Julian Teoh

Hi Rona, I guess if it were not for the Miele Guide, I may not have heard of Antonio's or Aubergine, so I guess some value has been added there! Aprilmei, you make a very good point about the multiplicity of great restaurants in a single country like Japan or the concentrations of the Filipino vote. And that's the major problem with the popular voting / Zagat model. There is no code of honour - no one is accountable, very few voters are known to anyone else and God knows if they have actually eaten at the restaurant or not. And I do apologise if this sounds appallingly snobbish, but I refuse to concede that the views of the teenage girl down the road who happens to have Internet access are worth as much as experienced eaters like you, Rona or me. For me, that is the single greatest advantage of the SP Best 50 system over the Miele system. Whatever one says about Michelin's ultimate judgment, at least on their format, there is no competing for a finite number of spots on a list and the restaurant gets whatever acclamation it is perceived to deserve.

Another edition of the Miele Guide, intended to be Asia's "up yours" to San Pellegrino's World's 50 Best Restaurants, has been published. I am pleased to set out this year's Top 20 below (actually, I had no idea where to put this but am following last year's practice, as China/HK contributed most of the list): 1. L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon (HK) 2. Iggy's (Singapore) 3. Robuchon a Galera (Macau) 4. Jaan par André (Singapore) 5. Les Amis (Singapore) 6. Mozaic (Indonesia) 7. Gunther's (Singapore) 8. Laris (China) 9. Ku De Ta (Indonesia) 10. Yung Kee (HK) 11. Bukhara (India) 12. Beijing Da Dong Roast Duck Restaurant (China) 13. Zanotti (Thailand) 14. M on the Bund (China) 15. Nobu (HK) 16. Caprice (HK) 17. Antonio's (Philippines) 18. Aubergine (Philippines) 19. Fook Lam Moon (HK) 20. L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon (Japan) I don't know what to say about this list that hasn't been said before. But it is nice to see that the best Japanese cuisine restaurant in all of Asia is an American chain outlet in Hong Kong, and that the best restaurant in all of Asia is an informal French counter diner. The Japanese also apparently love this style of dining, seeing that the highest ranked restaurant in Japan is the Tokyo L'Atelier. So félicitations a M. Robuchon! It is also interesting to contrast this against the Michelin Guide's results for HK and Macau; for example, that the restaurant Michelin deemed fit to be its first Chinese cuisine three-starrer is nowhere to be seen on the Top 20, or that L'Atelier HK had beaten out its plusher three-starred cousin in Macau. And I guess it is also now official that roast fowl are China's greatest culinary contribution to the world, given Yung Kee's and Da Dong's rankings as the best Chinese cuisine restaurants in Asia. For me, the only saving grace is that André Chiang at Jaan (no. 4) is getting the plaudits he deserves. It is without a doubt one of the best restaurants in Singapore at the moment, if not the best, though again, the preponderance of Singaporean restaurants 3 out of the Top 5 and 4 out of the Top 10) probably reflects the fact that the Miele Guide is a Singaporean project and, despite their best efforts, is best known and followed by Singaporean voters. Any thoughts?

Commentator, from my personal experience, Les Ambassadeurs had approximately 40 seats; Les Elysees sat around that number; no tables turned. A quick google search indicates that Le Meurice seats 40 and Le Bristol 50. When I was last at Taillevent, a guesstimate would have been 90 + on the ground floor, not counting the action in the private rooms above. And yes, there were tables turning as well. It is not just a matter of counting covers, it is also a matter of how well the staff, both kitchen and front-of-house, cope with a larger crowd. On my last visit, they were having an awful time of it. Overcooked meat, sauce drying and hardening on the plate, delivering by-the-glass wines after I had finished the course, etc. In many cases, the stress on the kitchen due to the number of covers does reflect on the quality of the food, and it certainly did during my visit. Carlsbad, I must agree with you that in principle, the Lamennais Room is more comforting than the Trianon Room. Indeed, I had actually requested the Lamennais Room based on my prior visit. However, the seating configuration in the Lamennais Room appears to allow them to cram more people in when the need arises, whereas at Trianon, you actually have a full-sized round table to yourself and your party. On my last visit, in the Lamennais, I couldn't bear the din from drunken tables and large family groups so I had to ask to move outside. I actually do enjoy Taillevent's style of food, but as in all things, execution is all-important. My problem is not the style but the execution on the night which was pretty poor. On my first visit (the restaurant was quite empty), I left thoroughly impressed by the food and the experience; on the second, completely underwhelmed.

