Restaurant Andre
visited on 2.October 2015
I may say: this was the finest dining experience so far. This statement does not come blindly impressed by the exclusive feel, the sophisticated ambience, the visually artistic plating, and - true to all prejudiced expectations - high cost, but with fine dining I mean here the finesse in preparation, execution, and presentation that did not just feed me but stimulated me through many more senses.
It starts already with the care for the freshest ingredients. The daily best available ingredient is the birthplace of the menu, not the other way around. The chef goes early morning to the market and finds the best, freshest items and creates with that selection the menu of the day. The patron then doesn't choose from a variety of dishes but will be surprised with Andre's findings and creations of the day.
If you look at the pictures, you will immediately get a feeling of 'wow', of more than food, of a piece of art, a painting, a sculpture. Plating is so often ridiculed in fine dining as the famous tiny green pea sitting alone on the wide white plate, and every dish can be consumed with one spoon scoop. If you look again, it is not so. The plating is here more a composition of colour shades, texture variation, arrangements and sculptures. Experimenting myself as hobby cook, I have learnt utmost respect for the various techniques of how we can deliver tastes to the diner; infusion, fermentation, gelification, emulsification, dehydration; The lunch at Andre's displayed a firework of such methods. Nothing is squichy, chewy, or of any one texture alone per dish, but you have the melts, the crunch, the cream, the bite, the grind, the slurp and suck, the nibble and the pop beside, complimenting each other, be it cucumber-juice infused ice, dehydrated crispy mushrooms or bagel-cream.
The restaurant is situated in a slim old building in Bukit Pasoh. Three levels for only few diners gives you space and intimacy paired with a sense of being really taken care of as you will have a waiter for your own table who does not just attend to your needs and brings food, but explains the dishes to you in detail. On the way in and out, you get an insight into the kitchen and the kitchen-magicians, and I promise you, you will look different at them when you walk in and out. You come in and say 'Hi chefs" , and you go out and look at them like stars admiring what they have just done for you. Chef Andre himself also makes his rounds and chats with the diners. It was an honor to meet him and show him gratitude for his creations. So young and enthusiastic, he is now among the top chefs of Singapore, and it is totally deserved.
Now I let the pictures speak for themselves
I may say: this was the finest dining experience so far. This statement does not come blindly impressed by the exclusive feel, the sophisticated ambience, the visually artistic plating, and - true to all prejudiced expectations - high cost, but with fine dining I mean here the finesse in preparation, execution, and presentation that did not just feed me but stimulated me through many more senses.
It starts already with the care for the freshest ingredients. The daily best available ingredient is the birthplace of the menu, not the other way around. The chef goes early morning to the market and finds the best, freshest items and creates with that selection the menu of the day. The patron then doesn't choose from a variety of dishes but will be surprised with Andre's findings and creations of the day.
If you look at the pictures, you will immediately get a feeling of 'wow', of more than food, of a piece of art, a painting, a sculpture. Plating is so often ridiculed in fine dining as the famous tiny green pea sitting alone on the wide white plate, and every dish can be consumed with one spoon scoop. If you look again, it is not so. The plating is here more a composition of colour shades, texture variation, arrangements and sculptures. Experimenting myself as hobby cook, I have learnt utmost respect for the various techniques of how we can deliver tastes to the diner; infusion, fermentation, gelification, emulsification, dehydration; The lunch at Andre's displayed a firework of such methods. Nothing is squichy, chewy, or of any one texture alone per dish, but you have the melts, the crunch, the cream, the bite, the grind, the slurp and suck, the nibble and the pop beside, complimenting each other, be it cucumber-juice infused ice, dehydrated crispy mushrooms or bagel-cream.
The restaurant is situated in a slim old building in Bukit Pasoh. Three levels for only few diners gives you space and intimacy paired with a sense of being really taken care of as you will have a waiter for your own table who does not just attend to your needs and brings food, but explains the dishes to you in detail. On the way in and out, you get an insight into the kitchen and the kitchen-magicians, and I promise you, you will look different at them when you walk in and out. You come in and say 'Hi chefs" , and you go out and look at them like stars admiring what they have just done for you. Chef Andre himself also makes his rounds and chats with the diners. It was an honor to meet him and show him gratitude for his creations. So young and enthusiastic, he is now among the top chefs of Singapore, and it is totally deserved.
Now I let the pictures speak for themselves