At People Table Tales, local ingredients are elevated to new heights

Reinventing local flavours

The main dining area in People Table Tales.

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In their research for this project, Eric and his team discovered a wealth of local ingredients in Singapore as well as farmers who use innovative techniques to grow fresh ginseng, Jerusalem artichokes, and Savoy cabbages among other vegetables. “There are community gardens growing native herbs, a crocodile farm with 20,000 crocodiles, and even fish and seafood farms, including those raising and harvesting premium organic crawfish. Besides cultivators, local craftsmen are making gins, beers, and whiskeys among others, too,” he enthuses.

Lee also brews People Table Tales’ drinks, from cheongju to makgeolli (in single and multi-stage fermentations). Cheongju is made by fermenting rice in a similar manner as makgeolli, but instead of using the bottom layers of fermented liquor, it uses only the clear top layer of the rice wine.

“I took a makgeolli brewing course and enjoyed it tremendously. I moved on to advanced techniques and later had a consultant from Seoul working with our team to craft our brews,” says Lee, who is in the process of scaling the establishment’s makgeolli and cheongju production and plans to set up a brewery in 2023. “It will focus on Asian brews, beginning with makgeolli, cheongju, and soju before moving on to sake, huangjiu and baijiu. Meanwhile, we are working with a local brewery to bottle a People Table Tales beer to accompany our signature dish of whole-roasted Crocodile Rib Rendang.”

The team, which includes head chef Vincent Khoo and development chef Liaw Wei Loon, is also working on different fermentations, including lacto tomatoes, lacto pumpkin, sourdough and mango. As firm believers in sustainability and reducing food waste, they turn the lees from the brews into ice cream, crémeux, crackers, and more. They even blacken fruits and vegetables such as garlic and pineapple to be served with the silkie chicken and coffee shoyu dish.

Related: This Singapore chef serves contemporary Malay cuisine at Arang

The dinner experience

The Crocodile Rib Rendang is served with spiced coconut jus, achar, coconut serunding and roti. (Photo: People Table Tales)

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The dinner begins with snacks like crispy crocodile fin crackling paired with green sambal cincalok, coconut sambol with lacto pumpkin or lacto tomato, and sourdough-so butter fused with toasted koji. Most of the courses are served in a communal style.

Among the many unique dishes are the mushroom pho with lacto tomato and kaffir lime broth, as well as pearl oyster and lion’s mane mushrooms, and People Table Tales’ version of nasi ulam. It consists of toasted coconut and puffed rice with kaffir lime emulsion and local garden herbs from Corridor Farmers. Finely chopped ginger flower and lemongrass and candied chilli are added to perk up the rice. The highlight, of course, is the succulent and boldly flavoured Communal Croc, crocodile rib rendang served in a cast iron pot.

Apart from its constantly evolving menu, the People Table Tales team works with different collaborators and artisans who cultivate and develop the finest produce, tableware and other crafts.

Price: $198 per person; no minimum number required for reservations

Location: Tiong Bahru

Reservations: peopletabletales.com

Related: Part Thai by Chef Rishi Arora is an ode to his mixed Indian-Thai heritage