Scarlet Knight, When you go to Taillevent, please email or call them before your dinner and ask that they put you in the Trianon Room and not the Lamennais Room, which is where you will be knocking elbows with your neighbours. Here, you will have some semblance of privacy and space. The population density in the Lamennais Room is very bad. I don't think anyone says Taillevent will be bad because it has been demoted; I say it is bad because apart from the food (which on my last visit would have been lucky to earn one star), it does way too many covers now than is possible to maintain quality. As a result, the service can be stretched, hurried and unable to cope with customer requests and complaints. Of course, the kitchen is put under similar pressure. I would also second lesliec's recommendation of Brasserie Gallopin. I recall a very decent fish soup and steak tartare, as well as a workable wine selection.

Phil, Not sure how far you are willing to travel, but I can recommend the Tim's BBQ outlets - one in Chatswood and one in Eastwood. They are very authentic and quite good value-for-money, unless you are buying around Chinese New Year time. I have never found BBQ King to be any good, and it has not represented any kind of value for a long time. I recall going there in 2005 and they charged me $12 for a takeaway lunch box of roast duck and rice for one. In my view, the spicing / marinade is lacking and it soon gets very boring to eat.

Hi Pan, Well, Singapore claims to have invented Hainanese chicken rice as well. The dish was invented by Hainanese immigrants to either Malaysia or Singapore. However, the Hainanese maintained a distinct community in these countries post-immigration, hence the dish took their name. In a similar way, Hokkien fried noodles are named after the dialect group of the people who it, even though the two distinct dishes that now bear the name were invented in Malaysia (fat yellow noodles with dark soya sauce) and Singapore (yellow noodles cooked in a light seafood gravy). As far as I know, Islamic law does not allow the consumption of mud crab because it lives in "two worlds" i.e. it is amphibious. Certainly, I have met many Malay Muslims who do not eat mud crabs for this reason. Crab recipes in Malay cookery utilise flower crabs / blue swimmers; by consensus, these do not have the culinary merit of the muddies.

Rona, Pretty much every decent Cantonese restaurant in Sydney and Melbourne will serve Peking duck skin-only as the first course (I make no comment on whether it is traditional or not...). The chefs and restaurateurs there are often from Hong Kong, so it wouldn't surprise me to learn that that was the source of their inspiration. I've come across many places in Malaysia that do this as well.

Malaysia says its local dishes 'hijacked': report (AFP) – 19 hours ago KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia will lay claim to its signature dishes like laksa and chicken rice which are being "hijacked" by other countries, the tourism minister said according to a report Thursday. Those on the list include the fragrant coconut milk rice 'nasi lemak', spicy soup noodle 'laksa' and pork ribs herbal soup 'bak kut teh', Tourism Minister Ng Yen Yen said according to the Star newspaper. "We cannot continue to let other countries hijack our food. Chili crab is Malaysian. Hainanese chicken rice is Malaysian. We have to lay claim to our food," she was quoted as saying. "In the next three months, we will identify certain key dishes (to declare as Malaysian). We have identified laksa... all types of laksa, nasi lemak and bak kut teh," she added. I was born and raised in Malaysia for the most part, and I don't recall ever being told that chilli crab or Hainanese chicken rice were of uniquely Malaysian origin. As far as I can recall, nasi lemak has always been proclaimed as our main national dish, but we were not so bothered with claiming originators' rights for other dishes. This may have been due to the fact that the mud crabs used in the original chilli crab recipe are not halal and therefore (in theory) could not be consumed by the majority of the population who are Muslim. Chicken rice may have suffered the same stigma due to its Chinese origin. Singapore, on the other hand, has put forth its official version of who invented the chilli crab. The official Singapore Story (the chilli crab one, that is) is that Madam Cher Yam Tian invented the dish in 1956 at her seafront hawker stall where the East Coast Seafood Centre now stands. While I do not doubt the veracity of this account, I can put this down to a couple of factors: 1. The Singapore Tourism Board have latched on to food as one of Singapore's main tourist drawcards and have plugged chilli crabs and chicken rice like crazy. So it makes sense to expend resources to discover the "creation myths" or stories behind your signature dishes. Certainly, Malaysia's authorities have not been anywhere near as efficient or effective. And I suspect Malaysia will find that "being first" is not all that matters, but safeguarding your rights and making your voice heard. 2. Singapore's national pastime is eating and there is no better way to create a sense of national unity than to proclaim the primacy of Singaporean contributions to world gastronomy. I don't think there is or should be a debate on bak kut teh ("BKT") because the Malaysian and Singaporean versions are completely different – the only thing they have in common are that they are both "pork bone teas" stewed with herbs and spices. The Singaporean version is the Teochew version, which is a light and very peppery broth, whereas in Malaysia, when we think BKT we think of Klang BKT, which is a much darker, sweeter and richer broth. Even the meat cuts that we use in Klang BKT are different – I recall distinctly fatter and more cartiligenous cuts, as well as intestines and fried taufu pok. I have never encountered the Teochew/Singaporean version in Malaysia. That said, this is an interesting development because Malaysia has always been content to rest on its own laurels, smug in the knowledge that any sensible person (including Singaporeans) accepts that Malaysia has vastly superior quality local / hawker food. I am not disputing that Singapore has great hawkers, but Singaporean hawker food has the potential to be truly dire, whereas in Malaysia, it is (still) difficult to have a genuinely bad hawker meal. But under the revitalised "1Malaysia" regime of Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, it seems that Malaysia is willing to up the ante in this sensitive area of diplomatic relations; certainly, it will be interesting to gauge Singapore's reaction because I do not recall there ever having been a push from this high up in Malaysia for recognition of these foods as being of Malaysian origin. Personally, I think that Singapore has pushed the art of great Hainanese chicken rice and chilli crabs to a new level. But "doing it better" is a totally different matter from "doing it first", as Tim Henman and Andy Murray are undoubtedly aware of.

