Salt Tapas & Bar, Foodbar Dada. Worries and Talking To God.

Only a small-plates dinner venue would cater to both the ravenous and the only-slightly-peckish. Which is how we ended up at Salt Tapas & Bar by Luke Mangan (Raffles City Shopping Centre).

Lovely feel to it. We supposed the juxtaposition of usual industrial-chic x warm brick walls x authentic Spanish tiles meant to mirror the casual “modern Spanish with an Australian twist” tapas.

We didn’t get far down the menu, having only the rocket, parmesan, caramelised walnut and pear salad; and the tagine of snapper and octopus, chickpeas, silverbeet, date and lemon (liked this – good mix of flavours: Middle Eastern references, octopus not rubbery) before heading off in search of bartenders mixologists from the sadly defunct Klee Bar.

One was rumoured to mix at Foodbar Dada (facebook, 60 Roberston Quay), so off we went. Behind a nondescript exterior next to Smitten Coffee & Tea Bar, a small-seater with industrial salvage wood retro setup.

The dude on duty didn’t look familiar, but we were pleased with the food: the Spanish omelette with prawns and asparagus was already sitting on the bar waiting to be sliced, Dada croquettes accompanied by moro miso?, Josper squid with egg (the bread was unnecessary),

Escalivada Pintxo – roasted eggplant, specially-imported anchovies, dehydrated olives, roasted red pepper mousse, and much fun watching the tapas being assembled at the counter.

Everything seemed so natural (the selling point of the joint being that the daily menu depends on what Spanish chef Manel Valero finds at the wet market that morning) that it was somewhat of a surprise to spot cans of Albert and Ferran Adria’s Texturas overhead. Would dearly love to play with the emulsifiers and the spherification stuff.

“Bespoke” cocktails didn’t turn out too bad. In the same vein as Klee, the customer is to tell the mixologist preferred flavours/textures and he’ll do something appropriately tasty with fresh fruit (juice).

Unfortunately, while anxieties may have their edge temporarily dulled by good food and drink and company though, they merely retreat into the background to rear their worrisome heads when you’re alone in the darker reaches of the night.

The day before, we were doing the chapter on “Talking to God” in Matthias Media‘s Back To Basics. The verse was Philippians 4:6-7:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Q: So why not be anxious about anything?

• It is not about being holier-than-thou and claiming that nothing fazes us; we are titanium etc. It is human to worry about things. After all, we are not in complete control of our future, and it is foolish to think that we are. The rich man who told his soul to rest and relax on the basis of good revenue in agricultural produce that year was called a fool by God because his life would be demanded of him that day (Luke 12:16:-20). So life does not consist in the abundance of one’s possession and so we can’t find security in them.
  
• We worry because we can’t see what’s in the future, we are not sure that we will get what we want, we are afraid of what might come upon us.
• But worrying is pointless since no one can even add a single hour to their span of life. If we can’t even do a small thing like that, why worry about the rest? (Luke 12:26)

Q: Why present our requests to God?

• because God knows how to take care of us and knows our needs – if he can feed the ravens who neither sow nor reap, and grow the lilies even though they neither toil nor spin, and clothe the grass that has only a brief life, he will certainly know what we need and give them to us if our lives are not focused on these things but on God’s kingdom (Luke 12:22-34);
• because God is in control of everything in this universe down to the most minor detail – each of the sparrows that are sold five for two pennies in the market, and the number of hairs on our head (Luke 12:4-7);
• because not only does God have the knowledge of our needs and ability to fulfil them, it is his good pleasure to do so now and more in the next life (Luke 12:32). If even human fathers, who are self-centred and self-worshipping, will not give their child a serpent when he asks for a fish, how much more will the heavenly Father give good things (in this case the Holy Spirit) to those who ask him (Luke 11:5-13)?

Q: What outcome should we expect from our bringing our requests to God?

• There is no promise that our requests will definitely be granted (therefore, no promise that we will be healed or that we will get the job or husband/wife/house/dog/cat/car we want, even if we had “faith”); rather, the promise is that the peace of God will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
• This peace of God cannot refer to the reasoning used by some to back up their decisions, that “I’m sure this is God’s will for me because i felt such peace in my heart when i decided”. Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane wasn’t feeling particularly at peace with what he knew to be God’s will that he should die on the cross for the sins of the world, but he decided to be obedient to God.
• In the context of the passage, this peace is probably the opposite of being anxious, that is, this is the peace that trusts that God is in control, God knows our needs, and will always act for the good of those who love him. This preserves and protects us to keep on going in Christ, because we understand that he is still trustworthy.

Reading Haruki Murakami’s 1Q84 on the First Day of the Chinese Lunar New Year

After attempting to obey the fifth commandment with some un-inspired cooking for/entertaining guests who had come over to the family home to celebrate the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year,

settled down for a long read of Haruki Murakami‘s 1Q84 tome that i’d picked up at Kinokuniya Liang Court after some CNY eve grocery shopping at Meidi-ya.

Rather enjoyed it though couldn’t help thinking that Philip K. Dick and Jorge Luis Borges would have written this more succinctly and with more oomph. Still, its 925-page length and generous vagueness would provide something for everyone to feed on: if one wished to view the book as touting the power of literature (eg. Douglas Haddow for The Guardian), well…then as the Little People might say, though only as Marshall McLuhan,”Ho ho.”, as they might also chuckle if one was inclined to contrast the insidious tyranny of the Little People in 1Q84 with George Orwell’s Big Brother in 1984. Someone else (perhaps the scriptwriter for the movie spin-off) might also quite easily read it to mean that only true love will keep people alive.

