Trends Archives - - Page 5 of 7

Door to door

Quite a few months ago, I read about a couple of young guys who started a web and phone based local (hawker) food delivery service. Because most of the delivery services that I’ve tested here in Singapore have been unimpressive (cold food, high prices, etc), I wrote down Dabao.sg‘s web address and phone number but never bothered to try them out. Then, a few weeks ago, a friend with a keen interest in food admitted that he’s been using Dabao.sg with pretty good results. He said that the food they procured was both good — obviously, they invest time finding well-reputed and popular hawker stalls from which to buy their food — and, equally important, it’s served hot. He said that his wife was partial to their oyster omelette. He liked their beef hor fun, reportedly bought from the famous beef hor fun coffee shop on Geylang Lorong 9.

S and I have since ordered from Dabao.sg twice. The first time we took our friend’s advice and tried the oyster omelette and beef hor fun. Both were excellent. Tonight, we tried beef fried rice and century egg porridge. The former was good. Unfortunately, the latter could have been considerably better; it was a tad too watery and quite bland. But, 3 out of 4 is pretty good. I’m pretty impressed with Dabao.sg. I especially like that getting hawker favourites delivered to my door is as simple as sending 1 text message from my handphone. Delivery is pretty swift; both times the food came within 45 minutes. And as my friend reported, the food came hot.

But don’t take my word for it. Try it for yourself.

Food is art

photo taken in 2001 at Tasting Australia

I spent a little over two years recently working for a government agency. Most specifically, I was working within the arm of the government responsible for looking after the arts. While there, one of the things I campaigned for quite aggressively (internally of course) was recognition of the culinary arts as a proper artform. And not simply as a trade. As you can imagine, very few of my colleagues sympathized with my cause. Mostly, I think, because few understood what I was going on about.

A buddy of mine, who is one of Singapore’s most talented contemporary artists, just emailed me a bit of news that has made my day (maybe even my month). Documenta is arguably the most important regular contemporary art exhibition in Europe. It takes place once every five years in the German town of Kassel. Each edition is helmed by a different artistic director, who builds his or her own curatorial team. Documenta 12, scheduled to take place 16 June 2007 – 23 September 2007, is being led by Roger Buergel.

A few months ago, Buergel announced some of the artists that he will be bringing to Kassel for this most significant and important of art exhibitions. One of those, surprisingly, was celebrity chef Ferran Adria, of El Bulli! Buergel acknowledged Adria as “the most famous chef in the world” but wouldn’t reveal the details of how Adria will be participating in the art show.

When my friend emailed me this astounding news, I quickly googled both “Documenta” and “Ferran Adria” and was surprised by how little coverage has been given to what I believe is a rather important event for the culinary world. In fact, all the reports that I found came from fine arts media. Am I just blind or has the world’s mainstream food press possibly missed out on one of the most exciting stories of recent times? For perhaps the first time, a chef has been elevated to the status that he deserves. He’s being considered a true artist and being exhibited alongside other creative geniuses from other disciplines.

Perhaps after Documenta 12, more and more non-foodies will start to recognize the culinary arts for what it is, a serious artform. One that requires just as much creativity, training and innovation as other artforms like film-making, painting, or architecture.

Technorati tags: ferran adria, documenta, art

Meme: Five things to eat before you die

One of my favourite food writers and bloggers, Melissa from The Traveler’s Lunchbox has just tagged me with her very first meme. “Things To Eat Before You Die”, also known as “The Foodblogger’s Guide to the Globe”, asks participating bloggers to list five amazing food experiences that they think everyone should have at least once in their lives. I’m more than happy to take part — as I said, Melissa is one of my favourite people on the Web — plus I’m really looking forward to seeing everyone else’s lists.

Melissa actually tagged both me and my wife S. S is a tad swamped on a couple projects this week, but she promises to post her own list soon, tagging 5 other bloggers as well.

So, without further adue, here are 5 things I think everyone should eat at least once.

