OSO Ristorante

After my last paper i soared into the skies with lightest mood and landed at Bukit Pasoh. Right next to Absinthe. Just me, my favourite person & my favourite cuisine...

Oso blissed the evening. They executed every proper demeanor a fine dining should possess, with service matched by few others. Chef Diego's food was spick-and-span and nothing to fault about.

If there's one thing to nitpick about Oso, it would be their breads. Sad to say none of the focaccia, wholewheat loaf & flat grissini arrived warm or particularly appetizing, even for a ravenous bread junkie like me.

For starters we shared a panfried eggs 'tegamino'. Here's half a portion, for the kitchen thoughtfully split it into 2 individual portions for us. There's black truffle puree, melted cheese and a cheery sunnyside up melded altogether within each little pan, served with bread crisps & a rosemary stalk for smells.

It takes diligence to whizz up a good pesto, and punctiliousness to use it well. At Oso the Linguine Vongole with fresh baby clams is coated in a basil pesto dye, making it a welcoming change from the usual white vongole. Dad enjoyed his green vongole.

Because monkfish cheek tagliolini was removed from the menu, i opted for my next best alternative...what else but Seafood Pasta haha.

The kitchen kindly obliged to switch spaghetti to tagliolini for me and served up a marinara prim & proper. Its real heartening to tuck into a virtuous plate of nicely cooked homemade strands, fresh seafood, garlic pieces and a subtle yet palatable red sauce. I didn't go head-over-heels but i happily slurped up to the very end.

yums.

And then i have to share about my love-hate relationship with the Dark Chocolate Crostata.

Loved the semi-oozy 70% dark chocolate fillings seeping out of its immaculate tart shell, blessed with a petite scoop of milk gelato. Think Hokkaido-milk-richness possessed in italian body, melted over those decadent gooey innards.... Totally sublime!

Hated the lingering cocoa aura that got me thirsting for more.

chef slicing cold cuts ala-order!

OSO easily clinched my favour. Having endured weeks of grueling exams, a spotless dinner like this is exactly what i needed. I'm officially putting them in my list of Italian reliables; one of those you could go knowing you won't be disappointed.

OSO is for keeps (:

OSO Ristorante

46 Bukit Pasoh Road

Singapore 089858

6327 8378

Strawberry Almond Tart

If life is a tart, i'll be a strawberry tart.

Doesn't the bright red hue beguile you? I constantly keep a punnet or two of strawberries in my fridge and the turnover is rapid... I add them to my breakfast cereals, icecreams, dunk into chocolate or simply eat them fresh & unaltered. I could squat beside the refrigerator and pop in one after another until the punnet goes poof!

Strawberries can come from US, New Zealand, Eygpt, Korea, Japan & Aussie yada yada... but i especially love the korean breed (japanese is best but unaffordable here haha). Those juicy softies are pumped with a sweetness so fragrant it simply perfumes your mouth! Can never get enough of them.

The best time to make a strawberry tart is during the berry season. When in harvest, you start to see them stacking up on supermarket shelves with irrestibly low prices. That is the call.

This tart is merely frangipane (almond filling) on sable dough, sans custard or cream. It may sound plain or dry but i've gone a step further to flavor it with Bailey's so the result is perked & sufficiently moist. I also used New Zealand strawberries (happened to be the NZ berry season when i made it) which may not be as saccharine as the Korean ones but their firmer flesh can keep well much longer.

Tarte Aux Fraises
makes 1 large tart & a few small tarts

Sable is French for 'sand'. It is a crumbly, sandy dough baked just like cookies. For a perfect tart, go the extra mile to make a vanilla custard and spread inbetween the berries & baked filling... Your efforts will be rewarded.

Sable Dough
175g unsalted butter
pinch of salt
100g icing sugar
250g plain flour
35g finely ground almond
1 egg

Almond Cream
200g ground almonds
125ml cream
20g corn flour
150g unsalted butter
200g icing sugar
125g eggs
2 tbsp Bailey's (or replace with rum)

In a mixing bowl, cut butter into cubes and allow to soften at room temperature. Cream the butter, sugar and salt until pale. Beat in the egg ans make sure it is well-incorporated. Sift in the flour & almond powder and mix on low until the dough comes together. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before use.

