passion Fruit Foam ($30)

This is the other pretty dessert that also taste quite nice. A lighter version compared to the dessert before this. Take your pick!

The menu changes each month from November, December and January.

Prego @ Fairmont Singapore
Level 1
80 Bras Basah Road,
Singapore 189560

Tel: (65) +65 6431 6156
Email: dining.singapore@fairmont.com

The 7th Edition of Singapore Restaurant Week - 7 to 13 October 2013. Book now!

Food lovers in Singapore get a bit excited at this time of the year. It's the time of the year when you start to book places to some of the restaurants that you always wanted to try their food but at a lower price.

From 7 to 13 October 2013, the 7th edition of Singapore Restaurant Week will feed over 40,000 hungry people in Singapore. The 6th edition in March 2013 already had a record breaking booking of 40,000 seats! Singapore Restaurant Week is presented by American Express and organized by DiningCity.



The restaurants that participate in the Singapore Restaurant Week offer exclusive three-course menus for lunch at $25++ and dinner at $35++. (DiningCity Star-awarded restaurants charge a supplement of $15 for lunch and $20 for dinner).

Personally, I will scrutinize the deals and restaurants.  Some places set meals are about the same as their regular set meals. The wife and I dine out often and we pay for our own meals, so we do notice the price. So pick carefully and you do find really good deals. Do your home work, but don't take too long because as I have experienced it myself, the good deals do get booked out really quickly!



Courtesy of Singapore Restaurant Week, I had a preview of the dishes that 3 restaurants will serve for their Restaurant Week special menu. To make it more interesting for us, we had our 3 course meal in 3 different restaurants!



1. Starter @ Taratata Bistrot

Taratata Bistrot has been a hot favourite for many diners wanting to try French food in the previous editions. Taratata is owned and two veteran French chefs that has French fine dining restaurants with Michelin Stars.



We started with baguette with butter. It's simple and addictive carbo for a hungry person.



We had the "Cassolette d'Escargot aux Champignons et Concassée de Tomate". It's Escargot with Mushrooms and Tomatoes.

Covered with herbs and lots of olive oil, it had a very tempting aroma when it was served to us.



A very different style of escargot from that I have eaten. No shell to dig the escargot out, and it's baked in a casserole with lots of herbs and tomatoes, it had a taste that I liked. (I love tomatoes as you all know, so I was rather happy with it)



Presenting the two men in white that prepared our starter. Chef Bertrand Raguin and Philippe Nouzillat. They each have over 20 years experience in what they do.


2. Main Course @ Latteria Mozzarella Bar

How interesting to start our meal in a French restaurant and continue to an Italian restaurant!
Latteria Mozzarella Bar is by the same people behind ilLido.



It's a place that has many different kinds of mozzarella and if I remember correctly, they bring it them in themselves and not through the usual suppliers in Singapore.

Many people like their pasta and other staple Italian favorites here. I was told this place is good. I should come back with the wife and try them out.


Grilled Halibut with Saffron Potato and Lobster Sauce

The chef had planned for us to choose one of the two main courses they will be serving during Restaurant Week. A sudden change of mind,  he thought maybe if he gives us 2 smaller portions of both dishes it would make us very happy. It sure did!

A nicely piece of grilled halibut. Halibut has dense and firm flesh and a clean taste. If there's no other thing with it, I will still be happy to eat it on its own just lightly salted. Of course in a restaurant, you would not want to pay for that.

So they chef has to jazz it up with Saffron Potato and Lobster Sauce. Goes well. I love how he served it with the colourful cauliflowers. Yes, all of us were just admiring the nicely plated dish and almost everyone dining took out their cameras to photograph it.


Suckling Pig Porchetta with Peaches and Salmoriglio.

From a lighter dish to one that's heavier in taste. It's said that every region in Italy has it's own version of suckling pig. We were too busy enjoying our food to ask the Chef where he is from and what version it is from.