Jkim Per my earlier email, I haven't eaten at Circa under the new regime, so could not give an honest account of how it is now. I mean, I guess I could recommend a place I haven't eaten at, but that wouldn't be worth much. Nothing wrong with Matt Wilkinson. Although I can't actually say that hand across my heart, seeing as I haven't eaten at Circa under the new regime, so could not give an honest account, etc.

LPShanet, I love Tempura Hajime in South Melbourne. No menu options, only a fixed tempura set which the sensei will fry before your eyes. I think it only seats around 14 people a night. Great ingredients and remarkable value at around $72 per head. I also loved Circa, but the staff have been cleared out since I last ate there. Their chef Andrew McConnell is now at Cutler & Co so it is probably worth checking out as PCL recommended. Their excellent pastry chef Philippa Sibley is now with Bistro Guillaume at Crown. Would you be willing to leave Melbourne and check out rural Victoria? I can highly recommend The Lake House at Daylesford and The Royal Mail Hotel at Dunkeld, by the Grampians National Park. Both are quite far out but offer very decent accommodation, so you can park the car and enjoy their great wine offerings without worry. They're also in interesting areas with plenty else to do for visitors.

Coast and Assiette are very good. If you like Italian, do also consider Buon Ricordo in Paddington and Pilu at Freshwater for a more Sardinian flavour. Lucio's is also worth a look, great neighbourhood vibe amongst terraces and leafy streets

Hi Fergal, There used to be, but they are all cooking at home now after being inspired by Masterchef. I have never been to Est, so I can't offer any constructive input re dinner. But my friends who are still in Sydney swear by it. Merivale had a good Japanese place (sushi e) in their establishment premises in the old days - not sure if it is still there. On the three-hat side, Rockpool is my favourite Sydney restaurant, except that it only has two hats. Marque in Surry Hills is also very good. I find Tetsuya's and Guillaume overrated and overpriced.

This is not a post about my soufflés collapsing, so don't worry. When going out to restaurants, I love having a soufflé for dessert. Sinking the spoon into the browned flat top, pouring in a little crème anglaise or a small dollop of ice-cream. A wonderful taste of heaven and the perfect finish to a meal. But in recent years, I have not been able to do this. Why? Soufflés across this part of the world seem to have shrunk. You couldn't fit ice-cream into these soufflés any more than you could pass an elephant through the eye of a needle. And all this before anyone even knew the meaning of "sub-prime." I was in Bangkok recently and thought that if anywhere nearby had escaped the "Liliput-isation" of soufflés, it had to be Bangkok, the home of good, cheap, generous servings. So I ordered a gianduja soufflé at the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit's excellent Puccini restaurant. In the dim candlelight, I spied our lovely waitress bringing over a large iron dome with the soufflé peeking mischievously over the edge. I thought "This is it, a return to the good old days." No such luck. All we got was the (now) standard issue puny soufflé, hiding inside its iron cage like a timid hermit crab. They don’t make soufflés like these anymore: Soufflé at Les Amis, Singapore, c. 2006 Has anyone else noticed this phenomenon or is it just me? And have there been other amazing shrinking / disappearing acts taking place at a restaurant near you?