1. Macarons from Pierre Hermé

No other single cookie has as many devoted fans around the world. But no other single cookie has ever tasted as good as one of Pierre Hermé’s macarons. If you haven’t had the fortune of visiting either of his Paris or Tokyo outposts (or haven’t had any really generous friends hand-carry them home for you), you have no idea what you are missing. These are simply the sexiest, most sinfully delicious cookies on the planet.

2. Sakura ebi

I was introduced to Sakura ebi at Iggy’s, one of Singapore’s best and one of my favourite restaurants. Since it opened, it has featured a Sakura ebi pasta dish on its menu. It’s one of the two or three dishes there that I’ve become completely addicted to. Sakura ebi are tiny shrimps, measuring only 4 to 5 centimetres in length. They have a lovely, powerful taste and a fantastic, slightly crispy texture. They’re most famously cultivated in Japan’s Shizuoka Prefecture, where they are harvested from Suruga Bay twice a year. Apart from Japan, Sakura ebi are cultivated only in Taiwan. While Iggy’s is able to serve fresh Sakura ebi, its difficult for the rest of us to buy this delicacy fresh. Fortunately, most Japanese supermarkets stock packets of dried Sakura ebi, which when heated a bit before serving, are almost as good. Inspired by Iggy’s, I’ve been making my own Sakura ebi pasta at home, basically by adding these tasty pink shrimps to my classic mentaiko pasta recipe.

Chubby Hubby’s Sakuri Ebi Mentaiko Pasta
Serves 4

1 packet dried Sakura ebi (around 20g)
1 small onion, diced
2 tbsp butter
1 packet mentaiko (usually has 3 to 4 sacs)
1 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise
1 tbsp prawn oil
150g cappellini or linguine

Put the butter, prawn oil and the mayo in a mixing bowl. Scrape the mentaiko out of the sacs and into the bowl. When the butter is soft, mix the ingredients together. Sauté the onions. Mix them into the mentaiko sauce. Boil your pasta. Drain the pasta and mix it with the sauce. On a very hot frying pan, quickly heat up the Sakura ebi. Toss those into the pasta. Serve.

3. A really proper frito misto in Venice, Italy

I love fried foods. And I’ve always enjoyed a good frito misto — which is essentially a mixed plate of battered and deep-fried seafood and vegetables. But until I started taking regular trips to Venice, I never really knew just how good frito misto can be. The best I have had is at Ostaria Boccadoro, a small, humble eatery off the tourist track. I first discovered this great little place in the summer of 2005. I’ve been back several times since and the frito misto has been consistently outstanding. Despite being deep-fried, the seafood is never overcooked. The range of seafood is fantastic — fish, shrimp, scallops, mussels, clams, the most amazing small soft-shell crabs and, of course, squid. They are all always terrifically plump, tender and full of natural flavours. The batter is always crisp, very light and never oily. The ostaria’s owner is very amusing. He demands that anyone eating his frito misto must do so with his or her hands. Maybe it’s a psychological thing, but to be honest, I think it does actually make the dish taste better.

Ostaria Boccadoro
5405/a Campo Wildman, Cannaregio
tel: 041 5211021

4. Corner Bistro’s bistro burger

I couldn’t create a list of must-have food experiences and not include Corner Bistro. This dark, neighborhood bar in New York’s West Village has a very special place in my heart. It was where my friends, flatmates and I spent many a night, wolfing down bistro burgers and throwing back pints of McSorley’s Ale. The burgers here are fantastic (among the best I have ever had). They’re especially good at 2 in the morning, after a long night out and just before you head home to crash.

Corner Bistro
331 W 4th St
New York, NY 10014
USA

5. Sushi at the crack of dawn in Tsukiji fish market

I have to admit that this is something I haven’t done yet but have been meaning to do for the longest time. Friends who have gone have raved about the fantastic quality of the sushi and sashimi served at the little restaurants within Tokyo’s main and most famous fish market. I hear rumours that Tsukiji is considering closing its doors to non-trade, i.e. foodie tourists like you and me. If this is true, we all had better visit sooner rather than later.

