Bacchus Wine Shop @ Isetan Westgate

Located at B2 Isetan Westgate, the latest mall at Jurong East.Was walking around at the liquor section of Isetan, and had just sampled some sake. Was contemplating whether to get any but can't decide because it felt kinda risky to get a big bottle then ended up not drinking it.

Suddenly, came across this area that looked like a bar. Hmm, went closer and discovered that they do serve wine, as well as sake. And the best thing is, one can buy the food from Isetan and have it together with the alcohol. Nice.

menu

come early, to get seats

Got myself a seafood chirashi bento from Mikoma @$12 (after 20% discount). And a $5 Taiheizan Tenkou (junmai daiginjo) sake. The seafood bento has one cooked prawn, one raw prawn, one hotate, one slice of smoked/cooked salmon, plenty of shredded crab meat and some ikuras. Has quite a bit of rice too, so ended up with a rather full tummy.

seafood chirashi, sake and some nuts (complimentary from the bar)

The Taiheizan Tenkou Junmai Daiginjoshu (太平山天巧 純米大吟醸酒) sake has 16.5% alcohol and a +2 in sake meter value and a 1.5 acidity.

Junmai Daiginjoshu ranks high in sake world as premium grade with no distilled alcohol added. Brewed using very precise and labour intensive methods.

Liked the taste as it was somewhat sweet. Very light, clear taste and has a peculiar fragrance to it. Easy to drink, but had to drink it slowly since it's pretty high in alcohol content!

Was quite fun to talk to others who were there to chill and drink. Met a wonderful couple, Peter and Dee. Peter had to work unfortunately, so Dee was my companion for the rest of the evening. So, if you're there, do say hi to Dee, an elegant looking lady whom people might mistake her for being a Japanese! Thanks Dee, my evening wasn't so lonely after all.

The patrons at the bar were quite friendly too. After sometime, it felt like everybody's is everybody else's friends.

friendly and hardworking staff, Edmund

Also tried the La Spinetta Moscato (@$10). That was quite yums too. Mellow, fruity, smooth and sweet.

No worries if you don't feel like having sushi with wine. Tierney's cart is just right next to the bar, if you'd like some cold cuts with cheese to go along with the wine. Think I'll probably grab some fried chicken and wakame the next time I'm there. Bar food with wine and sake.

One can also buy the alcohol from the liquor section and have it at Bacchus too. So, cheers!

Arossa Wine & Grill @ Scotts Square

Since May 2013, this restaurant at Level 2 of Scotts Square is now known as Arossa Wine & Grill. Arossa is helmed by Chef Chiaki Watanabe, and I was pretty intrigued on the flavours that Chef Chiaki would be showcasing here in Singapore.

enter, to taste the creations of Chef Chiaki Watanabe

Actually, had wanted to visit earlier, during Restaurant Week but had to cancel at the very last minute due to work commitments. Hence, am glad that opportunity came again, in the form of an invited tasting to try Arossa's Christmas Dinner Course Menu preview. Here's a link to the Christmas dinner course menu.

how about a bottle of Veuve Clicquot?

the beginning of Christmas feels~

Its interior retained the same rustic, classy decor with quiet and dimly lit ambiance. The restaurant has square as well as round tables for smaller groups, and private rooms for larger ones.

cosy

homemade bread served with tapenade, while awaiting for dinner to start

Bread was served warm, with crispy crust and soft whites.The tapenade (chopped olive, capers and anchovies) was interesting but I still like the old-fashioned olive oil and good balsamic.

Went to peep at the open-kitchen and spotted Chef Chiaki. "Service please" She'd called out after placing the items onto the service counter. Better make myself scarce before I get in their way!

Chef Chiaki busy at work in the kitchen

First on the menu, the course before appetiser, an amuse bouche of Turnip Potage Soup. Served in a dainty cup. Just the right start on a damp, and cold rainy evening.

dainty looking, creamy, smooth and warms up the tummy

Appetiser came in the form of Smoked Salmon and Vegetable Terrine with sour cream & orange, dill flavour.

Smoked Salmon and Vegetable Terrine

The smoked salmon has a slightly oily texture, with very light saltiness and natural tasting juicy vegetables. The purple cabbage was surprisingly sweet and crunchy. Overall, a natural fresh taste.

Second course was quite decadent. Sauteed Foie Gras with Caramelized Apple, Balsamic Sauce.

Sauteed foie gras with caramelized apple, drizzled with balsamic sauce

The foie gras was very good. Slight crisp on its outerside, and buttery on its insides. Adequately salted. A good size, and it made one wish for a glass of bubbly with it. Well, the good news is...the Christmas Dinner Menu does come with a glass of Veuve Clicquot!

If you're worried about not getting enough carbs, don't be! For the third course, was Home-made Herb Tagliatelle with Cream Bisque Sauce.

home-made herb tagliatelle with cream bisque sauce

tasty and enjoyable

Pasta was well-cooked and generously coated with sauce. Savoury, slightly tangy and has that mild seafood umami taste. Hearty flavours in manageable portion. Enjoyable dish.

For main course, one could choose either meat (beef) or fish. Pour moi, boeuf. Toujours de boeuf.

Australian roasted tenderloin with celeriac puree, Périgueux sauce

tenderloin, done medium

The tenderloin was good, easy to slice through and gentle to taste. Uncomplicated, simple taste. Deep fried lotus root was nicely crunchy and made a nice snack. 

Have a confession to make, though. The menu states celeriac puree, but when enquired with one of the staff, he mentioned yukon. Hmm, am not sure whether it was served with truffle yukon or celeriac puree that night, but the sure thing was, am in love with it! Sweet, smooth and creamy. Could eat it forever. Satisfying.

