Come this November, The Ritz-Carlton is inviting guests to indulge their culinary senses at their first-ever Stellar Dining Series. A once-in-a-lifetime collaboration between six Michelin-starred chef talents, mixologists and patissiers from The Ritz-Carlton itself across four gourmet cities around the Asia Pacific region, the Stellar Dining Series will happen from 1 November to 1 December 2018. The journey will begin in Singapore, then to Osaka, Hong Kong and finally at The Ritz-Carlton, Beijing.

Driven by a desire to create memorable experiences, each destination on the four-city tour will see these Michelin-starred chefs collaborate to present their signatures as well as create spectacular new dishes, orchestrating a constellation of cosmic dining events as well as exclusive masterclasses and cocktail craftsmanship.

For those who dine as adventurously as they travel, The Ritz-Carlton invites you to set your course by the stars and experience the Stellar Dining Series hosted by one of the greatest luxury hotels around. Whether you’re seeking to impress, or to experience gastronomic excellence at its finest, we say reserve now before it’s too late.

1 – 4 NOVEMBER: THE RITZ-CARLTON, MILLENIA SINGAPORE

Happening on our very shores between 1 to 4 November 2018, guests in Singapore can expect a harmony of the best that Cantonese cuisine has to offer at both the ‘6 Hands’ lunch and dinner, proudly presented by Michelin-starred chefs Paul Lau of The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong, Gordon Guo of The Ritz-Carlton, Guangzhou and Cheung Siu Kong The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore.

Prepared in the form of a la carte dim sum alongside speciality dishes, every handcrafted dish attributes to their burning love passion for the cuisine and their respect for nature of which their ingredients are sourced.

Aching to knock back a tipple or two? Indulge in an innovative spread of hand-crafted cocktails by mixologist Oscar Mena, featuring a combination of traditional and cutting-edge ingredients at the Chihuly Lounge.

If not, in the afternoon, delight your taste buds with a celestial eight-course afternoon tea session elegantly designed by celebrated patissier, Richard Long, from The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong.

On 4 November 2018, discover the authentic flavors of Singapore at Colony’s Michelin-starred brunch where the seven conservatory kitchens will take you on a gastronomic journey. Michelin-starred chefs Paul Lau and Gordon Guo will helm a live station each, together with with Richard Long and Oscar Menu.

8 – 10 NOVEMBER: THE RITZ-CARLTON, OSAKA

From 8 to 10 November 2018, The Ritz-Carlton, Osaka will be joined by a constellation of four culinary stars, bringing into orbit Japanese-inspired French cuisine with Chef Christophe Gibert and Chef Shintaro Miyazaki. Chef Kenji Fujimoto of Tempura Mizuki at The Ritz-Carlton Kyoto along with Chef Takeshi Fukana at The Ritz-Carlton, Osaka will work together to deliver a sensational seasonal tempura using seasonal ingredients to highlight the art of the cuisine.

Chef Cheung Siu Kong of Summer Pavilion from The Ritz-Carlton, Singapore will bring to life authentic Cantonese cuisine with Chef Peter Cheung at The Ritz-Carlton, Osaka. There will also be a one-of-a-kind chocolate masterclass, chocolate-themed afternoon tea with Champagne and cocktail workshop tailored for all refined palates.

22 – 25 NOVEMBER: THE RITZ-CARLTON, HONG KONG

The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong, the highest hotel in the world, takes guests closer to the stars in every sense with Chef Paul Lau joining hands with Chef Shintaro Miyazaki of Azure 45 from The Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo, to create a series of extraordinary lunches and dinners showcasing the best of Cantonese and French haute cuisine.

The Hong Kong event also includes unique chocolate themed afternoon tea by award winning Chocolatier Masatada Hosokawa from The Ritz-Carlton, Osaka and Executive Pastry Chef Richard Long.

Discover some of the season’s unique cocktail recipes with Kentaro Wada and Oscar Mena, two cocktail connoisseurs with a knack for boldness.

29 NOVEMBER – 1 DECEMBER: THE RITZ-CARLTON BEIJING

The events conclude with a supernova at The Ritz-Carlton, Beijing where Michelin-Starred Chef extraordinaire Christophe Gibert of La Baie in Osaka will collaborate with Chef Cheung Siu Kong of Summer Pavilion in Singapore to create an haute French experience and a contemporary Cantonese menu to the nation’s cultural nexus.

