Food Diary - FOO'D by Davide Oldani, Singapore

Earlier this year, Hubby and I went to a new-ish restaurant at the Victoria Theatre & Concert Hall — FOO'D by Davide Oldani. The restaurant is founded on chef Oldani's principles of Cucina POP, and is a restaurant venture between Oldani and lawyer Jean Foo. [*2018 update: Now rebranded as Sinfonia, and helmed by Chef Simone Delpamas.]

Caramelised onion, 20 months aged Grana Padano, served hot and cold (on IG)

My favourite would be their signature caramelised onion tartlet. Mellow sweet and soft onion in the warm, crisp and sweet pastry tartlet, and topped with cold, creamy and salty Grana Padano cheese ice cream. Loved the sweet crunchy hit of caramelised sugar on the tartlet, together with the soft onions and salty ice cream. Hubs had the gnocchi souffle with prawns and salmon roe for his starter.

The onion tartlet was followed by the pea and lemongrass soup with poached egg and almonds. (Sorry, photo pending.) Beautifully plated, and I always perk up when I see that vivid green that vegetables have. The soup was light and fresh, and my poached egg was perfectly oozy. The egg yolk gave the soup a creamy consistency and helped to mellow the lemongrass flavour. I would've preferred the flavour of the peas to come forward more, however.

Lamb, green asparagus and mint (on IG)

For his main, Hubby had the rack of lamb, which was served with lightly steamed green asparagus, and espuma foam sauce. The dish was accompanied by a cup of mint tea, which was a kind of novel take on the traditional combination of lamb and mint sauce. Having it with mint tea did mean the dish was not heavy and rich as its traditional counterpart. The lamb was a delight, tender and coming free from the bone easily.

Menu Special - Porcini risotto, one year aged carnaroli rice and truffles (on IG)

My main was the porcini risotto, which was a special on the menu.

A confession - I actually don't like risotto, generally. So I don't know what possessed me to select the porcini risotto. Especially when the menu had beef cheeks! But I like porcini, and I sometimes have this ridiculous urge to make myself eat foods I generally do not like. Usually spurred by this idea that I might change my mind about it.

Evident from the first mouthful is the porcini. This dish should be called The Porcini Punch. A real rich, thick, almost beefy flavour. Together with the earthy aroma of the truffle, the flavours were a real assault on the senses. In fact, I'm not even sure I could sense the truffle. Smell it, maybe.

Also quite evident from the first mouthful is that carnaroli is a much firmer rice than arborio, so my risotto was creamy (though slightly dry) with grains that had a firm, chewy texture. Supposedly what makes this risotto different from the rest is that it's made with carnaroli rice that has been aged for a year. According to an article by the Singapore Michelin Guide, Chef Oldani only uses carnaroli rice. Apparently, of the different kinds of risotto rice, carnaroli is extolled as the king of Italian rice. It is starchier and firmer than arborio, absorbs liquids better, and does not overcook as easily as arborio. It's claimed that this all results in a creamier risotto that retains bite. The chewy texture does show, but I'm not sure it's enough to change my mind about risotto. The jury is still out on that. 

We now come to dessert. Or cheese, as some restaurants do. Somehow I always run into trouble at this part of dining because I have a sweet tooth and a cheese tooth. It was harder at FOO'D because they had some interest cheese choices. So I ended up selecting two cheese sweets (the stracciatella and seadas), and a dessert (the lemon curd).

Fresh stracciatella, pineapple sorbet, nutmeg (on IG)

So, the other standout in dinner for me was the stracciatella, a soft and creamy cheese. I love burrata, so maybe it stands to reason that I love stracciatella too...since apparently stracciatella is pretty much what's inside burrata, covered up with a layer of mozzarella. The milky and salty flavours of the cheese match well with the refreshing, mildly sweet and punchy sour pineapple sorbet and poached pineapple chunks, and the nutmeg spice. (Love nutmeg. I could eat buah pala likuoris like popcorn while watching a film.)

Seadas, filo wafer and special FOO'D spices (on IG)

I'm terrible, a Cheese Monster...because I had not one but two cheese desserts. The second one was a modern, deconstructed version of the traditional Sardinian sweet, a honey-steeped cheese-filled pastry fritter called seadas. What turned up totally did not look like a pastry fritter, but a crispy, sesame seed-encrusted wafer of filo pastry, and hiding underneath, a layer of airy and creamy blue cheese mousse.

By now I knew I really overdid it. Thank heavens the lemon curd was a nice little one.

So the lemon curd with meringue, and lettuce ice cream on a bed of cocoa crumble. (Again, sorry, photo pending.) Loved the lemon curd. Very smooth, with the perfect consistency. On its own, it was lip-puckering, but was well balanced with the sweet little meringues. The cocoa crumble added the right touch of bitterness and crunchy texture. Lettuce ice cream.... Texture was more like an icy sorbet, but creamy. I wasn't sure what to make of it, but it came across like a vegetable Slurpee (without the fizz) of sorts. Gosh I make it sound so unpalatable, when it was anything but. The was a fresh lettuce flavour that lingered after the creaminess disappeared, however, so this is probably not for people who dislike their greens.

Faux green apple, cinnamon, mascarpone (on IG)

Sometime in the midst of humming while devouring the seadas, the chef came by to greet all diners. And for us, he brought a complimentary dessert - the faux green apple, which is also a signature of FOO'D. This little neon green jelly-coated sphere with a chocolate stem and paper-thin filo leaves, sitting on top of a caramelised apple ring. Inside the jelly shell was a  dab of runny, green apple jam encased in a light and smooth, slightly bouncy mascarpone mousse. The caramelised apple ring at the bottom was soft but still retained crunch and juiciness. It's the kind of dish that unfolds with flavour as you chew, spanning mild sweetness, gentle tartness, and then toasty caramel.