Time to pass the meme along. In order to stick to Melissa’s spirit of picking bloggers that represent as much of the world as possible, I’m tagging:

1. Greedy Goose in Singapore
2. Jam-Faced in London
3. Cook Sister in South Africa
4. Spiceblog in Australia
5. Tasting Life in The Netherlands

Catering

Last Friday, my wife and I did something that was entirely new to us. It was rewarding, exciting, educational and challenging. But it’s also something I’m in no rush to do again soon. Last Friday, S and I did our very first professional catering job. While the two of us have thrown countless dinner parties over the years, cooking for friends at home is nothing compared to cooking for paying guests at their place. The latter, especially because of the professional nature of the engagement, is a whole different category of stress. Fortunately, this first gig was relatively small. The dinner, hosted by two close friends, was for just eight people. Two of the guests, however, were not only major VIPs but also very well-known as gourmands. Knowing this added a little more pressure to what was, as I mentioned, an already stressful situation.

The hosts of the dinner wanted a small, but exciting menu. We proposed having four courses, three of which would be composed of trios of dishes.

The first course was a trio of seafood. It consisted of a crabcake with wasabi-mayonnaise, a prawn cocktail with a sauce made with freshly grated horseradish, and a shitake-soy toro (fatty tuna) tartar served with a yuzu vinaigrette. I really like this combination. We had originally thought of serving a raw oyster item instead of the crabcake, but I think the crabcake worked better. Because the toro and prawn dishes are served cold, the contrast with the hot, freshly fried crabcake is really nice.

The second course was a real challenge. We had admired this dish in The French Laundry Cookbook for years. We also liked that Thomas Keller would call something as refined as butter-poached lobster served with a mascarpone and lobster broth enriched orzo “mac & cheese”. This is a gorgeous, sensuous and incredibly rich dish, thanks mostly to Keller’s broth. The broth is made by sautéing the shells of 3 lobsters. You then cover them with water and add some tomatoes, carrots, and tarragon. You simmer this until the stock is aromatic. Then you strain the liquid and reduce this down to just one cup. At this point, it’s deliciously powerful. You then add two cups of cream to the stock and reduce everything until just two cups remain. The result is the loveliest, tastiest, creamiest seafood broth I’ve ever had. In this dish, the lobster is steeped in hot water, then before service, the meat is poached in warm butter. Cooked orzo is mixed with some of the creamy lobster broth and a couple of tablespoons of mascarpone. This is a dish everyone should eat at least once.

The main course was a trio of veal dishes, inspired by a dish served at Boulevard in San Francisco amusingly called “Veal Veal Veal”. The course consisted of veal tenderloin, osso buco and a veal cheek ravioli. The veal tenderloin is wrapped in prosciutto, seared than roasted in the oven. We paired our version with some potato purée and a super-yummy sauce we made with fresh horseradish, white truffle honey and cream. We cooked the osso buco overnight in extremely low heat; it was wonderfully tender. The ravioli is stuffed with a combination of braised veal cheek and creamed spinach. Both the ravioli and the osso buco are sauced with some of the braising liquid that was reduced until syrupy. We also topped the osso buco with a little fresh gremolata.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get a good photograph of our dessert course. It was another trio: a blueberry cheesecake tart; an egg soufflé; and a quenelle of chocolate gelato served with some homemade croquant. Post dinner, we served a really special treat with coffee and tea. I convinced the amazing J of Kuidaore to sell me two batches of custom-made macarons. I ordered a batch of peanut butter & jelly and a batch of chocolate & yuzu. These were pretty stunning and everyone was pretty amazed that we could get such high-quality macarons in Singapore.

In addition to taking care of the menu, we also planned the wines. We ordered some excellent wines from a local distributor that we’d gotten to know recently. With the first course, we served a Larmandier-Bernier Terre de Vertus, an excellent single vineyard Champagne. Our second course was paired with an amazing white wine I’ve become quite enamored with of late, a Mark Angeli La Lune 2003. With the veal, we served a yummy, powerful red, a Clos des Fées Domaine du Clos des Fées 2002. With the dessert, we poured a delicious dessert wine made from viognier grapes, the Francois Villard Aprés Tout.