The three-day gastronomic line-up will feature a series of Michelin lunch and dinners, afternoon tea, as well as exclusive cocktail workshops inspired by China’s treasured teas—proudly brought to you by the acclaimed cocktail connoisseur, Oscar Mena.

You can find out more information about the Stellar Dining Series and make a reservation here. This is one exclusive and very highly-coveted Michelin experience that is worth luxuriating in!

This post is brought to you by The Ritz-Carlton.

One of the best meals that I had last year was at JAAN Restaurant Swissotel, and I’ve been suggesting it whenever someone asks me for recommendations.

I was thrilled when Chef Julien Royer extended an invitation to try his summer menu. But at the same time, I was a little afraid. What if it wasn’t as good as before? I had a fantastic experience at JAAN previously and I did not want to tarnish that memory.

I went back and I had a spectacular meal. Chef Julien has done it again. I dare say you will find it very hard to find a restaurant which can offer a better dining experience.

He has been helming the kitchen for a year, and given that he has managed to settle down, I have no doubt that the upcoming year will be good times for the restaurant and we can definitely expect greater things to come. JAAN is still one of the best, if not the best restaurant in Singapore.

We started the meal with the amuse bouche platter: croquette, crispy chicken skin with Indian spices, smoked eel with pickled apple and jelly.

Amuse bouches, for the uninitiated, are different from appetizers in that you do not order them from the menu. Instead, they are served free, and it is up to the chef’s creativity. They are little surprises meant to prepare the guest for the meal; to tease the palate so as to speak.

The tiny bites were excellent; they did what they were supposed to do – to “wake up” the palate.

The second amuse-bouche, mushroom soup – a mainstay on JAAN’s menu – was also very good. In fact, I am going out on a limb to say that it is one of the best mushroom soups that I’ve had.

Then, we had a selection of bread – walnut raisin, mini baguette, truffle brioche, and sourdough – with wonderful butter from Brittany, France.

After we were done, we had our first appetiser – cannelloni of new caledonian obsiblue prawn & avocado ($58). It was a medley of flavours: the smoothness of the avocado melting in your mouth; the sweetness of the obsiblue prawn; the slight tinge of saltiness from the chorizo iberico; and the oscietra caviar, tiny bubbles of oceanic pleasure popping in your mouth. So delicate, so fresh, so light, so delicious.

“This is too beautiful to be eaten,” I said to my dining companion as the server brought the tomate ‘coeur de boeuf’ to our table. Drizzled with a sauce made of fresh almond and truffle, the appetiser tasted as good as it looked.

The use of almond provided texture to the burrata, which had a tofu-like consistency; it was smooth and crumbly at the same time. The intensity of the two different types of tomatoes, sun-dried and coeur de boeuf, also added wonderful layers to the dish.

To use the word ‘good’ for describing it, is an understatement.

Next, the 55′ rosemary smoked organic egg ($44) with garden peas, fairy rings, and bellota. Among all the dishes, it stood out with its dramatic entrance. The eggs – delicately poached at 64 degrees for 55 minutes, presented in its original shell on a typical egg tray – were accompanied with dry ice on the side, making it a feast for the eyes.

To sum it up; the perfect poached eggs. I want to have this for breakfast every morning.

This was followed by the escalope of landes foie gras ($53), which was paired with a slightly fruity Brut Rose champagne. It was a very well-balanced dish, with a myriad of different flavours and textures – the foie gras was cooked to a taut consistency; the crunchiness of the hazelnut; the acidic undertone from the rhubarb drop; the freshness of the strawberry topped with fresh coriander and ginger; and accompanied by the toasted brioche.

As the meal progressed, I found it hard to continue describing the food because every dish was exceptional. I wanted to drop everything (taking photos and jotting down notes) and just eat.

This probably explains why I can’t tell you much about the next dish – Chef Julien’s pigeon from bresse ($115) – except that the pigeon breast was so soft and tender that it’s a kind of texture (for a lack of a better word) that you would not usually associate with breast meat. The pigeon leg confit, without going too much into details, was excellent. We saveured the pigeon with a glass of Gevrey-chambertin (2009).

Before heading into desserts, the manager offered us a chef’s special cheese plate, and since I wanted to save room for sweets, I requested to have a portion for sharing. How I regretted it after taking the first bite!

The cheese was good, but it was the truffle ice cream that blew us away. Forget about truffle fries, all you want is truffle ice cream. My life will never be the same again.

