Aurum, Singapore - Cutting Edge Gastronomy

Molecular Gastronomy. It doesn't exist. At least according to Edward Voon, Executive Chef, of Aurum when asked what it was. I had been intrigued by this term (not to mention the food), and made reservations to find out whether my visions of a foam-filled dishes with no real substance were accurate. Although this might be the biggest scam in recent history, I HAD to sample this new form of cooking. Chef Voon prefers to call his creations "New Age". Regardless of label, I was absolutely thrilled that someone felt Singapore was ready for a restaurant like this and was gutsy enough to take a bet on us.

Located on the second floor of The Cannery at Clarke Quay, the restaurant is not the easiest to find. Amidst a slew of bars and restaurants, Aurum's entrance appears more like a waiting area for a plastic surgeon's office than a portal into a new dimension of dining. Once the wall of refrigerator doors (more like morgue doors) swing open, you quickly realise that you are in for an extremely unconventional experience.

Not for the superstitious, the whole atmosphere simulates a hospital setting with the chefs working at the operating theatre while diners are seated at metal dining tables on wheelchairs. Wheelchairs! I must admit that my fears of premature descrepitude did initially make the seating arrangement feel a little awkward, but the enchanting degustation menu soon took centre stage. Amusingly, the dominant color in the restaurant was gold (Aurum is Spanish for gold) which was accentuated by a large disco ball and gold polka dots achieving a funky Grey's Anatomy meets La Cage Au Folles feel.

We were fortunate enough to have the very personable Chef (who was also easy on the eyes) talk us through each dish. He described the various preparations and the best way to consume it - usually all in one mouthful. The menu and the food is hard to describe. Chef Voon's foie gras, ham, spanish omelette and soba were my favourites and all the dishes were amazing in flavour and entertainment value. Aurum only serves a 13-course degustation menu which changes every three weeks. Last night we sampled his sixth menu since they started.

Penang-born Voon made his name at the Oriental's Dolce Vita restaurant where he created an exciting, completely revamped menu consisting of mediteranean cusine with an Asian influence. Voon was also voted Best New Chef at the 2004 Food and Hotel Asia Competition out of 90 other chefs from the region. Paco Ronchero, a disciple of El Bulli's Ferran Adria, is a consultant for Aurum and Voon intends to spend three months this summer honing his skills at Ronchero's restaurant in Spain.

The night was a veritable feast of tastes, textures and temperatures (liquid nitrogen playing a key role). Go without any preconceived notions or expectations (I have purposely left out photographs) and you will be pleasantly surprised. Aurum will be undergoing a renovation pretty soon so I would urge the more adventurous to visit before the decor becomes more mainstream.

Voon also oversees the menu at Barfly, a great after-dinner place, just around the corner.

Aurum, The Cannery, Clarke Quay, +65 6887 3733

Jean Georges For My Birthday - A Real Treat!

It's not very often that one can find a good reason to spend good money on haute cuisine (French, no less), but my mom decided buy me a birthday dinner this week. She requested for French, and I couldn't think of a better place for that than Jean Georges (on the 4th floor of Three On The Bund), the Shanghai offshoot of the famed Parisian namesake restaurant by the esteemed Jean Georges Vongerichten.

Coincidentally, we had a birthday dinner celebration at the same restaurant several years ago for Debra and myself. I still remember the wonderfully rich chocolate birthday cake we shared that night. And those dreaded work calls that kept interrupting our dinner. I decided I'll have none of that this time with my folks, so the phone stayed off throughout the evening (I wised up as I get older, one of the few benefits of aging).

For those in the know, Jean Georges is a mecca for some of the finest modern French cuisine available anywhere, and to have a location in Shanghai says a lot about the burgeoning fine dining scene over in China. If my memory serves me well, I remember JG's dishes typically leaned towards the slightly heavier, more traditional French style, but this time around it was much lighter, with more local ingredients thrown into the mix and a more delicate balance of modern flavor. Could have been the Sens & Bund influence down the street. That's yet another fantastic nouveau French eatery opened by the twins Jacques and Laurent Pourcel, the youngest chefs to be awarded three Michelin stars for their Montpellier restaurant, Le Jardin des Sens in. Touche, JG.

Anyway, I loved the food. I don't, however, feel like dissecting and analyzing this meal into its various components because what counts most during a JG meal is the experience in itself - from the excellent service by the local staff to the minute attention at every course to the deftly executed food presentations and finally, the taste that seals the deal. But I must mention the dessert sampler, which came in two variations - chocolate and passionfruit. The chocolate sampler presented itself with four variations of chocolate desserts, which included a mousse, ice cream and cake. The passionfruit sampler was the citrus equivalent with four desserts utilizing passionfruit as the main seasonal ingredient. Needless to say, we had eight desserts to sample between the three of us. That's what I call a real treat!

T8 For Easter Brunch

So I find myself in Shanghai again this April. It seems this is my annual Spring Break, the time of the season when I get to sample the wonderful cuisine of Shanghai and partake in some bar hopping along the Bund. I had casually mentioned to my folks that I would be in Shanghai for work, next thing I knew, they had booked flights over to spend the weekend with me. Good thing my work was off to a slow start, so I had plenty of time show them a few of my favorite restaurants in town (and have them pay for the meals).

I made reservations at T8 for our Easter Sunday brunch, for a "Mezza Mayhem" degustation set consisting of 8 dishes including desserts, cocktail and unlimited coffee and tea. T8, being my favorite restaurant in Shanghai, always manages to titillate me with their innovative fusion of Aussie recipes with eastern ingredients to create dishes that are very original and sumptuous, and pleasing on the eye all at the same time. Incidentally, they're also the only restaurant in China that made it to the Top 50 Restaurants In The World list 2004 by Conde Nast.

I love the way T8 dishes are presented, usually in a simple, yet very beautiful and elegant manner, melding color, form and a lot of anticipation into the mix. Of course it helps that there's usually a spotlight at each table setting, which makes for a great opportunity to snap some great food photos. For the brunch, we were seated on the upper level of the restaurant in a beautifully renovated pre-war conservation house called a "shikumen", decorated with Asian art pieces amid a western dining room influence. The ceiling beams were exposed, giving way to a lofty, airy ambience while sunlight drifted into the room through the big windows that were opened on one end of the room. This was spring, and you could almost smell it in the cool breeze wafting in.

We made our selection of 8 dishes from the list of appetizers, entrees and desserts - all of the items looked yummy, and it wasn't easy just picking 8. So we decided to select one of each and dine family style. The most memorable appetizer had to be the pan fried foie gras, for it's melt-in-your-mouth texture and full flavor complimented by the black peppered pineapple salsa. I guess raisins would have worked fine, but I liked the use of local fruits in the dishes. Another dish that left a good impression was the fin de claire oyster with beetroot bubbles and wasabi panna cotta. The beetroot was actually finely diced, which lent a slightly crunchy texture while the wasabi panna cotta wrapped the oyster in its smooth embrace as it slid down my throat all too quickly. Yum! Yup, T8 never ceases to surprise me.

They should also be introducing their Spring menu this week, so I'm planning to head back for another meal this weekend before I skip town.

No. 8 Xintiandi North Part, Lane 181 Tai Cang Road