In 1Q84, Murakami’s usual OCD-ly-disciplined alienated protagonists find themselves picking their way again through the leitmotif sands of shifting reality, only this time, the alternate reality is easy to identify – it has two moons. (For a summary of the plot, try: Boyd Tonkin for The Independent, Christopher Tayler for London Review of Books.) In the parallel world, there are cults with their own version of reality (see New York Books’ quick reference to Murakami’s earlier research on cults) – the suffering Leader willing to sacrifice himself, the prayer of the Society of Witnesses for the forgiveness and for the Lord in Heaven’s kingdom to come, closely referenced Christianity.

It had been my argument, many years ago, that Christianity was just another cult trying to impose its warped version of reality on the right-thinking postmodern public, until someone pointed out that the truth was easily evidenced and that if i actually looked, i would see that twin moons hung in the night sky.

PS:

The lemon almond cake with pistachio and rose flakes, and the cranberry and walnut brownie cubes were delicious in a good homemade way: the barely-discernible almond in the cake kept it moist and the thin icing provided just the right amount of sweet sourness; the brownies were made with melted chocolate and cocoa for a properly chocolatey taste. Everything was baked in situ at All Good Things Bakery (facebook) at Watermark, Rodyk Street, Robertson Quay:

Whole New Worlds

There is little that can trump the excitement of exploring a new world. The great wilderness of wines is that (not quite Aldous Huxley-ish) brave new world for me.

At Crystal Wine‘s thematic tasting of named wines in Decanter Magazine‘s Best of France 2011, i was amazed to find two bottles that nosed like roasted meat – the Chateau Lafon-Rochet, St Estephe 4CC 2004 (Decanter: 16.75) and another which i can’t recall (memo to self to take contemporaneous notes). Tasting in parallel with perusing the tasting notes in Decanter was very helpful in figuring out the vernacular of the wine world.

And at The Wine Gallery’s Magnum Wine Fair, was intrigued enough by the intensely floral aroma of the Mario Lucchetti Guardengo Lacrima di Morro d’ Alba Superiore 2009 to get a bottle of it, despite the self-imposed purchasing ban until storage is sorted. 100% native Lacrima grapes. “Violets and raspberry jam” it seems.

And happily, quite a few new-ish wine bars in Singapore offer by-the-glass or Enomatic machine menus that give n00bs the opportunity to take bottles out for a test drive. More expensive than purchasing the whole bottle and the wines won’t be in as good shape, but as an L-plater, i’m just happy to have a go:

Verre Wine Bar at 8 Rodyk Street, Robertson Quay; Taberna Wine Bar at Binjai Park;

Vintry Wine Bar & Restaurant at Royal Selangor, Clarke Quay with its 4 Enomatic wine-dispensing machines;

Praelum Wine Bistro (facebook) at Duxton Hill (2 Enomatic machines); and

The Tastings Room at Marina Square (by-the-glass wine menu).

Yesterday, i was roped in at literally the last minute (ok, if literally, then last 15 minutes, while eating breakfast) to help run a Christianity Explored group. The six/seven week course gives people an opportunity to explore Christianity and think about what life is all about: no question too silly or offensive, no pressure to convert or anything. Basically, Mark’s Gospel is the car key so they can take Christianity out for a bit of a test drive for the next two months, see how it works, and discover if they really need what the Bible claims they need.

It’s a whole new world for some and it’s so very exciting to be on hand to show them around. Thankfully, we’re not used car salesmen working on commission nor are we selling lemons. I mean, if it’s a relationship with God that’s on offer, all that we need to do is to articulate the wonderful free offer and tell people how to accept it. No payment needed. No better offer, ever.

In Mark 1, we are already confronted with the claims of Jesus. Mark says he is the Christ (not a surname, a title – Χριστός “the Anointed One”, Greek translation of Hebrew מָשִׁיחַ (“Messiah”)) and the Son of God. What proof is there? In just this chapter alone:

1. Isaiah prophesised that before the Lord came, there would be a messenger preparing the way – before Jesus came, John the Baptist prepared the people for his arrival.
2. The Spirit resting on him points to him being the stump of Jesse who will judge and rule the earth (as prophesised by Isaiah – Isaiah 11).
3. God himself attests that Jesus is his Son.

Naturally, this led to good questions about the historicity of the Bible, the accuracy of human authorship, the objectivity of the accounts, possibility of miracles, with some Plato, Pascal (though only a passing reference to that rather misunderstood wager), Richard Dawkins stirred in for good measure.

I suppose this isn’t often said about issues of life-and-death, but: this is going to be serious fun!

A Sabbath Sunday

Overall, a happily fruitful Sunday:

$$

Malachi 2:17-3:18 for Sunday sermon – clarified some thinking about tithing which i hadn’t quite articulated to myself – the 10% tithing and co-relation between tithing and blessing was particular to the Old Testament when God still dealt with that people while they were living in a land he had brought them to – it was a direct commandment and a form of taxes for the upkeep of the nation’s temple and the Levites (priests). But all this was a foreshadowing of the reality that God’s people were more than just the nation of Israel and that God’s land was the heavenly kingdom not an earthly one. Therefore, the commendation at the present time is to give of one’s own accord, as much as one wishes. This should not be governed by any specific church regulations, though what one spends on is an indication of where one’s heart is, so there is the commendation of the church in Macedonia in 2 Corinthians 8 that they gave generously from their poverty because of the abundance of joy that came from knowing God and the eagerness to see God’s people taken care of) – that is to say, the motivation for giving was commended, rather than the generosity of the giving per se. What one’s credit card statement looks like would also show if one thinks like the fool of Luke 12:16-21 who, having ample goods, told his soul to relax, eat, drink and be merry, not realising that God would ask for the return of his soul. But a specific obligation of the church is to feed the people who take care of the church (1 Corinthians 9:7-11), though this is likened to feeding an ox treading the grain rather than stuffing the coffers of a dictator (furthermore, many of the apostles declined to make use of this right),