I reckon a female chef would be less likely to use a towering phallus as her inspiration when it comes to plating.

Hi Eternal, Looking forward to more great reports! Just a note on your first post, it's interesting that you use "burrito" as your descriptor for the cheung faan which is more like a soft, steamed, rolled rice flour noodle with a slightly sweet soy sauce. The emphasis tends to be more on the noodle than the filling, which is intended to provide some flavour and textural contrast. The versions we encounter here in Singapore and Malaysia more often use fresh prawns rather than the dried ones in your photo.

I thought she may just have been playing it safe, as the people who drink Diet are more likely to kick up a huge fuss afterwards if they were served real Coke rather than vice versa? Maybe it's just her normal practice and wasn't targeted at you? FoodTutor, not sure if it is a cultural thing, but most of the people I see drinking Diet in this neck of the woods are actually skinny people trying to avoid surplus calories.

PhilD, I was about to post the following earlier and decided against it, but oh well, what the heck - it is a variation on your theme. I agree with your proposal 100%. Ths would mean that semi-legendary places like Tetsuya's could not merely rest on their laurels of being one out of only two Australian restaurants on that list. Friends of mine who were ardent admirers of Tetsuya's in years gone by say there has a noticeable decline in quality, and I will have to agree with them based on my personal experience. I don't think I am going too far when I say that it is seriously questionable, from a purely objective standpoint, whether Tetsuya's is even the best restaurant in Australia any more.

Hi Kristin, No tipping, especially at hawker stands! Even if you were to go to a casual restaurant / coffee shop-type outlet like Hock Chuan Heong, if you left them a tip, they are likely to chase after you saying you left some money behind. Personally, I leave coins behind but there is no fuss and no one generally expects a tip or a rounding-off of any sort. High-end places may impose a fixed service charge, but you shouldn't leave anything beyond that except in cases of truly exceptional service. Your kids sound like they would love kuih dadar - a pandan-flavoured crepe wrapped around a filling of caramelised grated coconut and coconut palm sugar. Penang is one of my favourite places to visit in all the world (assuming I don't have to drive). For the food of course, but there is also an energy and vibe about the place that is charming and maddening at the same time. I hope you have a wonderful time there and with any luck, we'll get to read some great reports from your trip!

Most Malaysians will have at least a rudimentary grasp of English with most signboards showing at least a little English to indicate what they are selling, so with a little patience, things will be fine. And for many hawker shops, they will sell only the one item so the chances of confusion and a bad outcome are rather slim Oh, I've probably done the State an absolute disservice by not talking about the Nyonya cuisine, the centuries-old fusion cuisine unique to Malaysia and which arguably finds its ultimate expression in Penang. I don't know enough to explain the specifics, but if you google Penang Nyonya food, you should be able to find the signature dishes and the best places to sample them. Since you are interested in sweets, try out the range of Nyonya kuih, which are sweet concoctions made mainly of coconut (milk and grated flesh), glutinous rice and tapioca in all sorts of wonderful permutations and combinations. The colours and presentation are truly a treat to behold! At the risk of being crucified by the "authentic food" crowd, Malaysian hotel breakfasts are pretty amazing compared to what a hotel in Europe or America may serve, and I can't imagine a Shangri-La establishment (especially the Rasa Sayang) would let you down. Most also take pains to include local delicacies in their spread, so you also get a little food culture first thing in the morning!

