Fire & Earth

By Anton D. Javier

There is something irresistibly primal about these restaurants whose cooking techniques harness the power of fire and respect the Earth’s bounties, resulting in an unforgettable meal


REVOLVER

As its name suggests, Revolver brings an explosive dining experience to Tras Street. The bold, fiery grill is a showcase of Indian cooking sensibilities that puts fire, premium produce, and carefully selected spices front and center, skillfully handled by Executive Chef Saurabh Udinia and his fearless team. Here, meats, seafood, and vegetables are charred to perfection on either the custom-built woodfired grill or hand-built tandoor, which draws out maximum flavor.


For a full culinary immersion, opt for the 9-course Experience tasting menu, which starts with an unexpected ingredient: Courgette flowers. Acting as a delicate parcel, it is filled with creamy paneer cheese with cumin and onion, and then gently grilled over woodfire and finished with tomato chutney for a hint of tanginess. Then there is the Fresh Paneer, specially sourced and flown from India, cooked in the tandoor and served with Chef Saurabh’s vegetarian sambal.

This menu also manages to transform often uninspiring chicken cuts into a flavorful masterpiece. The Boneless Wings and Necks feature skewers of succulent chicken cooked in the tandoor and finished with lemon juice, coriander, chili dust, and yuzu aioli. And for the perfect finale, there is the Pulled Pork and Gruyere Kulchette (inspired by the mildly leavened flatbread called Kulcha), comprised of a tandoor-cooked flatbread stuffed with gruyere cheese and crowned with a pulled pork mixture that’s flavored with coconut milk and tamarind chutney.

Visit Revolver at 56 Trast Street, Tel: 6223 2812

GRIGLIA

A meal at Griglia aims to give you a taste of an Italian summer, which is inspired by “grigliata” or an outdoor grill cook-out that brings together family and friends. The new restaurant, which is located on Craig Road, promises its diners the tastes, sensations, and emotions of the grigliata in a casual setting, all while making you fall in love with the magic of the common flame.


Start off the meal with something classic like the Burratina — a modern take on the traditional Neapolitan appetizer where sliced zucchini is marinated with olive oil, mint, and garlic, served on a crispy tart, and finished with a cool and creamy sphere of fresh burratina. Meanwhile, the Spaghetti di Martino with sea watermarinated datterino tomatoes showcases the simplicity of Italian cuisine, bringing together balanced sweet and savory flavors in a perfect pasta dish.


The main stars at Griglia are found on the Open Fire Grill portion of the menu, boasting the finest grilled meats and seafood like the 30 Days Dry Aged Porterhouse ‘Fiorentina’, Spiced New Zealand Lamb Rack, 5-Pepper Crusted Canadian Pork Chop, and the Whole Spanish Turbot. These options are perfect for sharing and best eaten with refreshing sides, which include gratinated bone marrow with rosemary and wild garlic crumbs, cherry tomatoes with cucumber, olives and rocket salad, or potato puree with horse radish and smoked caciocavallo.

Visit Griglia at 37 Craig Road, Tel: 8949 7011

SALTED & HUNG

We often forget how much waste comes out of restaurants, especially in fine dining establishments that often require perfection in the ingredients they use. This is not the case at Salted & Hung. Here, Chef-Owner Drew Nocente pushes the gastronomic envelope and brings flair, creativity, and passion to food ethics, with a personal philosophy called ‘Zero Food Waste Dining’ that is seen, felt, and tasted throughout the menu.

The ingredient that best represents this philosophy is the aged turbot, where every part of the fish is utilized in three elements of the dish – Turbot, Turbot Tea Broth, and Turbot Liver Vin Jaune. Even the turbot bones are hung and dried for two weeks to prepare a special dashi broth. As for the Green Lip Abalone, the abalone meat is brushed with abalone butter during grilling, where the latter ingredient is made with abalone liver, yeast extract, and butter. The ingredient then comes full circle because even the abalone shell is used in the dish for plating.


Another memorable dish is the Bafun Uni with snow crab, radish noodles, and buttermilk. The radish noodles are poached in a radish dashi made from its trimmings, while the snow crab and fresh Bafun uni are dressed in a buttermilk emulsion, which is made from fresh kelp butter combined with uni, radish stock, and dill oil. Finally, dessert is a celebration of apples that pays homage to Chef Nocente’s family apple farm: Apple pound cake with compressed apple and apple jam, slow-cooked apple wedges in fermented apple juice tossed with maple verjus and applie pie sugar. Rounding this all up is apple kombucha served on the side.

Visit Salted & Hung at 12 Purvis Street, Tel: 6358 3130