I have to admit that we had help catering this meal. We hired two amazing people, a waiter and kitchen-hand, who assisted us in the dining room and in the kitchen. Without them, there is no way we could have accomplished this meal. Of course, even with their help, by the end of the night S and I were both exhausted. And while I still contend that such gigs are not something I’d be keen to do too often, the experience was very rewarding. Especially when two of the guests told us that the meal was one of the best they had ever eaten.

South China Morning Post

It’s always flattering to be interviewed by a member of the press. But it’s also potentially embarrassing and always just a little terrifying. Because no matter how articulate you think you are, there’s always a chance that you’re going to come across as a total idiot when the article finally comes out. Fortunately, The South China Morning Post’s Susan Jung did a good job of making me seem smarter than I actually am. Susan wrote a rather long feature which ran on Thursday, 8 June 2006, on Restaurant Magazine’s survey of the world’s best restaurants and the lack of Asian restaurants in it, something which I’ve also written about in the past. She interviewed me for this piece and also very kindly talked about (and promoted) my little attempt to rally readers together and vote on Asia-Pacific’s best restaurants. Susan also interviewed John Krich from the Asian Wall Street Journal and Grant Thatcher, founder of the uber-cool Luxe guides, two guys I really respect, for this story.

Please click here to read the full article.

Asia Pacific Best Restaurants List – My nominations

Well, it’s time for bloggers to nominate what they feel are the best and their personal favorite restaurants in Asia-Pacific. Non-bloggers still have until 12 June 2006 to email me (aun@chubbyhubby.net) their own nominations. For more info on the Asia Pacific Best Restaurants List and how to take part, please click here. While I’ve been totally thrilled at the response so far, a good survey requires as many entries as possible. So, please take a few minutes to read about this survey and vote.

It’s time for my own nominations, which I am going to qualify by admitting, rather sheepishly, that I don’t know some countries, like Japan and India, as well as I should. Which is why I don’t have any restaurants from these countries on my list.

2 best in Singapore

Iggy’s. What more can be said about this amazing over-the-counter restaurant. Exquisite, tiny plates of gustatory heaven; perfect service; fine wines poured by the glass; and the nicest restaurateur husband and wife team in town.

Hua Ting. This Cantonese restaurant in the Orchard Hotel serves fantastic Chinese food. While there are flashier Chinese restaurants in town, none are as consistently good as this always packed crowd-pleaser.

Favorite in Singapore

Hu Cui. I love this sleek Shanghainese restaurant owned by the Crystal Jade group. With its cool decor and gorgeous food, Hu Cui never disappoints me. This is where I retreat to when I need a pick-me-up, want to celebrate a special occasion or simply want a delicious meal. S and I especially like the small tables for 2, with leather armchairs in the back of the restaurant, near the bar.

3 best in Asia-Pacific (excluding Singapore)

Tetsuya’s. I can’t not put Tetsuya Wakuda’s eponymous, Sydney-based restaurant on this list. I really admire Tetsuya. He’s not only a creative genius, he’s a creative genius whose cookbook is remarkably accessible and easy to use. Dinner in his restaurant is a once in a lifetime experience that every foodie must have. Course after course of amazingly inventive and mouth-watering dishes are served in what must be one of the most serene restaurants in the world.

La Petite Cuisine. It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of Justin Quek. Justin has really taken his cooking to the next level since moving from Singapore to Taipei. What really delights me is his dedication to sussing out the very best and freshest local Taiwanese produce. Using his very refined skills, he’s able to transform these ingredients into gorgeously simple, light and elegant Modern French fare.

Gaddi’s. I was really blown away by Chef David Goodridge when I dined in this old and famous French restaurant in the Peninsula Hong Kong. Goodridge, formerly of Le Manoir Aux Quat Saisons, Pierre Gagniare and Maison Troisgros, has given life to this grande old dame. His cooking is refined. It’s clean. It’s highly competent. And it’s beautiful. The dishes he creates are works of art, to be admired and then consumed hungrily. I wish I could afford to eat here more often.

2 favorite in Asia-Pacific (excluding Singapore)

Yu’u. I love this over-the-counter Japanese hole in the wall in Melbourne. I was so enchanted with it on my first trip that I went back just 2 days later. The food here is very reasonably priced. It’s also cooked perfectly. I was so enamored with many of the dishes here that I tried replicating them as soon as I got home.