Hi Kristin, You should check out the following dishes: Char kway teow - Dry-fried flat noodles with soy, egg, chilli, prawns and cockles. This is perhaps the definitive Penang hawker dish. Oh chien - Fried oyster omelette. They use very small oysters in these, but the main feature of this dish is the tapioca flour batter added during frying, which congeals to become wonderfully sticky and jelly-like. Prawn mee - Mixed yellow noodles and rice vermicelli in a rich and spicy prawn stock. Check out the Pulau Tikus stall in my post above. You are based a little far away, but there should be pretty good versions available throughout Penang. Desserts - There are some excellent bakers in Penang, who do a wonderful line in flaky dry pastries stuffed with molasses, green bean paste, etc. Him Heang (162A Jalan Burmah) and Ghee Hiang (No 95, Lebuh Pantai) are the most famous. Both have their supporters who will swear by their favourite; personally, I prefer Him Heang, but this is one of those arguments that will never be resolved except by force of arms. Try the tambun biscuit and heong pneah. They make a great afternoon snack with a cup of strong coffee. (Him Heang's retail outlet has developed into a food emporium where you can buy many other snacks, sweets, etc which are unique to Penang. Restaurants - When my family would drive up to Penang in the morning, before even checking into our hotel, we would make a beeline to a restaurant for a socking big lunch. I don't think I ever figured out what it was called, but I am pretty sure it is "Hock Chuan Heong" at Port Weld. I would highly recommend the oyster noodles in gravy, oh chien and the meatball soup coated in tapioca flour, all classic Penang Hokkien dishes. Links below to tantalise your tastebuds: Hock Chuan Heong Link 1 Hock Chuan Heong Link 2 Enjoy! Penang is an absolutely amazing place and the food is second to none, except arguably Ipoh, but that can be the subject of another thread!

Ptipois, Thanks for the clarification but I do not think you can say, based on your and Julot's opinions expressed thus far, that it is not an attack or that it is not meant to attach some stigma to those so termed. When you say someone's food may be good, but "before being good, it is self-conscious", I would take that as being critical. When you talk of diners who fake satisfaction to exalt their golden calf or to pretend membership to a cultural elite, I would also take that as being critical. As John Whiting has pointed out, terming someone or someone's craft as "narcissistic" has negative connotations, and is therefore being critical. Mind you, I do not take what you have said as criticism personally, in the same way that I am not attacking you or Julot in this; I have the utmost respect for your opinions and as fellow members here. However, I am a little perturbed that this term is being thrown around, regardless of whether there is intent to criticise or not. The fact that it relies merely on "simple, instinctive perception of food" compounds this because different people have different instinctive reactions. In short, there is no objective criteria for identification of a narcissist, only the subjective view of the beholder. John, why stop the elevation at priesthood? Let's go all the way and make them divinities.

Having been educated in the obviously less nuanced Anglo-Saxon tradition, I must admit that I am struggling with your definition of "cuisine narcissique." From your posts above, the dichotomy between "cuisine narcissique" and "faire a manger" is not just in the style of the chef, but also (and very much so) in the eye / palate of the beholder / diner. Ptipois, I will quote you here: "'cuisine narcissique' is an inward movement, a reality that is often blurred by the admirers of the chef who value 'innovation' and 'creativity' over taste, and maintain the illusion that they are really satisfied for sensorial reasons, when in fact it is more a matter of being part of a cultural elite." Julien supports you in his subsequent post: "I would add that in self-conscious, narcissistic cooking, Narcisse is not only the cook or the restaurant team, it may as well be the client who value the restaurant as a reflection of himself rather than a direct source of pleasure (reflection being an indirect one)." So in great measure, it is the perception of the diner, who deludes himself as to his satisfaction and sees the place he dines in as a reflection of himself. But whatever happened to the ultimate subjectivity of the dining