What are some of Da Paolo’s festive items this year?

As well as our signature stuffed and deboned roast turkey, we also offer a chicken version and a classic honey-baked ham. The braised beef roulade is a new addition to the roast menu; beef brisket is rolled with truffled mushrooms and then braised in red wine. We also have three new log cake flavours including a gluten-and nut-free Flourless Chocolate Log Cake. Panettone, of course, is a must-have for an Italian Christmas, and Da Paolo’s are crafted by our artisanal bakers in Italy and flown in. This year’s new flavour is pistachio.

How does your family celebrate christmas?

The festive season is the busiest time of the year for my family, so we are all in Singapore most of the time. Growing up, I spent most Christmases at work. I started helping out and working at the restaurant at a young age. After all the work was done on Christmas Day, we would all gather late at night to share pandoro or panettone and prosecco.

What about outside of family and work?

My gym friends usually gather at my place after Christmas Day, and I’d make fresh pasta with a hearty meat sauce. I would also fire up the pizza oven with wood and bake a few pizzas. Our conversations usually centre on life outside the kitchen and we would often wonder where the time went since our last Christmas gathering. It always feels like only a few months ago.

How did pasta and pizza become Christmas go-tos?

I learned how to make pasta and pizza through my own experiences and initiatives. I enjoy working with quality ingredients and prefer to keep it simple without complicating things. Since I make pasta entirely by hand, there’s always that handcrafted relationship with the product. I particularly like making my own pasta shapes and densities. They can be over a metre long or as small as a pumpkin seed. Whatever the medium, the joy is in creating the perfect vessel. I am like a child with play dough; the possibilities are endless.

I also enjoy making pizzas. There’s something so pure about cooking with only wood, stone, fire, water, and wheat, as nature intended. My wood-fired oven at home fits a pair of 11-inch pizzas at once. My favourite pizza would be Margherita or any other variation of it.

Will you be popping bottles too?

Christmas is probably the only time of the year when I feel like I deserve a glass or two. It’s a nice way to wrap up the year’s work. I do not drink very often, but Tuscan red wines like Solaia, Tignanello, Sassicaia, Guado al Tasso are my preference.

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