Buon Ricordo. If anyone were to ask me what would be the last dish I would want to eat before I die, my answer would be the truffled egg pasta from this fabulous Italian restaurant in Sydney. I try to make a pilgrimage to Buon Ricordo as often as possible. Of course, the truffled egg pasta isn’t the only thing divine here. Everything is fantastic.

Well, those are my nominations. I’m totally excited to read those of my fellow bloggers. I’ll be trying to compile a list of which bloggers did take part and post a round-up /list as soon as possible. And of course, I still need your vote. So, quick, stop whatever it is you’re doing. Spend the next 10 minutes thinking about the best meals you’ve had in Asia-Pacific and then email me.

High praise for Iggy’s

Regular readers know that I have only good things to say about Ignatius Chan and his restaurant in the Regent Singapore, Iggy’s. It appears that big-time foodie and celebrated food writer Kevin Gould feels the same way. This weekend, he contributed an article on Iggy’s to The Guardian newspaper.

Mr Gould, among other things, writes, “Ignatius Chan presides over a restaurant that serves the subtlest, most satisfying east/west cuisine I’ve ever eaten.”

Congratulations again to Ignatius, Chef Dorin and Ignatius’ wonderful wife Janice.

Read the article here.

Asia Pacific Best Restaurants List

IMPORTANT UPDATE: voting is extended to 12 June 2006. If you are a non-blogger, you can email me your results anytime from now until Monday, 12 June 2006 (bloggers, please continue to post your nominations on 2 June 2006).

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Announcing the First Annual

I’ve been doing quite a bit of thinking about Restaurant magazine’s survey of the world’s fifty best restaurants and how few restaurants from Asia, Australia and the Pacific islands were represented in it. So, in a bold (and perhaps hubristic) move, I’ve decided to try and build a comprehensive listing of Asia-Pacific’s best restaurants.

This list, however, depends entirely on you, fellow bloggers, readers and friends. And in such, anyone and everyone is welcome to take part in this. I’ll make this caveat right away: any survey is only as good as the people who take part in it. And it’s only really credible if a lot of people take part. Also, no survey is perfect. Nor can it be truly definitive or objective. Zagat isn’t. Nor is Michelin. Both simply represent a statistical summation of what a percentage of the population feels (for the former, a wide range of people, for the latter a small group of anonymous “experts”). So too will this survey be a summation of what you guys tell me. That said, let’s try and put together one damn fine list! In general, all voters will be asked to nominate either 8 or 6 restaurants (depending on where you live), but via different criteria. Here’s how I propose that this will work:

For people in Asia-Pacific (which includes the Indian subcontinent, the Central Asian states, Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, China, East Timor, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, North Korea, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands):

1. Nominate what you believe are the best 2 restaurants in your home city / country. Please write at least 1 sentence per restaurant explaining why you’ve made your decision.

2. Nominate what you feel is your favorite restaurant in your home city / country. (This may or may not be different than what you consider your city’s “best”. But for many, it will. For example, in Singapore, I might rank Crystal Jade La Mien Xiao Long Bao as my favorite restaurant, but it would not be what I would consider one of the city’s top two restaurants.) Please also write at least 1 sentence explaining why this is your favorite.

3. Please nominate what you believe are the 3 best restaurants from outside your own home city / country that are located within Asia-Pacific. Please write at least 1 sentence per restaurant explaining why you’ve made your decision.

4. Please nominate what are your 2 favorite restaurants outside your own home city / country that are located within Asia-Pacific. (Again, for example, I might pick Yu’u in Melbourne as a favorite but it would not make my “3 best” list.) Please write at least 1 sentence per restaurant explaining why you’ve made your decision.

scenes from some of Asia’s top tables

For voters living outside of Asia-Pacific:

1. Please nominate what you believe are the 4 best restaurants located within Asia-Pacific. Please write at least 1 sentence per restaurant explaining why you’ve made your decision.

2. Please nominate what are your 2 favorite restaurants located within Asia-Pacific. Please write at least 1 sentence per restaurant explaining why you’ve made your decision.