just not enough time to talk to all the people i wanted to catch up with between services, having a baby fall asleep on me after 30 seconds (i know i’m really boring but that’s really a new low, i said on facebook, and 30 people liked it),

a heart-threatening run along the Singapore River with the flu bug in the system, a grocery run at Meidiya supermarket in Liang Court, then an artery-clogging fry-up (advertised on the menu as “Heart-stopping Hashies: Two hash browns topped with wilted spinach, scrambled eggs, sautéed mushrooms, crispy bacon bits and creamy hollandaise sauce”) and a Bloody Mary for brunch at The Merry Men Kitchen + Bar (86 Robertson Quay, #01-02 Robertson Blue),

knuckling down and getting work done at Toby’s Estate (8 Rodyk Street, Robertson Quay) on the first study for the upcoming camp (Mark 1:1-15: (i) the prophets of old (Isaiah and Malachi) testify concerning John the Baptist and Jesus as messenger and the Lord respectively; (ii) God himself testifies concerning Jesus saying that he is his son with whom he is well-pleased; (iii) Jesus’ own actions testify that he is all the nation of Israel, also called God’s son, could not be),

taking delivery of a Jill Sander x UNIQLO +J pin-striped jacket, my old second generation ipod and a copy of Christopher Ash’s Remaking a Broken World,

having someone join me after choir practice so we could enjoy the short but fascinating Book of Ruth together – not the cheesy love story so many make it out to be, rather a narrative of how God sovereignly worked through the disobedience of Elimelech, Mahlon and Chilion (who were all Israelites who ought to have known God’s laws), and the obedience of Boaz (unlike his ancestor Judah – Tamar incident (Genesis 38)) and Ruth the Moabite (born into a nation that was an enemy of God’s people). The book repeatedly commends their insistence on doing right before God despite what seems to be detriment to self – Boaz impairing his own estate by marrying Ruth and giving the first boy to Naomi for her old age, and Ruth not just risking it as a foreigner in the violent Judges-era land of Judah  but also seemingly giving up her own happiness by not going after unrelated or younger men who were not Naomi’s redeemers. From this unlikely union would come Obed, the father of Jesse, the father of great king David, the father…many generations later of the greatest king, Jesus,

a shared dinner at Verre Wine Bar (facebook. 8 Rodyk Street. Dinner set at S$35 with a choice of starter and main or main and dessert, and a glass of wine), and a chat, then going home in the rain, inspired to cook beef bourguignon for tomorrow’s dinner. (Earworm: Frédéric Chopin’s Nocturne in E-flat Op. 9 No. 2. Played by Vladimir Ashkenazy, rather than, say, Arthur Rubinstein)

Graze at Martin No. 38

At the second Graze restaurant, Graze at Martin No. 38, Chris Donnellan had helm of the kitchen. Yenn Wong‘s Epicure set the stakes high by continual reference to his award as The Age Good Food Guide’s Young Chef of the Year 2009 in their publicity.

Hecker Guthrie, an interior design firm from Melbourne, set out to give the place a neighbourhood (said neighbourhood being Robertson Quay not Toa Payoh) vibe, making use of the high ceiling and spacious interior of the former godown (warehouse) for ceiling-to-floor windows for light, and for playing with long parallel lines – white chairs with black tables, chair display walls, a row of bright blue SMEGs, a line of wooden boards drying, and a lengthy counter (which unfortunately, was cluttered with empty wine bottles and assorted stuff one of the times we visited).

But interior decoration could only do so much for the concept, with the front of house and food/drink having to hold their own. While service from the two who seemed to be the manager and supervisor was competent and thoughtful, the rest of the staff either stared blankly at us while we were trying to attract their attention (or contemplatively at an uncleared table) or kept interrupting conversations to ask if we had any orders (this happened so many times during the course of one night, even after we pointed out to her each time that we were talking, that we left in frustration and had dessert elsewhere).

Fortunately, the food was exciting (if you ordered the signature dishes):

brunch: the “signature cast iron pan two free-range organic eggs – poached with roast potatoes, bacon, sausage, baked beans, roast tomatoes, mushrooms” was not a signature dish of Chef Chris but a hold-over from Graze at Rochester Park. At S$25, it was expensive for a normal fry-up and the nice bread had to be ordered separately.

at dinner, the fresh seafood really stood-out, and the pairing of sumac, cumin and pomegranate in some dishes – quite brillant:

Pacific Oyster 70mm, naturally farmed in Marlborough Sound, New Zealand;

sumac seared scallops, cauliflower cream, cumin oil, pomegranate – the flavours were a hit;

pan-seared barramundi, chorizo broth, watercress, salad of ruby red grapefruit, avocado, mint – fantastic layering of tastes;

220g eye fillet, grain fed from Murray Bridge, South Australia, crispy spring onion, chopped parsley, rocket salad, house butter;

4 jumbo tiger prawns, skinny frites, house sea urchin butter, chopped parsley, ruby red grapefruit – good;

oven-baked sea bass, bamboo shoots, ginger, lemongrass curry – a bit too familiar to avoid comparisons with Thai curry;

green leaves, house dressing and thick cut chips with harrisa – the chips were undercooked and soggy;

tomato, pomegranate, sumac, cumin salad.

In an enclave, past the communal table with its towering flowers, was the Provisions store stocked with gourmet bottles, tins, cans and boxes.