For filling: Beat the ground almonds, corn flour, butter and sugar in a mxing bowl for 10 mintues and totally free of lumps. Add the eggs one at a time and ensure well blended in. Stir in the cream and Bailey's and mix into a smooth paste.


Roll out the chilled sable dough into a 0.2cm thick sheet and line the tart pan. Trim away and excess edges. Spoon in the almond cream to fill about half the pan then spread evenly with a palette knife. Bake at 180C for 30-35mintues or until golden brown. Allow to cool.

Brush the surface with sugar syrup if desired. Arrange strawberries on top and dust with icing sugar. To maintain the bright color, simply brush the berries with mirror gel or apricot glaze as a finishing touch.


Now's the Korean strawberry season btw, you can find them even at Fairprice & Giant so hurry go grab some!

Dolce Vita

Sweeeeet Italian cuisine on my birthday.

I knew for myself how a dinner of bread & pasta would gratify so i fluttered down to Dolce Vita to effectuate it. Chef Marco Pedrelli totally charmed me over that evening with his upstanding Mediterranean fare & sincere affability to boot... Life is sweet indeed.

Dinner here can be a formal or relaxed affair, depending on your choice. Dining by the poolside bodes a calming retreat but i chose the warm interiors instead. Either way you're assured of laudable service from Mandarin Oriental's groomed waitstaffs.

The Olive bread had ciabatta's crust, but moister clingier insides. Escorted by a trio of sun-dried tomato paste, evoo+balsamic & flavored salt dips.

Amuse Bouche came in the form of cold cuts platter, sesame grissini & oil-marinated eggplant with capers. The cured meats sodium balanced in accordance to my liking. Twirl twirl twirl your Parma ham round the light grissini stick....

For mains, Linguine di Gamberi ($30) clinched an easy win. The prawns were sturdily enormous and strands spiced up in garlic-chilli olive oil glaze. I emphasize, glaze. Chef deployed a simple sticky viscous glaze to draw the dish's intensity. No sauce pools required.

My Spaghetti Marinara ($28) grasped similar execution. Seafood shelled primp & proper, glaze still as marvelous. A light coat was all it took for the strands to bloom in flavor... Every forkful released powers of evoo, garlic & savory tomato bodies yum.

Chef Marco insists all pastas to be handmade daily using a pasta machine hailed from Italy. His pasta is out-of-the-ordinary. Spaghetti comes Size L in full expansion, bearing firmer-than-usual bites... i totally took to this unique rustic rendition.

Stunning Olive Oil Macarons pre-dessert. Tender shells. Full-bodied EVOO fillings. These may change your perceptions of sweeetaphobic macarons.

Tiramisu ($14) was a literally neat slice (probably the neatest i've came across) binding firm mascarpone between thin sponge layers... there's even tiramisu icecream & almond biscotti to counter potential bitterness.

FRANGOLA- 14 year old balsamic-marinated sweet strawberries, vanilla cream, strawberry sorbet * Imagines strawberry chunks doused in black killer vinegar. oooh i got excited...

Until Frangola ($14) arrived on plateau and proved my apprehensions wrong. It was a good tart with almost-too-little yummy vanilla bean custard & toppings of strawberry slices interweaving white chocolate sheets. On the side a gummy Strawberry sorbet that pleased.

They ought to amend descriptions to "strawberry & white chocolate TART, vanilla custard, strawberry sorbet".

Then the restaurant successfully ambushed me with a slice of cake+song from the entire service team whoa before Chef's appearance with a red rose...... Really really sweeeeet of all of them!

*wish made, fingers kept crossed.

Chef & me (& rose) under unflattering incandescent lighting

This meal definitely climaxed my Nineteenth.

What can beat a birthday dinner with your favourite cuisine, a winsome chef & the person you love most in this world? Nothing comes close.

elaine had a happy, happy birthday...