For bloggers:

Please post your survey results on 2 June 2006. You can include the logo I’ve created. There is a big version available here and a smaller version available here. Please also link back to Chubby Hubby. Also, and very importantly, please email me a copy of your post/results. I’ll need a soft copy so I can compile the results.

ALSO, if you wouldn’t mind talking about (i.e posting about) this survey on your blog, encouraging others to take part, I’d be eternally grateful.

For non-bloggers:

Please, please also take part in this. Email your results to me at aun@chubbyhubby.net by 2 June 2006 (EXTENDED TO 12 JUNE 2006) as well. We will need as many voters as possible to make this a comprehensive survey.

Compilation and publishing:

I will, by the end of June, publish on my blog a summary of the results. Ideally, we will be able to work together to come up with a great list. In addition, I will seek sponsorship to try and publish a book containing the full results, with edited descriptions, full addresses, etc of each restaurant on the survey. If successful, every person who takes part in this will get a free copy of the published book. (If by chance you represent a company that would want to sponsor the publication of this survey, please, please, please email me).

When you email me (this goes for both bloggers and non-bloggers), please include your full name and mailing address. That way if we do get sponsorship, I ensure that I will be able to mail you a copy (plus credit you if you desire).

So, let’s start judging. This will only work with your help. And I do so hope it works. Asia-Pacific has for far too long gone without a proper “best restaurants” standard. In the USA, there’s Zagat; in Europe, there’s Michelin. It’s time to build one for Asia-Pacific.

Iggy’s is the 4th best restaurant in Asia

photo courtesy of Iggy’s

Regular readers know that I’m a huge fan of Iggy’s, the fantastic Modern European, over-the-counter fine dining restaurant in the Regent Hotel here in Singapore. Owner Ignatius Chan and chef Dorin Schuster have, through perfect service, exquisite food, and a wonderfully serene setting, created what I believe is one of the region’s best restaurants.

I was thrilled, therefore, to recently receive in the mail the 12 April 2006 edition of Restaurant Magazine. This is the much-hyped, much talked about and much written about issue that contains the article, “The World’s Fifty Best Restaurants”. The list is based on surveying 560 “experts” around the world. The top fifty are profiled over 52 thrilling pages. Also included in the article are various sidebars. Two that peaked my interest were “Best Five in Asia” and “And the next fifty are…” According to the survey, Asia’s best restaurants are, in order, Buchara (India), Felix (Hong Kong), Spoon (Hong Kong), Iggy’s (Singapore), and Wusabi (India). In the “next fifty” ranking, Iggy’s comes in at number 98. It is, it must be noted, the only restaurant in Southeast Asia in the world’s top 100.

So, let’s all raise a glass and congratulate Ignatius and Dorin for this accolade. 4th Best in Asia. By implication, the very best in Singapore!

Now, while you’re all furiously punching +65 6732 2234 into your cellphones, booking hard-to-get seats at Iggy’s counter, I’d like to segue into a small rant. Because, despite being one of the 560 voters who took part in Restaurant’s survey, I have huge problems with it. The survey, once you examine who the voters are and where they are from, reveals itself as being Eurocentric and thus biased. Of the 560 voters, 280 are from Europe, 78 from the Americas, 47 from Africa, 31 from the Middle East, 31 from Central Asia and Russia, 62 from Asia, and 31 from Australia and New Zealand.

Further, when voting, the chosen “experts” are required to vote for / nominate 2 restaurants from their own appointed region and 3 from outside of their region. The Far East, comprising Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, China, East Timor, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Micronesia, Nauru, N.Korea, Philippines, Singapore, S.Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam, is amazingly considered one region. There were 31 voters from this region (As mentioned, I was lucky to be one of them). In Europe, however, France was a region on its own, with 31 voters. Similarly, the UK & Ireland; the Benelux countries; Spain & Portugal; Denmark, Sweden and Normway; Italy; Austria, Germany & Switzerland; and the Baltics were distinct regions, each with 31 voters. Greece, Turkey, Cyprus and Georgia had 16 voters; Eastern Europe also had 16 voters. If you consider that every voter was asked to pick two restaurants from their own region, we get a minimum 560 required votes cast for European restaurants. In Asia, we have only a minimum of 124 required votes. Further, voters hailing from the Far East region are barred from voting for any other restaurants from the 20 countries in this region. A voter in France, however, can cast his or her 3 extra votes for restaurants anywhere in Europe outside of France. S/he can vote for restaurants in Spain, England, Germany, etc. Anyone can see that this survey is thus biased towards restaurants in Europe. No surprise then that 39 of the survey’s top fifty are restaurants from Europe. From the “next fifty”, 35 of 50 restaurants are based in Europe.