The sweets (in the British sense) displayed on the counter were also for consumption within the restaurant. Coffee beans from Graffeo.

Coffee Joints for Mugger-toadery + Sunny Holidays for Pie and Good Old Isaiah

We were at different coffee places over the last few days, mugging hard. The seasonal blend (Columbia, Papua New Guinea, Guatemala, Costa Rica) at 40 Hands Coffee (facebook) was not half bad though the foam was slightly strange. Pity the cakes were obviously rather tired at the end of a Saturday.

The Thumper blend in a flat white at Smitten Coffee & Tea Bar (facebook) was much better than previously experienced. The barista this time was Darren Chang – roast was still dark but well-extracted in the milk. And the ET Artisan macarons were delicious as usual.

L’etoile Cafe (facebook) in a corner shophouse along Owen Road was the bomb: natural light during the day, space galore, power sockets in the wall, wifi, pleasant music, nice people who actually offered repeatedly to top up the hot water in the teapot, well-made coffee from Highlander Coffee blends.

When the sun came out and the skies were blue and the wind beckoning, it was too nice outside to be studying and i was extremely glad for a bit of croquet, frisbee and excellent Windowsill Pies (facebook. pecan and toffee, Christmas, morello cherry from the Farmers’ Market at Loewen Gardens, Dempsey), and also to have David Jackman give an Introduction to Isaiah.

Isaiah prophesised during reigns of 4 kings of Judah – Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah (Isaiah 1:1, about 732-686BC). During this time, the northern kingdom of Samaria (Israel) was besieged by Assyria and eventually overthrown at its people, God’s people, scattered. Isaiah was called on the year Azariah (father of Jotham) died (Azariah had fancied himself to be priest as well as king and tried to offer incense in the temple. He was struck with leprosy and co-reigned with Jotham his son before expiring (2 Kings 15)). At that time, Assyria was the top nation (2 Kings 15-17). But Babylon would get rid of them eventually. It was a time of  great political upheaval.

The prophesies of Isaiah were unsettling. They were warnings of judgment on the people of God in the north (Israel) and south (Judah, though also called Israel in Isaiah, metonymically, because “Israel” also refers to “God’s people” since they all came from Jacob who was renamed “Israel”)(Isaiah 1:2). What did God have against them?

The ox knows its owner,
and the donkey its master’s crib,
but Israel does not know,
my people do not understand.”
Ah, sinful nation,
a people laden with iniquity,
offspring of evildoers,
children who deal corruptly!
They have forsaken the LORD,
they have despised the Holy One of Israel,
they are utterly estranged. (Isaiah 1:3-4)

It’s the same issue that has been plaguing mankind since The Fall – creatures who don’t acknowledge their Creator, though God has already made himself known in many times and many ways to Israel. The faithful city has become the whore (Isaiah 1:21), the people who had entered into a covenant relationship with God had very quickly abandoned him. How will this sinful people become the holy righteous nation of Isaiah 66?

Isaiah tells us how. And again, it is the great promise of God willing to reach out to his own rebellious people instead of just destroying them as he could have as their Creator. Surely this is not what an almighty God does – humbly (or rather humiliatingly) sending prophet after prophet to call his people back to him? Isn’t that rather…needy? But this God isn’t a god thought up by humans and so is quite outside our expectations – he is all powerful and yet needlessly compassionate; he is all about both divine judgment and divine love, simultaneously:

Isaiah 1-12
Here, there are great promises of God reaching out to his people, but the severe threat from God of consequences for not turning back to him. Isaiah introduces the choices that people of God will have to make – accept that God is really God and obey him, or reject him and face judgment for rejecting him (Isaiah 1-5). But this is a reiteration of what so many of God’s servants and prophets from all the generations since Adam have been telling the people and nothing much has changed – the people just can’t snap out of their sinfulness. So Isaiah 6-12 contains that great hope that God is going to come himself to do something to change the situation. The focus is on a figure called the Immanuel (meaning “God with us”) who will come to do something for his people – God isn’t a distant deity but one who cares enough to be intimately involved in his creation. The Immanuel would be a shoot from stump of Jesse (that is, a human from the line of David. Jesse was the son of Boaz and Ruth and father of David), a great king who would be God’s witness, yet also God (Isaiah 9:6 – “Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace). (The people later called “Christians” didn’t make up the divinity of Jesus.)

But Jesus would come only 800 years in the future. Meanwhile, the message to God’s people was the same then as it is now – they had to choose whom they would trust – God, or themselves or other people. So God tells Ahaz is not to be afraid (Isaiah 7) that Syria and Israel (their own brother!) had devised evil against Judah:

if you are not firm in faith,
you will not be firm at all. (Isaiah 7:9b)

Are you going to believe in God’s promise that if you keep trusting him he will save you or will you rely on human promises to protect yourself? (Obviously, in all situations, it would be illogical to claim to “trust God” to provide things he never promised in the first place – like prosperity or health or a good marriage or a satisfying career.)

Isaiah 13-27
10 oracles are preached about various nations in 2 sets of 5. The nation of Babylon heads each set (Isaiah 13, 21). God will restore the Davidic monarchy who will rule Zion and also the world. Though in the short-term, Assyria threatens to destroy God’s people, it is but only a rod in God’s hands. People need to know that God isn’t just the national deity of Israel, and that all the nations are in the hands of God. No nation has any additional or independent power other than the power that God gives them. In the context of that era, if God can bring his promises to fruition by controlling even the great Babylon then nothing would be able stand in his way; God can do it in the face of human determination to resist him, fight against him and ignore that he is God. God has whole world in his hand; he is the lord of history of all nations, governs whole earth, and causes the rise and fall of nations. Why do the people of God rely on alliances or coalitions or human politics? They are useless because it is not other humans who are in control but God. And God had already given Judah pretty specific promises that he would not punish them with Babylon if only they trusted that same promise!

