BTO: Simpler menu, fresher produce

Business Times - 06 Apr 2009

Simpler menu, fresher produce

NEW CHEF

One-Ninety
Main lobby level
Four Seasons Hotel Singapore
190 Orchard Boulevard.
Tel: 6831 7250

 

A CHEF'S nationality and work experiences are always big influences on his cooking. But what would a combination of European and South American bloodlines plus a career spent in Asia and the West Indies produce on a plate?

 

Well, for starters, it could be a fresh crab bisque laced with spicy home-made XO sauce. Or a ciabatta beef sandwich spread with a thick chimichurri salsa. These are just some of the unique dishes that the Four Seasons' new executive chef, Bruno Correa, has introduced into One-Ninety's completely revamped lunch menu, which takes off this week (a new dinner menu will be out in about a month's time).

 

The chef, who moved here from the Four Seasons Nevis in the Caribbean three months ago, is of Swiss and Colombian descent. He spent his formative years in Switzerland, Colombia and Italy, and - apart from his stint at Nevis - has worked in Switzerland and Hong Kong (where he met and married a local).

 

Correa says he intends to simplify what was a somewhat rich menu before, and focus on fresh produce - organic where possible - as well as uncomplicated recipes involving a lot of grilling on the restaurant's applewood oven. So there are lots of quality ingredients on the new menu that include the likes of San Marzano tomatoes and specially imported sourdough bread from Paris's iconic Poilane bakery.

 

Ironically, the more straightforward recipes such as an Alaskan king crab salad tossed with mango and avocado in a cocktail sauce ($24) and a seared salmon open-faced sandwich ($25) were just okay and not very exciting. Instead, where Correa seems to shine is with the more unusual dishes such as the aforementioned crab bisque ($13), which he cooks for between six and eight hours and finishes with XO sauce made in-house by the hotel's Cantonese restaurant Jiang-Nan Chun. It wasn't very thick but was rich and savoury, with a fiery kick from the chilli-loaded sauce.

 

The beef on lightly toasted ciabatta ($25) was good too, the meat succulent and smoky from being grilled on applewood. It went well with the slightly earthy chimichurri, a dressing made from minced vegetables popularly used with grilled meat in South America.

 

If we had to pick just one dish that we would go back for though, it would be the Milanese-style kurobuta pork chop ($42). Served with sweet-tangy San Marzano tomatoes and a shallot salad, the chop had a light, crisp and tasty golden-brown coating of breadcrumbs and parmesan, which gave way to thick, super juicy meat that was finely marbled throughout. It was porky perfection.

 

In addition to the a la carte items, there are appetiser and dessert buffets that you can choose to have with your main course or on their own. The latter has a good selection of sweets, but it's a pity that some of them - such as the apple tarte tartin and the Spanish churros - aren't done a la minute, so they're rather soggy and chewy by the time they're on your plate.

 

Rating: 6.5/10
By Audrey Phoon