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July Executive
Lunch 1st July to 31st July 2008 Price $85++ per person |
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August Executive
Lunch 1st August to 31st August 2008 Price $85++ per person |
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EMMANUEL Stroobant is the kind of chef whose energy you wish you could siphon into little bottles and sell at some holistic flea market. Even reading his menu takes your breath away - if you think this is an exaggeration, try saying "low temperature roasted canon of lamb scented with purple garlic and summer herbs, pimientos del piquillo, edame beans, lemon confit and roasted pine nuts" in one breath. No? Then sit back and await the culinary masterpiece theatre that is about to begin. It's part and parcel of eating at the award-winning Saint Pierre - where food is not just about tickling your palate but pretty much pickling your brain, especially as you taste and ponder: Why foie gras wrapped with smoked duck? How do unagi and escargot become such great-tasting companions in a wild mushroom broth? Where did he get the idea for the pot-roasted lobster jelly with the espuma of citron confit? The answer: Underneath that peroxided head and punk rocker persona is a keen mind that never stops pushing the boundaries of what good food should and can be. Violinist Nigel Kennedy may have turned Vivaldi's Four Seasons into a rock anthem - but well, chef Stroobant makes foie gras rock. After all, it was he who de-mystified this iconic staple of stuffy French restaurants for Asian diners, giving it his own spin from the classic "port wine sauce with caramelised apples" to the funkier "wok-seared foie gras with tetaki of Japanese squid, julienne of parma ham with warm yoghurt jelly". In other words, while foie gras is goose liver, langoustine a fighting shrimp and truffle a haughty fungus, it takes a special kind of maestro to play these ingredients like musical instruments in a culinary opus. That's what chef Stroobant is: Belgium-born, French-pressed and Asian-soused, you could say he's the metrosexual of world cuisine. Despite a Michelin-starred grounding, a slew of influences including Sydney's Tetsuya Wakuda, Paris's Pierre Gagnaire or even Spain's Ferran Adria, chef Stroobant's style is to respect, but not follow, the culinary holy grail. And with that stubbornly individualistic streak, he and his wife Edina Hong have built up a loyal and still-growing following in their little nook of gourmet goodness at Central Mall. Saint Pierre is not only about good food, it is about excellent and good value wines to go with it, thanks to the unstinting eye for detail of Ms Hong - whose unflinching good taste ensures that you drink as well as you eat. You could also say she possesses a third eye of sorts, knowing instinctively when a glass is out of place, a drink needs to be replenished and when to discreetly produce reading glasses for a diner who has forgotten his own. For years, French food in Singapore has been formal, expensive, classical and occasionally, very good. But Saint Pierre has an edge it can claim as its very own - it brings French food to life. Jaime Ee Lifestyle Editor, Business Times
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