Isaiah 24-27 extends this idea to whole world in every period of history. God promises that he will eventually judge all human rebellion – everybody everywhere will come under judgment of God, not just creatures but all spiritual things in heaven as well (Isaiah 24:21). But there is never just the threat, but this is followed with the promise in Isaiah 25 that through judgment something better will come and eventually death itself (which came about only because of The Fall – Genesis 3) will be destroyed. The right reaction should then be great faith in what God will do (Isaiah 26-27).

Isaiah 28-39
In Hezekiah’s days, the threat is still from Assyria. Hezekiah faces same issues – does he stand firm in faith and believe God’s promises, or will he like Ahaz build alliances instead of relying on God? Would Hezekiah think that Egypt would work with him against Assyria? They would be a good ally since they were powerful and had the latest in military technology (horses and chariots – Isaiah 31). But why go to Egypt if you have God’s promises of protection if only you trust in his promises? Hezzy does the sensible thing when he receives a threatening letter from the Assyrians – he spreads it out before God, trusting in him to deliver (like he had promised) and there is indeed an amazing deliverance (because that’s what God had said he would do in this situation).

Unfortunately, this doesn’t end too well because Hezekiah, though generally faithful, isn’t perfect. And the next threat comes from Babylon and God tells Hezekiah that Babyloan will prevail and Judah will be destroyed (Isaiah 39)

Isaiah 40-55
But this isn’t the end of God’s people. Isaiah 40-55 centers around the second major character: the suffering servant, an individual who is again clearly divine as well as human. He will bring about a whole new community of redeemed people who will become citizens of a new Jerusalem. There are the great servant songs of suffering that we later realise (in the Gospels) is Jesus’ work of redemption on the cross. Because of his work, there will be a new international community – God’s people will come not just from the scattered children of Israel but from the whole world.

Isaiah 56-66
This we see in part in the church today, but complete fulfilment is only when Jesus (the Immanuel, the Suffering Servant and here also the Divine Conqueror) comes again. While we are waiting for this what should we be doing? Remember our human frailty and divine ability. We will never find the resources to live a godly life in ourselves; while we wait for him to return, we should know that we will always be sinful and weak and failing. But there is the promise of the divine conqueror/warrior who will eradicate all evil at the end of days. This extermination of evil includes the terrible destruction of those who do not ask for his mercy, with bloodstains on the garments of the anointed conqueror like the stains of those who tread the winepress. Only with this judgement will there be real justice and righteousness that we so crave.

In Isaiah 65-66, we are reminded again that God will do what he has promised as he has always done. We need only trust that he will save, to be saved from promised destruction and brought into the new heavens and new earth that God has said he will make.

Verre Wine Bar, 8 Rodyk Street

RSVP-ed for Heineken Green Room‘s Redux: Project Green Room thing to check out Jamie Woon, Izaak Stern and Ikonika. But by the time work issues were settled, all that could be done was a quiet dinner and a drink or two.

Had a quietly fruitful time waiting for Godot at Verre Wine Bar, situated just next to Toby’s Estate coffee place at the new lease of life for those old godowns – 8 Rodyk Street. The wine bar, say co-owners opera singer Melvin Tan and Gregory Lee, is run on modern sensibilities of eschewing the McDonaldisation of a certain industry in favour of independently sourcing artisanal products from small producers providing “connection with the soil”, and the democratization of taste.

Amongst the tables and couches, the glass-walled wine cellar took pride of place in the center of the high-ceiling-ed space. Decor was simple blacks and whites with a pop of Marimekko colour.

The food menu too was minimalist but uncomplicatedly good – a choice of 3 starters including cheese choux puffs, 3 mains including beef and herbs sausages (with real mashed potatoes and onions in red wine sauce), and 3 desserts. The bangers and mash tasted almost exactly the same as the stuff i made back in England while starting to explore wines seriously (Gewürztraminer x chicken tikka etc) – good memories.

The drool-worthy (but what do i know) by-the-glass wine menu is meant to make expensive wines affordable to the masses, and will be kept fresh with frequent changes. The larger by-the-bottle menu with allegedly 750 choices from Bordeaux and Burgundy (with a sprinkling of Germans and Australians) was a fascinating read. It was completely and surprisingly accessible because we had been studying French wines intensively during the week and also because of the deliberate attempt to describe the Burgundy wines in the context of the personal histories and even characters of the winegrowers, winemakers, négociants.

(In Burgundy, each wine-growing estate is called a domaine. Due to inheritance laws, these have become greatly fragmented over the years, with some domaines too small to have enough yield for more than a few bottles of their own wine. This is where enterprising négociant-éleveurs pop in and buy grapes from small producers to make a blended wine under the négociant’s own name, and these wines can be quite good.)

A few of the domaines listed were Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (pinot noir, biodynamic practices, produces some of the most expensive wines in the world), Domaine Robert Arnoux – Pascal Lachaux (the former is well-known to  Burgundy-heads while the later is his son-in-law who took the label (now renamed) to new highs with deliberate move to lower yields), Domaine Henri Bolliot (interesting note about bâtonnage-ing reds, the stirring of lees usually being reserved for whites), Domaine Sylvain Cathiard, Domaine Claude Dugat (Gevrey-Chambertin, organic), Domaine d’Eugenie, Domaine Geantet-Pansiot (Gevrey-Chambertin, high altitude, chalky limestone soil, continental climate), Domaine Hudelot-Noellat (controversial marriage brings vineyards together), Domaine Francois Lamarche (Vosne-Romanée, clay-limestone soil), Domaine Joseph and Philippe Roty (Gevrey-Chambertin + personality) and Domaine A. et P. de Villaine (Côte Chalonnaise! aligote grapes! limestone soil). And a few maisons – Maison Camille Giround and Maison Lucien Le Moine, both in Beaune.

