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Four-hand dinners are great fun. Both for the collaborating chefs, who are afforded the chance to learn from the other, and also for the diners, who get to break the monotony of a familiar menu. But when a third pair of hands enter the fray with luxurious libations, the resulting dining experience becomes an exquisite display of culinary harmony.
It’s not as chaotic as it sounds when you consider the experts behind this month’s Sidedoor x 50Fifty dinner. Dessert wizard Janice Wong has invited Singaporean Chef Tryson Quek and multi-award-winning bartender Bannie Kang to come up with a six course menu to be paired with four cocktails, available till the end of February. Seeing as Quek and Kang are the husband and wife team behind restaurant and bar Mu:Taipei and private dining concept Sidedoor, this is a trio that already plays well together.
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(From left to right) Bannie Kang, Janice Wong and Tryson Quek
But the synergy is most evident between Quek and Kang. Kang’s “Clean Water” is the perfect opening act, full of freshness despite having the heady The Macallan Sherry Oak 12Y as a base, and benefits from a sweep of gentle brininess from Quek’s equally bracing “Algae” — a pair of No. 3 oysters topped with a cucumber and kombu frost. The adorable “Ugly Duckling” is confit duck rillette and duck liver sandwiched between maple crackers and paired with Kang’s take on a pina colada using Brugal Especial rum, pineapple, coconut and clarified cream. Taken together, the flavours of both the dish and the cocktail mingle and deepen.
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The “Chicken Broth” is a crowd favourite, with the powerful flavours of cep leaving a far bigger impression than the chicken stock (which Quek made using air-fried chicken bones and then boiled down to half its original volume). Mixed with equal parts butter, this is a soup that won’t do anything for your heart, but everything for your soul.
Portions are small (possibly too small for hungry diners), but this leaves room for Wong’s finale, “Drunken Island”, which takes you on a journey through flavours of ginger, sea salt, caramel, chocolate and bergamot, all swimming in a pool of whisky spiked creme anglaise. Kang backs this up with the spirit-forward “Double Red”, a herb-driven interpretation of a Boulevardier.
Limited sessions are available, but Wong hints at another six-hand collaboration to come in March. In the mean time, you can make your reservations at here.
#02-07 Intercontinental Singapore, Robertson Quay. Tel: 8399 0679
