Lupa, 170 Thompson St, NY

There is no secret that I like food. I also sometimes like watching food related movies and read food related books. A year ago or so I accidently laid my hands on a book called 'Heat' written by a certain Bill Buford who was recounting his own personal story of having left his dream job at New Yorker magazine to work as a low-level "kitchen slave" in one of New York's most famous restaurants, Babbo. I had never heard of neither Babbo, Bill Buford or the owner of that restaurant Mario Batali. Strange for someone supposedly interested in food you will wonder. But the fact is that French people like me are not necessarily exposed to all the celebrity Chefs form the 'English' world. While in New York, and not having booked Babbo, I settled on Batali's other restaurant, Lupa, and that was an amazing experience. Winter Italian fare. Pasta e Fagioli, Polpetti di Vitello e Ricotta, Tartufino... simple but heavenly!

Foie Gras

You might not find the organ on the above picture appetizing but believe me, once cooked it is a delight. Many know about Foie Gras and also are aware of the awful way geese and ducks are force fed to produce a huge liver. I have to admit that if I think too much about it is taking my appetite away but it was very interesting to take the opportunity of being in my native village to visit the local Foie Gras producer as my Mum went to buy a fresh liver. After marinating in salt (fleur de sel) and pepper it will be oven cooked in a terrine for a delicious result.

Special Food for a Special Day

Today, being a special day, we needed to burn that Credit Card on one of the fanciest restaurants in Singapore. Founded by Les Amis, Au Jardin is a quiet haven located in the Botanic Gardens. French cuisine with a slightly Asian twist and Australian products prepared by a local Chef. It was difficult to decide on a dish from the three-course 'Table d'hôte' menu we chose. Everything sounded good. I went for the Confit d'Abalone since I never tried any before. I am not sure on how the 'real' thing tastes like but this was definitely a very nice introduction. It was followed by a nice poilée of mushrooms and for the main I had to go for the halibut which I had not tasted since a trip to Alaska some 6 or 7 years back. I hardly had enough room for the desert. A special restaurant for a one-off celebration. I am glad to have tried it. For the atmosphere, I still prefer Flutes at the Fort though.

nb: the picture above does not unfortunately do justice to the sliced confit abalone

Macarons

At Raffles place there is this nice French patisserie called Canelé. The sweet of choice is of course... a canelé. But there are also some nice macarons. They might not be as nice as Ladurée's but they still manage to melt nicely in your mouth and come in different flavours like violet, hazlenut, rose, vanilla or chocolate.

Flutes at the Fort

I try to refrain to talk about food as I could easily turn this blog into a food blog but it is not everyday that we enjoy a dinner in the open air in Singapore as it is usually so hot and sticky. Somehow, The Flutes at The Fort located in a nice Black & White at Fort Canning manage to capture the breeze. We had an amazing dinner al fresco tonight cooked under the supervision of the French Chef. It all started with a beautiful fusion duck consommé with surprising and delicious foie gras wontons and Frog Legs vol-au-vent. For the main dish we shared a huge Australian angus beef (cote de boeuf) that was simply cooked to perfection and melted in the mouth. Unfortunately we had to cancel the mouth watering millefeuille we had ordered for dessert as our stomachs could not extend more without risking to explode. The food and service were flawless at this fine food restaurant located in beautiful surroundings. It comes right on top of my list of places to dine in Singapore.