Enjoyed the Carmes de Rieussec Sauternes 2004, the second wine for Château Rieussec in Bordeaux. But what delicious semillion-sauvignon blanc rejects – honeyed and fruity (though with a whiff of the superglue smell you get when constructing model planes)

Exciting that there’s so much information out there about wines so i can delve into the details to my little curious heart’s content. If only there was the same shared knowledge about coffee or bananas or durians or all other agricultural products. Still, most chuffed by the world God has made:

For what can be known about God is plain to [us], because God has shown it to [us]. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So [we] are without excuse. (Romans 1:19-20)

Verre Wine Bar (Facebook)
8 Rodyk Street,
#01-05/06
Tel: 6509-1917

Current opening hours:
Tuesday – Thursday: 5pm to 12am
Friday – Saturday: 5pm to 1am
Sunday: 5pm to 12 am
Monday: closed

Yet More Interesting Coffee Joints in Singapore

Previous posts on (specialty) coffee joints in Singapore:

• More Espressos, Lattes and Chemex Brews in Singapore
• It Must Be Raining Beans – Even More Specialty Coffee Joints in Singapore

Updates here.

***********

While waiting for the rest to arrive at dinner, we were chatting about the necessity of describing the entire experience of eating or drinking in any critique or review of a food or beverage. In wine, for example, one should describe the colour, the aroma and bouquet, and then the whole taste process from when the wine first enters the mouth till it reaches the back of the palate and is swallowed. To describe just part of the process would be confusing to a third party, like only one of the blind men feeling up the proverbial elephant describing what that elephant looked like. Also, when critiquing a beverage, it would be remiss to exclude mention of the circumstances in which that beverage was consumed – wine would taste different at the beginning of the day before breakfast and at the end of the day when accompanied by a medium rare ribeye. When the others came, they chimed in that the external circumstances in which consumption took place also mattered – even if the kitchen sent out it most wonderful dishes, one’s experience would be spoilt if service was rude or shoddy.

i should be more aware of these things when setting out experiences hereabouts, but will probably be unable to fully enunciate the entirety thereof. It’s absolutely magnificent how much sensory pleasure we can derive from what should merely be just feeding and hydrating for survival.

For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.
How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
…
Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting! (Psalm 139:13-17,23-24)

So, we are fortunate to enjoy another wave of interesting coffee places, all with rather varied concepts and offering different experiences:

Brunetti Singapore aims the bring the Italian coffee culture, via Melbourne, to Singapore. It is a full-service cafe in a mall (01-35 Tanglin Mall), offering soups and Italian savouries like panini and pizza, a good range of Italian confections like cannoli, a gelateria section and coffee serviced by a 5-group La Cimbali. The coffee was roasted Italian-style – dark, so that there is some bitterness on the tongue at first, but this roast profile on the Santa Chiara house-blend was well-tempered by the smooth sweet milk. My cup was made by [Fabio?], who seemed to be running things behind the counter as well. The other barista on that shift was a Chinese lady. There were also two attentive Indian ladies (probably with interests in Gill Capital?) bustling about to ensure that tables were cleared and people were taken care of. Loads international school kids came by for gelato and cakes and macarons.

Current opening times:
Daily: 9am – 10pm

Pause (fb) at Dominic Khoo’s 28th Fevrier (5 Jalan Kilang) is a different creature. Set within Dominic Khoo’s white indescribable space in an industrial estate, Pause shares the site with designer Kevin Seah and bespoke shoemaker Edwin Neo of Ed Et El. Dominic Khoo’s photographs line the walls and the seating at the coffee area consists of Flexiblelove Chairs made from recycled paper.

Haryanto Soemito trained at Cuppachoice and he and the other barista were quite intent on getting the extraction just right. The safe well-attested house blend of Columbian, Kenyan and Sumatran beans was earthy and nutty in the piccolo latte, and though latte art etching isn’t known to be quite as suave as free pour latte art, the kawaii-ness was appreciated.

Current opening times:
Weekdays: 8am – 11pm
Saturdays: 10am onwards
Sundays: 1pm – 8pm

At Drips bakery cafe at #01-05, Block 82 Tiong Poh Road in Tiong Bahru Estate, due attention is given to the Graffeo coffee beans which are ground in a Mazzer and brewed on a Unic. The piccolo latte is the piccolo-est est i’ve seen, and in the small milk, the Italian-roast was slightly dry (stringent?) and a tiny bit smokey. Decent enough, but really, the pastries (made fresh daily) are where one’s energies should be focused – the excellent shortcrust tart shells were buttery and sweet (but not too) and shattered properly, and the strawberries were appropriately sweet in their way and not choked with gelatin glaze. Alfred Chan of Fredo Galaxy is apparently a co-owner. Fortunate is the congregation at St. Matthew’s Church on Eng Hoon Street.