experience? If a meal pleases me but it does not please you, does your definition not depend on how you react? If you exalt the food to the high heavens because it makes you look cool to say so, then the cuisine is narcissistic and you are complicit in this. But who are we to say whether the clientele as a whole praise the food because they like it or merely because they are faking? This raises two further issues: a) What if the chef was merely trying to do something different to mark out his own style - is this narcissistic in itself because he dared to proclaim his personality in his cooking and people praise him for it? Perhaps it was a business decision to distinguish himself from the crowd or perhaps learning to find some self-expression, and not the inward self-elevation that you denigrate? b) What about me - if I seriously enjoy this meal because it has pleased me? Do I then become an admirer of the "cuisine narcissique" and marked out accordingly? Or am I the ultimate sophisticated diner because I trust my palate and proclaim this place to be worthy, notwithstanding what everyone else says? The flipside to this is that denigrating the cooking of a narcissist does not make you the ultimate sophisticated diner merely because you had the guts to voice a dissenting opinion. My second point is this: why can't "feeding customers in a generous, sensuous, unselfish way" be to show the chef in a certain light? Could this not be a "self-conscious" decision to express himself or worst still, have their admirers picture them in that light? Of those chefs who say "f*ck you" to Michelin and strike out on their own path, to feed customers "in a generous, sensuous, unselfish way", may that not be their deliberate, fully-informed and self-conscious attempt to portray themselves as the champions of a generous cuisine without any apparent aspirations, as opposed to an attempt to please the customer by making love to a large cote de boeuf? Or does the "certain light" have to be of a certain shade? To illustrate this, let me say as a general trend that "fine dining" in my hometown of Sydney has been, they say, dying a slow painful death since the recession of the late-80s/early 90s (yeah, we are a little slow on the uptake). As people downsize from the plush old restaurants of yesteryear, their custom now goes to casual bistrot-inspired places which worship at the altar of sweetbreads and pig's ears, and more recently, bloody tapas joints. We have many chefs / cooks / serfs serving lots of tapas, which by all accounts are casual and non-pretentious, but in pretentious spaces and pretentious areas. Is there any narcissism now? These chefs (invariably young, heavily-inked and pierced to keep up the image) are lapping up the love from the public and the media because they are serving grazing plates at $12 a pop and serving wine by the glass to hot young things wearing nary a thread, whereas the haute cuisiniers are struggling to keep a main course under $55. But you cannot criticise the cooking, because it is traditional. In these times, it is fashionable to "downsize", as much as it has become unfashionable to start a business lunch with almas caviar. So doesn't your definition rely greatly on the times we live in, and what could be perceived as being fashionable or worthy of attention? In this manner, the cooking of what you describe as "generous, sensuous, unselfish" may ironically now be fashionable and self-conscious, as your definition relies so much on the intention of the chef and the perception of the diner. To conclude, I note Ptipois' observation above: "One frequent feature of narcissistic cooking is the serving of dishes inspired by Asian (generally Thai or Japanese) techniques in a slightly show-offy way that makes diners say oohs and aahs as they used to do for flambé dishes 40 years ago, when the corresponding dishes in Japan or Thailand are just correctly balanced everyday food." I don't know about this, but could it be because the "correctly balanced everyday food" which is commonplace in Japan and Thailand is not available in France or wherever we are discussing? I doubt Australia would be too much different in that quality "ethnic" food is still restricted to a few enclaves, and the emergence of such places (classic technique but in trendy or modern surrounds with "Western" plating) in atypical areas is still a cause for minor celebration. Perhaps the "oohs and aahs" are reserved for this, and not the fact that the cooking or its admirers is narcissistic.

