Like I mentioned in our tastiest bites of 2016 post, one of the dining experiences I could have kept on repeat was at Meta. Located on Singapore Chinatown's Keong Saik Road, a street dense with restaurants and bars, Meta, with its take on French-inspired cuisine with a distinctly Korean bent, stands out.
"Kaya toast", served as an amuse bouche at Meta
Salmon Tartare, Dill, Melon, Finger Lime
Bibimbap, Hkkaido Uni, Kimchi, Seaweed
Chef Sun Kim, originally from South Korea, spent time in the kitchens of Waku Ghin in Singapore and Tetsuya's in Sydney (where he worked alongside chef Rishi Naleendra of another Singapore favorite, Cheek by Jowl), both heavyweights in their own rights, before forging forth on his own.
Slow Cooked Octopus, Romanesco, Gochujang, Black Olive
Chef Sun Kim’s dishes are elegant and creative, but also retain an element of classic and familiarity.
Duck Breast, Eggplant, Leek, Korean Date
“First, it’s my team. I get to see my colleagues every morning. They are more than family — we spend more time together than with our own families. Second, I want to showcase my food to my customers. I want their appreciation.”
Rack of Lamb, Doenjang, Celeriac, Zucchini
Coconut, Pineapple, Chocolate, Mint
In addition to being a brilliant chef, Sun Kim is also one of the nicest and friendliest people I have met.
Meet Rishi Naleendra, the calm, thoughtful and brilliant chef behind Singapore's Cheek by Jowl.
Dontree (Miles), Namfon and Boy (Hippo the Dripper) bring wild yeast breads and great drip coffee (pourover and aeropress) to one place. When we visited, they operated as a pop-up during the day out of Minimeal. Now they have their own location on soi 17.
For highly original, creative food in a relaxed atmosphere, Contra in the Lower East Side is one of our favorite restaurants to go to. Our meal this visit was wonderful, and we also managed to chat with Diego, one of the sous chefs in the kitchen today.
Soft-spoken and mild-mannered yet very energetic, Peeter is constantly shuttling between his two cafés in the Old Town of Tallinn.
Dinesh Chaurasiya has been making paan for the past 25 years. He inherited the stall from his grandfather, Satyanarayan Chaurasiya.
Marou Chocolate features heavily in my daily rotation of chocolates, so when we found ourselves in Saigon earlier this year, I immediately wrote to Samuel asking him if we could come see their factory.
This shop in Kozhikode in Kerala has been around forever. Started by Bhaskaran and Kumaran over 60 years ago, their sons run the place now...
Priska Thuring is the talented Swiss-Canadian chef of beautiful Dubravkin put in Zagreb in her adopted home country of Croatia. It was a pleasure hanging out with her and eating her wonderful food.
During our recent visit to Bogotá, we happened upon this adorable tea shop, a few steps away from our apartment. We spent a lot of time here, drinking tea and reading our books in the cozy and homey space.
Meet head chef Jan Sobecki of Chapeau! in Bloemendaal, around 25 miles outside Amsterdam.
Meet Ivan López, the talented barista at Amor Perfecto in Bogotá, where we started our mornings and often, our evenings.
Meet Sun Kim, the ambitious, humble chef behind Meta, located in restaurant-packed Keong Saik Road in Singapore's Chinatown, offering French-influenced cuisine with a distinctly Korean inflection.