Lastly, dessert of Fondant Chocolate with Panettone Gelato, Mixed Berry Sauce.

fondant chocolate with panettone gelato, mixed berry sauce

fondant chocolate with molten heart

The Panettone gelato was rather sweet with candied fruits in it. A contrast to the dark and bitter fondant chocolate. If it ever gets too heavy, there's always the tangy mixed berry sauce to balance things out. 

Arossa's Christmas Dinner Course Menu, ends with either coffee or tea. Or, if you'd like another glass of Veuve-Clicquot champagne, it's $22++ per glass or $118++ per bottle (Mon - Sat, 6pm-9pm).

Thank you to Haswani, Publicist PR for the invite. And to Chef Chiaki and Ms Yuki Kawagishi, Arossa for hosting us. ありがとうございました！

Arossa Wine & Grill

Location: 
Scotts Square (next to Hyatt Hotel),
6 Scotts Road, #02-01, Singapore 228209
Tel: 6636 2951
Fax: 6636 2953

Opening Hours
Lunch 11:30 – 15:00 (last order 14:00)
Dinner 18:00 – 22:30 (last order 21:30)

Website: http://arossa.com.sg

ToTT (Tools of The Trade's) @ Dunearn Road, Bukit Timah

Had always passed by ToTT everytime I'm in bus #67 on my way to somewhere else. Hence, was pretty excited to be invited there for their launch of a new cookbook, "Best Brunch Ever" and also their brand new e-commerce site ToTTstore.com.

If taking cab, then tell the taxi uncle that it's Sime Darby building at Dunearn Road. Had a bit of time before the event starts, so went nosying around inside ToTT. They have cookware, cook's tools, bakeware, appliances, tableware, bar, food, homekeeping, cooking studios etc. There's even a Jason's Supermarket to do groceries shopping.

purple themed

looking for cook, bake or hosting stuffs?

items for catering, party hosting, everything

While it's possible to wander around for hours looking at the various items, the event was scheduled to start at 1130am, so off to the cooking studio!

invited chefs to demo recipes from "Best Brunch Ever" cookbook

for media friends

The cookbook showcases brunch ideas from 8 chefs, covering cuisines like American, Australian, Japanese, Vietnamese, Singaporean, Spanish, Italian and French. For that morning, we were treated to recipes by Chef Antonio Facchinette (Prego Restaurant, Fairmont Singapore), Chef Nicolas Joanny (Nicolas Le Restaurant), Chef Dan Segall (The Big Idea) and Chef Chi Quang Trinh (Addictions Café and Remedy Bar).

The demo session started with Chef Antonio, who did Spaghetti Piccanti, an aglio olio kind of dish with a twist.

ready when you are

two screens to show the happenings

adding breadcrumbs

The smell of food was so appetizing and the hungries got even hungrier. Can't wait to try our first brunch dish.

Chef Antonio's Spaghetti Piccanti

spaghetti with calamari, anchovies, some chilies, garlic, breadcrumbs and fennel

It's a dry aglio olio and you won't find oil pooling at the bottom of the plate. Am confident that this can be easily replicated at home.

Chef Nicolas Joanny was up next. He showed us how to make eggs 'a la coque'. This recipe required the top of the egg shell to be sliced off. Then separate the egg whites out and put the yolk back into the 'topless' shell. Ok, sounds like it requires a certain amount of skill.

Chef Nicolas and his assistant

eggs with top shell  and most whites removed, ready to be steamed for 2 minutes

frying the 'popiah' (brick pastry)

prawn encased in feuille de brick and deep fried till golden brown

Steamed egg with abit of cream and drizzled with sherry vinegar plus one prawn in pastry skin deep fried? Nice! First time having eggs with sherry vinegar, and it was rather nice too. Yummy.

Chef Nicolas - eggs 'a la coque'

runny yolk, perfect~

Chef Dan Segall, is how shall I put it? Loud? He's humorous, expressive and basically has a louder voice!

Chef Dan, extolling the virtues of Hotmix Pro

He's making us cornbread wedges with bacon jam. The Hotmix Pro made the process of making bacon jam, seemed rather easy.

ingredients going into the Hotmix Pro

just a tiny pinch to keep it subtle

personally plating the cornbread wedges with bacon jam for the guests

The cornbread colour was bright and chirpy (just the right tone for brunch!) and the bacon jam, we'd definitely like some more of that sweet savoury bacon jam please!

loved the bacon jam to bits!

Chef Chi Quang Trinh, shared with us the food that he misses the most when he's back in Australia, bánh cuốn or steamed rice rolls. Chef Chi was a rather soft-spoken person.

sauteeing the fillings for the rice rolls

very very important to use a non-stick frying pan

eat the steamed rice rolls with dipping sauce and lots of herbs

Was gravely mistaken about the steamed rice rolls. Thought it would be rather bland but it was actually healthy tasting and quite yummy at that! The fillings of minced pork, onions, black fungus were well seasoned and the dipping sauce made of fish sauce, water, sugar, chilies, garlic and lime all worked wonderfully. The super crunchy shallots was a good contrast to the soft chewy skin of the rice rolls.

Chef Chi - steamed rice rolls (bánh cuốn)

like eating chee cheong fun with savoury fillings but minus all the thick black sauce

It was a memorable brunch event! Thank you ToTT and our friendly and charming chefs.

Chef Nicolas, Chef Dan, Chef Chi and Cheft Antonio - thank you!

ToTT is having their Christmas sale now till 25 Dec 2013, so this might be a good time to check out the items that you were planning to get! As my friend puts it this way, "Am sure I always have things to buy from TOTT!"

Thank you Nicholas and team from Foodnews for the invite, and ToTT for hosting us. Best wishes!