Spring is a time of renewal and fresh beginnings. Celebrating this spirit of rejuvenation are some of Singapore’s top fine-dining establishments, as they unveil new menus that mirror the essence of the season’s bounty.
Buona Terra
Buona Terra’s new Set and Experience menus are steeped in resident chef Denis Lucchi’s memories and executed with finesse. Expect the sweet and crisp flavours of impeccable spring ingredients such as Amalfi lemons, Jerusalem artichokes, salsify, and puntarella. Plump seafood is coupled with the season’s prime harvest in the Aragosta course — Lobster with Anchovies, Artichoke, and Lemon. Canadian lobster tail is enrobed in wagyu fat and char-grilled over binchotan, brought together by a flavoursome ‘Bagna Cauda’ anchovy sauce and crowned with sliced artichoke, preserved Amalfi lemon skin, crispy Jerusalem artichoke, and edible flowers.
The bbq turbot with herbs puree, lemon, garlic, and Mugania sauce showcases dry-aged turbot brushed with a savoury house-made barbeque sauce, then binchotan-grilled. Another highlight is the Veal Sweetbread with Coffee, Salsify, and Hazelnut, which harmonises components like creamy parsnip puree, crispy salsify, aromatic coffee powder, and Piedmont hazelnuts to create multi-layered flavours and textures that are luxurious and complex.
Buona Terra is at 29 Scotts Road, Singapore 228224.
Cure Singapore
One-Michelin-starred Cure by chef-owner Andrew Walsh specialises in Nua (new) Irish cuisine which offers an interplay of Irish and Singaporean flavours. Start with richly flavoured snacks like fluffy Soda, Stout & Treacle Bread served with bacon butter, Cure’s own version of Ireland’s popular potato chips – ‘Tayto Cheese & Onion Crisps’ – comprising crisp potato, cheese custard and chives, as well as foie gras brûlée torched with cinnamon sugar and red wine apple.
Starters shine the spotlight on fresh seafood. A large plump scallop with smoked eel and sabayon sauce made from eel bones is, brightened with finger limes and crowned with fried leek. Mains are given a unique twist – such as Irish corned beef short ribs paired with potato and cordyceps, celeriac puree, and a sauce infused with kampot pepper, as well as kinmedai with crispy skin, served with squid and zucchini noodles and laksa gravy.
Complete the meal with decadent desserts of strawberry tart topped with vanilla and strawberry cream, and Bailey’s ice cream accompanied by meringue shards and pear compote and lime gel. There are options of two- to seven-course menus from only $78 per person.
Cure Singapore is at 21 Keong Saik Road, Singapore 089128.
Jann by Kirk Westway
Chef Kirk Westway presents a collection of modern and refined dishes to celebrate the spring season, inspired by his personal connection to the Devon region in Southwest Britain. A master in vegetable creations, the chef meticulously transforms fresh ingredients into elegant offerings. For instance, globe artichoke is gently cooked in a vegetable broth, then filled with crab meat and tender confit of fennel bulb and served with an onion chip cracker. The sweetheart cabbage’s core is extracted, steeped in a low-salt broth, and steamed and grilled over Japanese charcoal. The mildly sweet vegetable is enhanced with garlic oil, lemon juice and zest, crowned with Kristal caviar.
For the fish course, ocean trout fillet is delicately poached in high-grade olive oil, and served with a sauce of lemon juice, capers and brown butter alongside mussels from New Zealand. A springtime favourite of green asparagus is glazed in seaweed butter, and complemented by a lightly roasted langoustine with accents of wild garlic and a sublime brown butter mayonnaise. Rounding off the savoury dishes is tender baby lamb roasted to perfection and partnered with onion stuffed with peas.
Presented tableside is an inventive pre-dessert. The unique Earl Grey palate cleanser comes in the form of earl grey tea sorbet brightened with citrus fruits like pomelo and pink grapefruit – and topped with flash frozen milk infused with bay leaf, and perfumed with verbena and geranium flowers. End the meal with a dessert of either Eton Mess, featuring layers of meringue, vanilla sponge paired with vanilla-infused English custard and fresh cream, yoghurt ice cream and fresh strawberries; or the Chocolate dessert which combines decadent dark chocolate mousse with caramel balls, hazelnuts crumbs, chocolate tuile and coffee jelly.
Jann by Kirk Westway is at Hotel Swissôtel The Stamford, 2 Stamford Rd, Level 70, Singapore 178882.
Jag
Comfortably nestled on the second floor of a beautifully restored 19th-century warehouse, JAG welcomes diners to mark spring’s new beginnings with its vegetable- and morels-focused menus. The Spring “Vegetarian” menu maximises the potential of greens: asparagus is matched with bright and lemony verbena and a mustard crumble, artichokes are paired with peppery marigold and verjus, sweet cabbage blossom is presented with lemon-forward notes of buddha hand and a vegetable jus, and the beauty of green peas is elevated with black garlic and wild garlic.
The Spring “Proteins” menu complements the bounty of vegetables with beautiful proteins, pairing sweet cabbage with a delicate Japanese black cod, vibrant green asparagus with succulent Alaskan king crab, and plump green peas with a rich and juicy Rhug Estate lamb. These limited time menus are available until the end of June.
Jag is at #02-02, 41 Robertson Quay, Singapore Tyler Print Institute, Singapore 238236.
Nae:um
Nae:um’s latest menu (Episode 7 Jeju Blossoms) comprises a six-course Classic and an eight-course Signature tasting menu that draw from chef Louis Han’s personal memories and Korean roots. Snack on the restaurant’s version of bingtteok, comprising a delicate squid ink crepe filled with daikon “namul” and braised octopus, before indulging in “Jeju surf & turf”, Iberico pork loin brushed with a house-fermented fish sauce and grilled to succulent perfection.
Other highlights of the new menu include oi naengguk, which pays homage to Jeju’s oceanic treasures with a sea bass carpaccio atop a salad base of Tosaka nori, cured cucumber, and julienned white onions in a savoury garlic and sesame oil dressing; as well as perennial signatures like the “duckgalbi”, minced duck with a rice cake centre on makgeolli bread toast. Aside from seafood and meat, the menu also presents a host of fruit and vegetable harvests, with sweet and tangy tangerines and carrots, both sought-after produces grown on the island, inspiring the dessert.
Nae:um is at 161 Telok Ayer Street, Singapore 068615.
A version of this article first appeared in epicure.