Dolce Vita

5 Raffles Avenue

5F Mandarin Oriental Singapore

6885 3551

Les Artistes Bistrot

French cuisine is scaling my charts. Even without Italian's itch-hooking charms, I take jollies in dismantling those precise elements and witnessing how they click into masterpieces. The French have perfectionism in their blood, hard not to idolize.

One of dad's latest gesture was to date me for lunch at arty modern Les Artistes Bistrot, which sat mere metres away from its parent Nicholas Le Restaurant. A 3-course set lunch at $34++ offered upstanding seafood & meat options accounting for value.

Was this an amuse bouche? Well if it was.... then i certainly would have expected more complexity. Little Sesame & Parmesan puffs are too cute and tacky for credit.

Their bread belonged to the rustic bracket; slightly caramel-hued slices hinting of rye and sourdough origins.

Menu read Lobster Bisque & blue prawn ravioli. One ungarnished, bubble-crowned mug first arrived... conquered by dad before i could even say l-o-b-s-t-e-r-b-i-s-q-u-e.

"So how was the ravioli?"

"huh?"

"the blue prawn raviolis... nice?"

"huh? there's nothing inside."

Great. Dad swallowed an entire bowl of Lobster Bisque without raviolis, and had to start all over again when a replacement arrived lol. Thankfully (or not) their soup was considerably watered down, more like lobster broth than a cream-stiffened bisque. No crustacean chunks unearthed from it either.

Lesson learnt: Always check for raviolis your soup before you zoom.

My appetizer was a Marinated Tasmanian Ocean Trout "Gravelax', lemon, kaffir lime and coriander, crispy crouton. Frankly speaking none of those bling blings came through. The trout was civilly natured- smooth and sparing on sodium, with three dill cream lashes forming the solitary flavor.

The Cod Fish 'Cote D'Azur style' on the other hand, was discernibly tasty. A well-seasoned medallion seared on both sides to form darling golden surfaces, placed over milky saffron froth. It worked great with the fish.

Should any of your prime choices be unavailable, the kitchen would offer alternative suggestions. Dad took on the Seared Beef Tenderloin with simple jus & fresh rosemary to make up for his coveted Kurobuta Pork Cheeks.

Our sides came in mini cast-iron pots, logically useful for heat conservation. One was fine tagliolini tossed with bacon and seductive butter action. The other a baffling ratatouille doused in strong indian spices.... completely unanticipated of french execution.

If not for Apple Tarte's hideous mono-color palette, she's one glitter babe. They cropped the apple into half & no more than that to prevent withering, then paired it with cinnamon cream and a saccharine pool.

I'm usually in favor of ending the meal with citrus acidity so i picked the Lemon Sorbet, sesame langue de chats. Man they went a little sugar overboard. The 2 lemony balls needed better sugar:acid balance.

I had two virtuous dishes of oily fish yay. Lunch on the whole wasn't disgruntling but didn't rock any mania. Do hope the kitchen is more mindful after that accidental ravioli carelessness...

Les Artistes Bistrot

13 Keong Saik Road

6224 1505

Canele Dessert Outing: A Pictorial

Blackforest

Chocolate genoise with kirsch, layered with 66% dark chocolate mousse, chocolate crumble, kirsch chantilly and dark cherry

Sometime back, a group of us headed to Canele and filled our table solely with entremets. Chef Pang's 2009 Collection divulged a couple of new surprises so copious of his ingenius creativity. I've held no qualms about his talent since day one.

Barcelona

Almond chocolate sponge layered with orange caramel mousse, dark chocolate orange mousse and feullietine. Decorated with chocolate macaron and blood orange jelly

Triple Chocolate Cheesecake

Walnut chocolate fudge cake, chocolate chip cheese cake and dark chocolate chantily

Raspberry Cheesecake

Chocolate fudge cake, velvety smooth vanilla cheesecake glazed with raspberry jelly and rosemary-infused creme chantilly

The ten of us picked 9 cakes to engage in our very own dessert merry-go-round. Though mostly familiar to me, it was a virgin experience having sooo many of them to savour at one go! My favourites stood out almost immediately... loved the chocolate takeover in Blackforest, brilliant citrus shot in Barcelona, rich harmony in Triple Chocolate Cheesecake & the uplifting rosemaryness of the Raspberry Cheesecake.