To me, what immediately screamed out that there was something fishy in the pages of Restaurant Magazine was that there was not one restaurant from Japan among the world’s best 100 restaurants. After doing a little digging and a little math, as you can see, it’s obvious the survey is stacked against restaurants not located in Europe.

My challenge to Restaurant Magazine is to make this survey more equitable. If you are going to call the Far East one region, then Western Europe should likewise be one region. Let’s make the number of voters from the Americas, Asia and Europe more realistic and closer together. There’s no reason other than pure calculated unfairness that Europe should have 3 times as many voters as any other geographical area.

I’ll wager that if Restaurant makes positive changes to its survey, doing as I suggest, we’ll find next year that there are many more Asian (and American) restaurants moving into the top fifty. I’d even bet that Iggy’s would move up dramatically, if not into the top fifty (which I believe it deserves to be in), then at least a good 20-30 places. For now, at least, I can comfort myself in the knowledge that Asia’s 4th best restaurant is just a phone call and a 15 minute drive away.

Iggy’s is located at level three of The Regent Singapore. Call (65) 6732 2234 for reservations.

A (really) quick Q&A with Anthony Bourdain

photo courtesy of Discovery

I’ll admit to being a total television junkie. I love my idiot box. And I’m a master at channel surfing. Nothing annoys S more than my ability to watch 3-4 shows simultaneously by switching back and forth between them every few minutes. Of course, some shows need to be savoured in their entirety. Good shows. Some of my recent favourites include Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares, Entourage and America’s Next Top Model (yeah, yeah, I have plebian tastes). I also really like Anthony Bourdain’s show. I’ve been a fan of his ever since reading “Kitchen Confidential”, a hilarious and insightful look behind the scenes of restaurant kitchens. Since reading it, I’ve stopped ordering seafood specials on Mondays and try my best to avoid salad bars. His TV show, A Cook’s Tour, was a fun and graphic journey around the world. Actually meetting the guy over crab bee hoon and beer at Sin Huat Eating House only made me like him and respect what he’s doing even more. In person, as on camera, Tony’s a no-nonsense, sarcastic, funny and laid-back foodie. His latest show, backed and produced by Discovery, is called ANTHONY BOURDAIN: NO RESERVATIONS. Here in Singapore, we’re a month and a half into the first season. Over in the USA, the second season premiered just a few weeks ago.

Discovery describes the show this way:

“In ANTHONY BOURDAIN: NO RESERVATIONS, this anti-celebrity chef is out of the kitchen and on the road — no holds barred and as feisty as ever. His authentic travel experiences — the good, the bad and the ugly — are presented as Bourdain weaves the globe with his authentic, peculiar, raw and unfiltered edge.

“’This is not a food show — it’s about people, cultures and places as seen through the eyes of a chef and the prism of food,’ says Bourdain. ‘Food is maybe the fastest, easiest and best way “in” to an unfamiliar place and culture. Once you’ve sat down with people and eaten their food, their whole world opens up to you in ways that wouldn’t ordinarily happen. Food, after all, is the purest expression of a country, of a culture, a region and a personality.’ Discovery’s series ANTHONY BOURDAIN: NO RESERVATIONS is sure to leave viewers hungry for more.”

As part of the global marketing push to get all of you (us) to turn on your TVs and watch Tony’s show, I was asked if I wanted to conduct a short interview by phone, fax or email with the world traveler. Because I was about to jump on a plane when the offer arrived in my inbox a few weeks ago, I opted for email and shot off a couple of quick questions. His (short) replies just arrived. So, for your reading pleasure, the shortest interview with Anthony Bourdain probably ever published…

CH: Hi Tony. How will this show be different from your last one? Are there any major differences that viewers and fans will want to take note of?