3. Desserts @ Hashi

From French to Italian to Japanese! The taste buds were really going for an adventure!
We were told Hashi is the only Japanese restaurant in Singapore that serves traditional hand made sweets. It's suppose to be a great treat for us!



We were served sake as we sat down.



If you don't already know, the Singapore Country Manager of American Express (yes, Restaurant Week is presented by Amex) is Ms Yoshimi Nakajima. Leave it to the experts to talk about what's a good sake. 



The beautifully sculpted wagashi that's flown in from the the famous shop Ganyuudou in Shizuoka. It's made by fifth-generation pastry chef Hiromori Uchida.



Wagashi are sweet treats made from finely milled flour, mocha filled with red bean paste sculpted dumplings. It's something for the sweet tooth. If you are not a sweet tooth person, you will find this extremely sweet. It's something very pleasantly sweet and delicate to me.



Hashi is headed by Chef Tadashi Takahashi who was previously head chef at Nobu Melbourne.

The wife and I had previously enjoyed our meal at Nobu Melbourne, I should bring her back here and try Chef Tadashi's food here.

Here he is, putting additional touches to the Wagashi. He was grating something over the fine sieve and added it to the flower shaped Wagashi.



One of the rare chefs around that I see wearing a tie when he works!
People with such discipline and pride serves fabulous food don't you think?

It's the end of the story of my special 3 course Singapore Restaurant Week eaten in 3 different restaurants. If you want to book, you better hurry!


How to book?

American Express Cardmembers^ enjoy exclusive priority booking privileges from 4 September 2013 before booking is open to the public from 11 September 2013.  All bookings can be made online from 11 September 2013 at www.restaurantweek.sg, a dedicated website with unique technology for online and real-time reservations.
^Applicable to all American Express Cards issued directly by American Express International, Inc. in Singapore  (excluding American Express Corporate Cards and American Express Cards issued by DBS, UOB and EZ-Link Pte Ltd)

Subscribers to the DiningCity.SG newsletter will enjoy advance booking from 9 September 2013. To sign up for the newsletter, simply log on to www.DiningCity.SG.

Italian Weekend Prosecco Brunch @ LaBrezza, The St Regis Singapore

Weekends...  Weekend Brunches... Weekend Italian Brunches...

My wife loves weekend brunches and for those of you who are always tasked to research about where to eat by your partner, this is another option that you can try for the coming weekends.

Tip: I know many people are hotel reward card holders too, if you are a SPG, that's Starwood Preferred Guest member, (not Sarong Party Girl) you can collect points while dining here too! Yes, I am a points collector.

If you don't know where LaBrezza is, it's located on Level 2 of The St Regis Singapore. It's facing the swimming pool with yes, with Botero sculptures at the swimming pool. Since we are talking about arty stuff, the walls of LaBrezza has very nice paintings too. If memory serves me right, the one at LaBrezza are by Singapore artists.



If only weekend are days when carbo don't turn into sugar and make you fat. If you think Botero sculptures are beautiful, and the artist has sculpted how humans should look, come! join me in having these delicious breads and rolls.

The focaccia were really good, I liked the one that had cherry tomato in it.



LaBrezza does not a huge buffet line like in some other hotels, but it has a decent enough selection prepared by quite a few talented people. It's very cosy too. The above are the folks preparing the food for us when I was at this tasting invited by The St Regis Singapore.



It's called the Italian Weekend Prosecco Lunch, so this is the Prosecco D.O.C.G. Adami they are serving free flow until 2.45 pm.


The Salumi (Italian cured meats)

They have a selection of 24 months cured parma prosciutto, parma prosciutto, mortadella, salami and smoked salmon. Selection might change, you can refer to the menu online.



For the Insalate (salads), if you are game to try everything, go ahead. You can get quite filled up with salads alone. Save your stomach for the grilled stuff, and also the pizza and pasta!



I am a bit bias in showing photos with beautiful tomatoes, tomatoes are something I like!