Tiramisu

The Italian classic, made with marsala mascarpone mousse, finger sponge soaked in coffee, white rum and brandy

(clockwise from top left)

Jupiter

Parfait Manjari, exotic caramel and pecan nut nougatine on a flourless chocolate sponge with exotic coulis

Macha

Delicate green tea mousse and chestnut cremeux layered with green tea biscuit and almond crumble

Gateaux Chocolat

Dark chocolate cream, flourless chocolate sponge decorated with triple chocolate shards

Tarte Citron

Almond tart filled with lemon cream, torched Italian meringue and candied lemon peel

Canele has it all to hit bull's eye for any dessert softspots... my stand is strong on this. Had wonderful company and sweets that afternoon, thankyou all for the great time spent!

Canele Patisserie & Restaurant

252 North Bridge Road

#B1-81/82 Raffles City Shopping Centre

Hediard Cafe-Boutique

Everything about Hediard struck like cupid. The elegant, polished outlook of the shophouse. The daring crimson against classy black. The extraordinary range of goods their boutique has to offer. The chi-chi french menu. Everything.

I thought i floated out of Singapore and descended on Parisian grounds.

Hediard's history dates back to 1854, founded by Ferdinand Hediard and now a renowned French name in artisanal preserves production. Walking through the jar-ful shelves of their boutique was an extraordinary feeling. The selections of jams, teas, candies gave every reason for your shoppaholism to tingle. Its no wonder why they satisfy connoiseurs worldwide.

Cafe side, a "Savoury & Sweet" Set ($25++) works on the perfect mechanism. One salad/croque/tartine-of-the-day, dessert, glass of wine/coffee/tea equates lunch perfectto. You go from salty to sweet then something to cleanse the richness away.

Croque Ferdinand

For those in sync with rich & cheesy, Crouque Ferdinand's at your call. The founder probably loved his parma-cheese-cream soo much, he had to incorporate them between brown bread slices with mornay sauce coddled in & over. Just sink into your long-lost kin.

Teriyaki Chicken & Eggplant Tartine

My Tartine of-the-day sounded like the least predictable item to emerge from a french kitchen. But i have to admit how delish this open-faced was. Tasty sauce-glazed chicken thigh slices (with some degree of canto-roast correlation) over a roasted eggplant disc... definitely polishable.

Smoked Salmon Platter

Needless to say, this separate order of Smoked Salmon ($8++) was my idea. My itch for omega-3 fatty acids strikes like an opium addiction. And oohh~ this pairing of regular salmon & another tender, smokier, colour-gone-awry breed was worth the instigation.

Bourbon Vanilla Mille-feuille

Desserts, was a very Vanilla-Bean glaring affair.

Hediard's copious use of VB thrills every vanilla-loving cell in me. Pastry-cream-pastry-cream-pastry sums up the Bourbon vanilla mille-feuille in a word, and wow! aptly describes the satisfying vanilla custard middle.

Raspberry Fruit Tart

Then i garnered my strength for a battle with my the Raspberry fruit tart. hard tart base. Nevertheless, all's left was praise for its fragrant walls, almond filling, rich vanilla custard and fresh berries assemble. Loved it lots.

Hediard Blend Tea & Madeleine Blend Coffee

Every cuppa comes thoughtfully tagged with a bitesized madeleine and square of chocolate au lait 33%. Hediard Blend Tea- china black tea, sweet orange, lemon & bergamot- hardly differentiated from the original earl grey.

The art of luxe parisian goodies requires no deliberate flattery. Intricacy lies in the roots and it's utmost quality is undisputable. Who doesn't wanna have french everything?

Hediard Cafe & Boutique

123-125 Tanglin Road

Tudor Court

6333 6683