GARDEN COCKTAIL
[dropcap size=small]T[/dropcap]here are no lack of quaint cafes or nice restaurants for peckish park-goers in the Singapore Botanic Gardens. But what of a bar with good cocktails? New restaurant and bar The Garage fills that gap. Housed in a two-storey heritage building, The Garage features two concepts: modern European restaurant Botanico on level two, and cafe-bar Bee’s Knees on the ground floor. The latter dishes out eggs, waffles and coffee in the day, but turns into a gin-focused bar at night where the botanical spirit is stirred and mixed into delicious cocktails.
“In 2017, old will become new again; you’ll see more European restaurants cooking primarily over fire and charcoal. Vegetables will also become the star ingredient this year, replacing meat and seafood as the main protein. Another ancient method making a comeback is pickling, and this technique will be used in both food and cocktails.”
– Beppe de Vito, chef-restaurateur, IlLido Group
COMFORT FOOD, FANCY TOUCH
It’s easy to take it too far with mod-Sin cuisine and come up with whacky reinterpretations of local fare that sound better than they taste. Thankfully, KITE along Craig Road avoids this trap. Instead, head chef Dannel Krishnan does a fine job applying what he learnt during his time at Saint Pierre and Bacchanalia to his favourite childhood dishes. Take bak kut teh, where chunky pork ribs are replaced with tender slices of mangalica pork collar. In place of the usual peppery broth is a creamy veloute made using you tiao (dough fritters) and spiced broth. Also good is the mentaiko somen tossed with an addictive lup cheong oil – extracted in-house from a variety of Taiwanese sausages to get the best result. #01-01, 53 Craig Road. Tel: 6221-5965.