Current opening times:
Monday – Thursday (closed on Tuesdays), Saturday and Sunday: 10.30am – 9.30pm
Friday: 10.30am – 11pm

Open Door Policy (19 Yong Siak Street, Yong Siak View, Tiong Bahru Estate) is a bistro rather than a coffee joint but its coffee deserves mention. The “specialty coffee bar” next to the restaurant bar is helmed by folk from Harry Grover’s 40 Hands Coffee (all part of Cynthia Chua’s Spa Espirit group) and the flat white i had was excellent – the house blend of Brazilian (base), Papa New Guinean and Bali Kintamani was roasted complex enough to taste like it teetered on the knife-edge of being a nasty cup but the barista had balanced it just right in the milk so there were hints of spice (cinnamon?) and chocolate as the cup cooled.

Toby’s Estate Coffee Asia at #01-03, 8 Rodyk Street, finally opened after much anticipation. We knew from his blog that Suhaimie Sukiman (formerly from Cuppachoice) would be there but the other baristas looked somewhat familiar… Colin Loh saved a lot of brain-racking (thanks!) – there’s Terence Tan from Joe & Dough (Suntec), Andy from Jewel Coffee, Nizam from Black. Seating is either at the lovely long communal table with coffee plant in the middle of the space, at bar seats facing the river or outside under large brollies. There is a large Loring roaster in one corner and a range of Hario products and Toby’s Estate tea cannisters facing the brew bar in another, and you cannot help but notice the gleaming elegant Mirage next to the cashier.

The flat white from the Rodyk Street Blend (Guatemala Antigua Los Volcanes and Indonesian Sumatra Long Berry) was excellent (to my shame i was preoccupied with a book and forget to remember the specifics of how it tasted) and the Guatemala cold brew was like a refreshing glass of floral smoky oolong. Next time, i’ll want to try the cold brew neat. Many return trips are being planned.

Obviously Incomplete Non-definitive Hit List of Beef Burgers in Singapore

It would be impossible to discuss the “best of” anything without first setting out the criteria by which one might make one’s decision.

Let us first assume that a burger means:
Bun
Toppings
Condiments
Beef patty
Bun

Then let us assume that the quality of a burger can be judged by: (i) the quality of each burger component; and (ii) how the components work together to create the whole burger experience. Determination of such quality and harmony would really mostly a matter of personal preference. For the two constants in any burger, I reckon I might prefer:

• a bun that is fresh, flavourful, fine-crumbed, toasted and thinly lubricated with good butter or mayo spread, with nice in-mouth texture (soft but not cottony, nor soggy when paired with rest of ingredients, nor hard enough to cause abrasions to the roof of your mouth), and
• a beef patty that is optimally-shaped, well-seasoned, well-seared 100% tasty blend of different sorts of ground beef, juicy with very slight crust.

There is also the issue of height: if a burger is too tall, it would difficult to take a bite of the whole thing without wrenching the jaw. Heston Blumenthal is quite right to extol the virtues of a burger small enough to eat with your hands.

Haven’t quite found a burger in Singapore to be very keen on though. Perhaps those years as a pescetarian* have rendered the relevant receptors quite sensitive to the taste of animal flesh so that much locally-available chicken, pork, beef and lamb is off-puttingly smelly, bringing to mind the image of a decaying carcass rather than edible meat; perhaps there is an unconscious dislike for mince, post-Fargo wood-chipper. Perhaps. But the common issue seems more to be of bland taste rather than foul smells.

(*later abandoned because it would be absurd to think myself holier than God. If he, the Creator, gave all living things for food for humans (“Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.” (Genesis 9:3)), who was i to then to call evil what God said was good?)

Regardless, thought I should make a list of burgers tried for reference. It’s hard to know what exactly I tasted because few places seem to understand the importance of details beyond “100% Australian beef” and “special home-made [insert condiment or topping]”. Like any other food or drink (think wine, coffee), it would be really exciting to understand how certain parts of a cow, certain cows (grass-fed or grain-fed? etc), the density of the mince, the shape of the patties, the seasoning, when the seasoning is applied, the method of cooking (grilling, broiling, steam griddling) etc all contribute to a tasty patty, and so help constantly improve burger standards and allow customers to know what to expect before ordering (after all, few customers would ask for “Australian wine” without first enquiring about grape variety at least).

Aston’s

Bar Bar Black Sheep, Smok’Inn Frogz Kitchen
879 Cherry Avenue
86 Robertson Quay, #01-04 Robertson Blue
55 Boat Quay

Bergs Gourmet Burger
137 Amoy Street, #01-01 Far East Square
The Crikey Two burger is made up of “Prime Beef Pattie, Streaky Bacon, Pineapple, Beetroot, Lettuce, Tomato, Red Onion, Aioli, Bergs Sauce & Edam Cheese”. Will tell them to hold the Bergs Sauce next time because the smoky sweet barbecue sauce overwhelmed the taste of everything else. The house-made buns from their own factory was made with less sugar than usual and might been a good companion to the nice patty (it had bite but was loose enough to be juicy), and the beetroot and pineapple slice might have lent some variation to the texture of the burger…but it was hard to taste much beyond the Bergs Sauce.

Big Bad Wolf
The waitresses were very attentive. Root beer float was a nice beverage to wash down the burger comprised of “homemade brioche buns” and patties topped with caramelised onions, tomato relish, aioli. The Works Burger had the works (egg, mushroom, cheese, bacon) but though these were stacked one atop another, they didn’t quite integrate.

Botak Jones
One of the first ang moh-run places to feature burgers in the heartlands – like Jerry’s many incarnations (Jerry’s,BBQ & Grill, Buckaroo BBQ & Grill, Sunset Grill) and Charlie’s in Changi. Better than the usual “Western Food” stall in coffeeshops, though not a destination dining place.

Burger King
Yes it’s fast-food but it would be nice to see the patty of the mushroom swiss burger without having to pry open the soggy buns for a peer in at the “100% flame-grilled beef”.