To wrap up the meal, we had a fraicheur d’ete – a crème brûlée with lemon, basil, and thyme; and the choconuts 3.0 ($28). During my previous visit, I had the first version of the choconuts which consisted of jivara mousse, peanuts, with macadamia nut ice cream. Chef Julien has since came up with two improved version, and for the latest edition, you have the sable breton, tanariva chocolate, tonka bean ice cream, macadamia & pecan nuts, and walnut snow.

This was again, a good built-up of flavours and textures – the intensity of the different chocolates; the saltiness of the sable, and nuts; the effortless blend of tonka bean ice cream – made it a very interesting and delicious dessert.

And finally, petit four with a cup of coffee.

I am sure you have noticed that I’ve repeatedly used the words ‘texture’ and ‘flavour’ in this post. Yet, this is truly what the food at JAAN is about – making use of the freshest produce, respecting ingredients in it’s natural form and combining it with simple everyday spices, to create multi-dimensional dishes.

Sometimes when you eat at fine dining restaurants where they serve multi-courses, it gets a little draggy and often the waiting time in-between is too long. This is, however, not the case at JAAN. The four hour lunch that we had did not seem long. A good meal is about having fun, and I think they managed to accomplish that.

I think I’ve said enough. For a special occasion, you should definitely go to JAAN – it is a restaurant that you will not want to miss out trying.

For lunch, JAAN has a 3 course set menu at $55, but I’d suggest the 5 course degustation lunch, which is a steal at $88. And for dinner, the 5 course degustation menu is available at $198, while there is also a more elaborate 7 course degustation menu at $238.

JAAN Restaurant
2 Stamford Road
70F Swissotel The Stamford
Tel: +65 6431 5670
Mon to Sat: 12pm – 2.30pm, 7pm – 10pm
Note: This was an invited media tasting

It’s always nice to visit new restaurants run by young and talented chefs who are truly passionate about their food.

I first learned about Keystone Restaurant at Stanley Street a few months ago through my journalist friends. They told me about the excellent work Chef Mark Richards is doing at the restaurant, and it is one of the few places that use sous-vide cooking for most of the dishes on the menu.

I went there a while back, and ever since my visit, I’ve been recommending it to my friends. I’ll cut to the chase. If you like hearty meals with big portions, Keystone Restaurant is probably not suitable for you. But if you enjoy dining in a classy restaurant that serves refined and sophisticated food, this is the place to go.

Keystone has a small menu with just several items under each category. Prices range from $29-34 for appetisers, $40-125 for main courses, and $20-23 for desserts.

We started with the Georges bank sea scallop ($31) which came with confit of cherry tomato and Hummus puree. It was good, but not life-changing. This was followed by the delightful Les Landes foie gras ($34) – a combination of ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ goose liver. I particularly loved the yuzu concentrate which gave the dish a good balance.

I was eyeing the confit of duck ($30) under the appetisers menu, but I decided not to be greedy, so we proceeded with the main courses.

The highlight of the meal was the Snake River Farms pork belly ($58). It came highly recommended, and it was indeed very good. The sous-vide pork belly was perfectly cooked. Easily one of the best I’ve ever tasted. My only complain is that the chef could have given more of the delicious yukon chips.

Next up, the Chilean seabass confit ($46). While good, I liked the pork belly a lot more. We also tried the beautiful 58 degrees rangers tournedos ($61) which you see in the first photo of this post. It was well-executed; good but nothing to write home about.

Desserts at Keystone, were equally impressive. I almost wanted to order all five desserts on the menu, but my dining companion managed to convince me to stick with three. We had the nutella bar ($20), acquerello pudding ($21), and Valrhona genoise ($23). My favourite was the nutella Bar – it managed to hit all the sweet notes when it came to taste.

Then, we had the Valrhona genoise, which was nicely paired with a yuzu sorbet.

While I wasn’t a fan of the corn used in the acquerello pudding, the tarragon meringue caught me totally off guard. The foam literally vanished into thin air the moment it came into contact with my tongue. It was like magic.

A meal at Keystone Restaurant is not cheap (Palate card with its 50% discount will come in very handy here). But for the quality of the food, and the wonderful dining experience, I dare say it is worth saving up for that special occasion. The talented Chef Mark Richards and the restaurant definitely deserve your support.

Keystone Restaurant
11 Stanley Street
Tel: +65 6221 0046
Mon to Sat: 12pm – 3pm, 6pm – 10.30pm
(Closed on Sun)

Note: This was an invited media tasting, arranged by the good people at Palate. Visit their website to find out more about the membership where you can enjoy up to 50% discount.