The winds of change have arrived at Dempsey, and they are stirring up a storm.
Air is the new kid on the Dempsey Hill block, and it is anything but ordinary. An acronym for Awareness, Impact and Responsibility, Air is the ambitious project spearheaded by celebrity chefs Will Goldfarb of Room4Dessert in Bali, Matthew Orlando, of now-closed Amass in Copenhagen, and entrepreneur Ronald Akili of Potato Head fame. The aim is to “inspire thought about food”.
It sits in a “circular campus” measuring 3716 square metres that includes a barracks complex which was formerly a clubhouse for civil servants, a gorgeous lawn, and an edible plant garden farm. Urban farming social enterprise City Sprouts produces the fruits, herbs, and vegetables that will be used by the restaurant.
The space is designed by David Gianotten and Shinji Takagi from international design studio OMA. On the second floor is a pastry kitchen, a research space where Orlando conducts fermentation experiments, and a cooking club. To begin with, it will feature food-related talks by farmers and producers. Classes and programmes for anyone, including industry professionals, will come later.
As for the food, Orlando sets the direction, while Goldfarb, who splits his time between Bali and Singapore, manages operations and garden and educational initiatives.
Under the leadership of Orlando, the restaurant is casual and laid-back, but never flippant, with a 45-seater ground floor restaurant overlooking the lawn and a 45-seater dining room above. During operating hours, diners can stroll through the adjoining research space to see and talk to chefs about their creations.
All ingredients on Air’s menu are sourced sustainably in Southeast Asia. It begins with Snacks like Jackfruit and Local Bean “Hummus” served with young cabbage leaves and burnt lemon dukkah ($18) and Crispy Oyster Mushrooms with Sarawak pepper emulsion and pickled chillies ($28). Light Bites include White Fish Ceviche with young starfruit and canary nut milk ($24) and Grilled Squid Salad with shaved vegetables and charred coconut ($26).
The Mains are hearty. The Whole Coral Grouper For Two ($52) isn’t what you’d expect a whole coral grouper might look like. It consists of fish head rillette and empeng crisps. The fillet is confited and drizzled with green onion and black garlic vinaigrette and served alongside a bowl of noodles made from fish bones tossed with mushroom butter.
Also notable is the Roselle Glazed Duck Breast ($44), grilled over charcoal, lacquered with a sticky roselle glaze, and served with cashew cream and smoked chilli oil. The leftover cashew pulp is turned into cashew ricotta, paired with green mangoes and shiso in the Light Bites menu.
Sides include Steamed Heirloom Red Rice ($14) with red rice koji vinegar, and Roasted Local Greens ($16) served with red dates and crispy shallots.
Under Sweets, The Whole Papaya ($16) has pieces of fresh fruit drenched in papaya seed cream made by fermenting and grinding papaya seeds into a fine, mildly peppery powder that’s infused into whipped cream. As well as being fermented, the papaya skins are blended into syrup, frozen, and crushed into frozen papaya skin granita.
The Reincarnated “Chocolate” ($16) is a dish Orlando describes as “a textbook example of what we do at Air”. To make the “chocolate”, he uses three by-products: cocoa husks (from the processing of cocoa beans), cascara (from making coffee), and coconut flesh (from the commercial use of coconuts). They are roasted and ground with cocoa butter and sugar to produce luscious chocolate bars. The chef explains that this is the traditional method of making chocolate, just without cocoa beans, which are in short supply worldwide.
Air is at 25B Dempsey Road. Bookings online are open for Jan 31 onwards at www.instagram.com/air_cccc.