AB: We’re always trying to not repeat ourselves. We’re always looking for locations and subjects that haven’t been explored on television or on other travel shows. And we’re always looking to push things. We’ll be doing a Beirut show in a few weeks. As far as any major differences? I’ll always be me—that’s for sure. Too old and too mean to change that. I’m not going to morph into Rachael Ray all of a sudden—or find religion—or start doing Happy BBQ competition shows.

CH: I read somewhere that you were going to take a year off and live in Hoi-An. Have you gotten around to that yet?

AB: I haven’t got around to living in Hoi An yet. That comes after the TV career is over.

CH: What do you hate most about being interviewed by journalists? What question that you get asked over and over again do you hate the most?

AB: Being interviewed by journalists is easy compared to the honest toil of working in professional kitchens. So I don’t mind. I know how lucky I am that anyone even CARES what I think. As far as the question I’m getting tired of? “What did that cobra heart taste like?”

CH: If you could only smoke one brand of cigarette and drink one brand of beer for the rest of your life, what would they be?

AB: Lark, which is very unpopular and increasingly hard to find. As far as beer? My favorite, the best beer in the world is Guiness—as brewed in Dublin. But its not everyday stuff—it’s a bit too heavy for breakfast. I’d be perfectly happy stuck with a lifetime supply of Heineken.

CH: What 3 albums/CDs are your favorites to cook to?

AB: The Superfly soundtrack by Curtis Mayfield. Doggy Style—Snoop Dogg. Tepid Peppermint by the Brian Jonestown Massacre.

CH: Describe the contents of your suitcase.

AB: The usual clothes, a laptop, cigarettes, chargers, Immodium, appropriate footwear. No latex underwear or bondage gear—if that’s what you’re hoping for.

CH: What’s your favorite super-fast foolproof recipe that can be whipped together quickly and easily but that always impresses people?

AB: A proper omelette. Because it’s amazing how few people can make a damn omelette.

Blogs to visit

Boy do things move fast in the blogosphere. It was only a few months ago (September in fact) when I wrote about some of my favorite new blogs. Now, some of those, like the always sharp-witted Monkey Gland (aka Jam-Faced) and the brilliantly talented Chockylit are considered veterans and role models for newer bloggers!

I thought I’d share two new blogs that I’ve become a big fan of and one slightly older blog that I love and admire. Curiously and perhaps coincidentally, both of the new blogs that I’ve become enamored with are written by people with professional links to the creative industries–the first is by a marketing professional who deals with the f&b industry and the second is by a professional magazine and book editor and writer.

photo from Matt Bites

Matt Bites is a big beautiful blog. Created by a marketing and design professional, it, of course, looks great. It has a slick, strong but clean layout that I like, gorgeous photos, and a really nice use of fonts (I’m slightly obsessed with typography). Matt also writes very well, with just the right mix of humor, passion and humility. He clearly loves food and life and his blog is brimming with energy. I have to admit it’s also nice to see another bloke blogging on food. There are just too few of us.

photo from Greedy Goose

Greedy Goose is written by a friend, ex-colleague, and fellow dog-owner. The blog’s creator, Annette, rightly points out in her very first post that she “eats like a man”. This is a really delicious blog, filled with great photos, wonderful stories on pigging out, dining out, and cooking. And lots and lots of humor.

illustration from Kokblog

Kokblog is probably the most unique blog in the food blog world. Unlike the other two mentioned above, it’s not that new; from what I can tell, Johanna started it in July 2005. A trained architect, wizard artist and passionate foodie, this blog is a pictorial journey through Johanna’s favorite recipes, most of them Swedish. I love that instead of photos–like most of us–Johanna accompanies each post with the cutest illustration. I can only imagine that in a few months, smart food magazine editors will be commissioning drawings from her to accompany articles in their publications. I know I would. Johanna also writes clearly and succinctly–no rambling for 1000 words on the history of obscure ingredients for this gal–which is something I really appreciate as a reader. Sometimes, brevity is best.