If you have emailed the manager to complain, and he feels strongly enough about your complaints to offer you his hospitality, where does the problem arise? Where is there some implied quid pro quo in his offer that you need to buy the same ocean of wine during the comped meal or only take up a reduced offer? From my vantage point, he obviously sees you as a valued customer and wants you to continue to be one. If you liked the restaurant, go back and keep going back. I'm not suggesting that you should take him to the cleaners on the comped meal, but I don't see why there seem to be feelings of quasi-guilt creeping into this.

Try the restaurants at the Qantas First Class Lounges (Sydney or Melbourne), which are run by a team of cooks from Rockpool. You can build up your own tasting menu (cooked to order) matched with wines, and best of all, you don't pay any more apart from the price of your ticket. They do a great asparagus with jamon, and sticky date pudding. For the sake of being PC in these times, I hasten to add that I can't actually afford to fly first-class, so do as I did and try travelling with someone who has Qantas Platinum status or equivalent on OneWorld.

Didier Elena at Raffles Grill, featuring the wines of Jean Stodden , Raffles Hotel, 19 February 2009 I will be honest with you; I’ve never been the greatest fan of food festivals. We can never expect a chef to perform the same miracles away from his home turf, whether because he’s not with his normal kitchen team, he does not have access to his regular suppliers, and even a change in the dining room, where the normal accoutrements are missing and the wine list is not created with the chef’s food in mind. I mentioned elsewhere that Pascal Barbot of three-starred L’Astrance was a very honourable exception when he visited Raffles Grill in late 2007. I was hoping that Didier Elena, the Alain Ducasse-trained two-starred chef at Les Crayeres in Reims would be able to replicate the feat. On arriving, we were greeted with a flute of The Widow. Non-vintage, of course. We are in a global recession after all. The atmosphere at Raffles Grill is always magical, despite the various service lapses that have become customary here. There was a particularly spirited performance on the grand piano throughout lunch, which may or may not have been the eminent musician Jimmy McKissic (we were seated in the romantic alcove table and did not have a view of the “stage.”) It sure was good, though. First entrée: Fondant potatoes, Jabugo ham, black truffles and mont d’or. Can you go wrong with truffled potato and jamon iberico? No. A very pleasant starter, though the mont d’or sauce (not pictured) was very assertive, overwhelming the nuances of the jamon and the truffles. To match it was a glass of: 1985 Veuve Clicquot Rosé Simply stunning. I’m no champagne expert but I remember very fondly the effect of torrefaction when I have had the (rare) pleasure of a properly aged champagne. This champagne, almost as old as yours truly, had none of that, but was so rich and meaty, almost truffle-y in fragrance and flavour. Second entrée: Scallops, black truffles, leek vinaigrette I have never seen as much truffle on one plate, ever. Before this dish was served, I had asked for a truffle to be brought to my table, just to make sure they weren’t cutting any corners. I needn’t have worried. But you will see the translucent corner of foie gras in the photo. Not listed on the menu, not advertised. The PETA folk will be spewing on their carrot sticks. My wife’s foie was more red than Mao’s magnum opus, so we sent it back untouched. The maitre’d tried to reassure us that it was OK, but we weren’t falling for that old chestnut. The scallops were nice and meaty but they were not on par with those you would find in a good French restaurant (and hopefully not Les Crayeres!). We asked Mr Elena if he had brought any ingredients over, but he said no, when we have such “excellent suppliers” and he also likes working with the "local product". I could have told him that we had a couple of fish in Jurong, some lab-grown mushrooms and some eggs in Lim Chu Kang, but that’s about it! I know, he was just being polite. Main Course: 36-hour slow-cooked beef parmentier, sauce civet, croutons This was rich, I recall many more complex flavour sensations, including the delightful iron-rich saltiness of the blood, but they all came back to the same conclusion: my God, it was rich! Our captain said there was foie gras in the sauce; I didn’t see it but a mouthful put a brick in my stomach, so I could certainly believe it. It was flavourful, but I couldn’t help feeling that this was a dish that I could have cooked, and I’m sure Mr Elena didn’t earn his stars by slow-cooking beef. Portionwise, I’m not sure this should have been served as a main course, especially not in our tropical climes. Did I mention this was very rich? Final rant for the day: per the title, the lunch featured the wines of Jean Stodden, a German winemaker who specialises in pinot noir, or the “spatburgunder”, as our friends in Germany call it. This means that Mr Stodden’s wines will be featured, and let’s not worry whether the wine matches the food. Look, the wines (2005 Reserve and 2006 “Recher Herrenberg”) were nice; they certainly needed food, though I’m unsure whether it needed this food. I should have spotted the signs – when Mr Elena opened proceedings, he said “I like to match my food with champagnes.” When he was interviewed in the Straits Times the week before, he said “I like to match my food with champagne.” Hmmm, I don’t know about you, but do you think maybe he likes to match his food with champagne? We spotted a friend across the dining room, who is one of Singapore’s top sommeliers. We chatted after the meal and he was in anguish. He had asked the F&B manager “Did you taste the food before you matched the wines?” and had received a rather non-committal response. I guess you couldn’t say yes, as if you did, you had just marked yourself out as having a numb palate. The truffled scallops were a perfect match with the 1985 Veuve, though much less so with the Stodden Reserve (the actual pairing!), and the Recher Herrenberg was massacred by the sauce civet. This was no subtle assassination; this was rampant rape and pillage, the likes of which have not been seen since the rise of the Mongols in the 13th Century. To be fair, no champagne could have stood up to this; a big full-bodied cabernet may have been up to the task. Incidentally, my friend visited Les Crayeres last year and said the food here was vastly different (read: inferior) to what he enjoyed. Boo. Dessert: Fruit Exotique, Jurancon wine snow, coconut cookie No great shakes, I liked the wine snow, but the dessert was unbalanced in sourness, relying too much on the acid of the pineapple, grapefruit and passionfruit. The coconut cookie ameliorated the damage but it wasn’t enough. A pre-booking request to omit the citrus fruits for my wife was met with chunks of pink grapefruit. Petits fours were similarly unimpressive, having a bit of a factory-feel about them. It’s hard to pronounce a verdict, because we started like a house on fire but found ourselves with nothing but ashes towards the end. Good marks for conceptualisation but the final execution was rather poor. I very much doubt we experienced his cuisine at its best, but I guess we were asking for it. During his rounds, Mr Elena invited us to look him up in Reims when we were next in France; I think we will have to take him up on the offer.