These San Marzano, Sardinia Green and Grappolo tomatoes looks so good right?
Ahem, I feel Italian eating these tomatoes. Eat these tomatoes and you will think twice or thrice about those tomatoes we usually buy from the supermarkets!

(For your info, Roma Tomatoes are not Italian, but scientist-made in America!! Roma is based on San Marzano though. So eat the real thing here!)


A bowl of delicious and luscious pachino cherries (tomatoes).
Aren't we quite blessed to have food from all around the world available in Singapore?




Another of my love, mushrooms! My wife loves mushrooms too. We can eat A LOT of it!


Oh yes, the grilled vegetables and burrata etc....
Yes, I know not everyone loves these stuff. If you love them, you know where to get them now!


I have not acquired the love for stuff in the cheeseboard.
If you are a fan, smell on......

After walking around the restaurant picking up your salads, cheeses, etc.
It's time to sit down and relax. The pizza and pasta you can just order and order as you like from the menu. It comes in small portions, so you can order different types to try.



The different kinds of pasta with the sauce were all quite addictive. This was the carbonara made from egg and pancetta with tagliatelle. Many who were there loved this.



I loved this though. Probably my favourite, ahem, probably because of the tomatoes!
Pasta are all handmade in house, and this was really skinny linguine with vongole. It's very tasty and you would probably order seconds.


Pizza Vesuvio - tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, italian sausages, roasted sweet peppers. One of the many kinds of pizza available.


If you are a Risotto person, they have Chef's risotto specials, so it depends on what the Chef feels like cooking. We were all treated to Risotto with Cotechino and Scamorza Cheese. The cheese covered the risotto that was served. You can see that the cheese is going to be a lil chewy.


Cotechino is Italian sausage. If you google and see it what goes into making it, it does sound like the ingredients for making luncheon meat. Guess what? It tastes like luncheon meat too. If the Chef is making this on the day you visit, order a portion and try. You might love it if you are a luncheon meat person!



Beside the pool they have a BBQ station set up. This is where the grilled meat you order is prepared.


Scottadito.

Grilled Australian Lamb Chops, with lemon-mint marinade and roasted potaoes. One of the grilled meats on the menu.


Controfiletto ai ferri
Beef Striploin for you sir/madam? I am currently thinking of a friend who loves protein from beef. He eats a lot of it as well. Maybe he's reading this, this is for you!


Spigola ai lemone
Seabass with lemon and olive oil. Fish people out there, for you. I remember this being quite delicious. Yes, I am a fish person.


It's amazing how filling it can be. Portion and pace yourself during the meal if you want to try their desserts!


We shared the Strata Umbria.
A bread pudding with spinach and mushrooms. It's interesting quiche like savoury dessert.


Gelati lovers. Many flavours of gelato here. Chocolate!
This is something I can order a few rounds.


Cannoli alla Siciliana
I think I overate and now as I type this, I can't remember how it tasted like. Pardon me!


Zabaglione
Marsala sabayon with fresh fruit, I also can't remember how it tasted.


Tiramisu
While I can't remember how the two previous dessert tasted, I remembered that I liked their tiramisu!
Served in a mug, it was something that I could eat even when I was full. Someone told us it's a very traditional recipe used.


It was a nice Italian Brunch. A big thanks to LaBrezza for the invite to taste the brunch. This hotel is like an art musuem, walk around and look at the art pieces they have. This venue by the pool is also very relaxing. Sit indoors if you prefer aircon or if you like some weekend tan, sit just beside the pool.

The idea of cooking pasta and BBQ meats when you order is perfect. I think pasta is best eaten this way. In small portions and still the texture that you want and not turn soggy. 



The price:
$98++ per person with Prosecco D.O.C.G Adami
$68++ per person (without alcohol)
$49++ per child (4-12 years old)

LaBrezza
The St Regis Singapore
Level Two
29 Tanglin Road
Singapore 247911

Tel:  +65 6506 6884
Web: http://www.labrezzarestaurant.com