Burger Shack
559 Bukit Timah Road, #01-01 King’s Arcade
The Burger Shack is targetted at its existing Island Creamery student customers. The tiered system where you pay for each additional topping to the basic burger helps them regulate their pocket money (or save some for Starbucks at Coronation Plaza). I thought the buns and patties dry and bland but the burgers certainly serve to fill teenage tummies.

Portobello Mushroom Thickburger® – Charbroiled 100% Angus Beef Patty, Portobello Mushrooms, Two Slices of Swiss Cheese, Red Onion, Lettuce, Two Slices of Tomato and Mayonnaise on a Toasted Sesame Seed Bun

Carl’s Jr
Top of the fastfood burger joint pile. But you’ll need to order the thickburger for a decent-sized patty. The beef itself is pretty bland but the slide down the oesophagus is assisted by the myriad condiments. Height is a bit of an issue and it’s gonna get messy (good job selling this as desirable in a burger). You may ask for disposable utensils to aid dispatch of the burgers.

dB Bistro Moderne
Post-Buena Vista Social Club nosh. Being both Singaporeans, we were talking about the defunct Uberburger while waiting for our supper. Unfortunately, when they arrived, both basic Yankee Burgers (“beef patty, Iceberg lettuce, tomato, onion, served on a sesame bun”), with patties done medium, were rather dry and flavourless. (David Koh appears to have had a similar experience with the Original dB Burger and suggests nothing more than medium rare.) I suspect the sort of thick patties in towering burgers that dB is famous for is really hard to cook right – if you tried to ensure that the interior was cooked, you’d risk overcooking the exterior; when you took the burger away from the heat, the thick exterior would continue to cook the interior.

De Burg (formerly Sunshine Cafe by a pool in Sommerville Park)
Blk 10 Ghim Moh Road, #01-78
A stall in a coffeeshop, so you can have your teh si kosong ping with your fries. A varied burger menu. Patties made from grassfed striploin are 100g or 200g, fairly juicy with good texture and slightly charred exterior. They are seasoned just before being griddled on a hotplate which explains why the mince is still loose and it still tastes like beef (not some indeterminate prepackaged meat from the freezer – think the differently delicious Ramly). Buns are also griddled and have slight char on the underside.

Riverside institution Epicurious at The Quayside does a good burger, helped along by the cool breeze (sometimes) and the fact that you can bring your child/pet along. The somewhat mushy beef patty contained bits of chopped onion and what looked like red bell peppers (or tomatoes?) and was well-seasoned, for S$4 more for all the fixings, you got crispy bacon, an egg (slightly rubbery underside from being cooked on a non-stick surface?), mushrooms, onions and melted cheese. The buns were buttered then toasted and so slightly crisp and fragrant. The underside of the patty was separated from the bottom bun by a thin layer of mayo and mustard. A very satisfying combination for Sunday brunch.

Fat Boy’s – The Burger Bar
187 Upper Thomson Road
Buns lightly buttered and put on the grill, so tasty. Patty was tender but texture was strangely almost mushy, without much bite.  Perhaps too much fat in the meat or too small a mince size? But easy to eat without chewing much. The crushed pepper in the Bleu Peppercorn overwhelmed the rest of the burger, even the blue cheese .

Freshness Burger
“Vegetables are freshly picked from domestic farms, safe Aussie beef patties” and buns “made from pumpkin so they are natural yellow color”. The burgers are rather small and there wasn’t much in the way of taste either from the patties or the condiments or toppings.

The Handburger
252 North Bridge Road, #B1-65/66 Raffles City Shopping Centre
“The Handburger serves gourmet burgers crafted from the freshest and finest ingredients such as 150g 100% New Zealand grass-fed beef.” A member of The Soup Spoon family of restaurants, the paper-cut-out identity of the place by Couple design studio and the interior design by Plystudio was the main draw, but the burgers weren’t too shabby. Buns are made in-house and while shiny and sweet, were slightly overbaked and didn’t taste of caramelised onion. At least the cheese was melted over the patty in The Handburger Original (“grilled 100% NZ grass-fed prime beef”) but the “sweet onion jam” couldn’t help the slightly dry patty.

Hummerstons
11 Unity Street #02-14 Robertson Walk

Jules Cafe Bar
15-1 Jalan Riang

Long Black Cafe at 20 Biopolis Way, #01-02 Centros Block – Biopolis. If you’re working at the Ministry of Education headquarters or at Biopolis for a seminar, the LB Burger (homemade patty with onions, tomato, lettuce, cheese) is a decent choice for lunch. The patty was well-seasoned with a hint of black pepper and its mushiness was offset by the char.

McDonalds
Hey, it’s iconic fastfood-looking fast food. But despite reassurances that 100% beef was used in the patty, the quarter-pounder with cheese still tasted rather plastic-ky. Well, there’s no way you can ensure consistency across the world/country if you don’t pre-season and prepackage your burger parts.

MOS Burger
The patty in the Premium Wagyu Burger that was available only for a limited time was really tender or slippery or slimey, depending on whom you asked.

OverEasy
1 Fullerton Road #01-06 One Fullerton

Relish by Wild Rocket
501 Bukit Timah Road, #02-01 Cluny Court
1 Maju Ave, #02-07/09 myVillage, Serangoon Garden
At the myVillage outlet, the choice of toppings and beef patties made this a good place for a large group with differing tastes. The patty did actually come done medium with a warm pink interior. Buns were toasted but not buttered on the underside so the top half was discarded. Overall, the patties, toppings and condiments were well-balanced in taste and the beef was somewhat juicy, with a bit of crust.  (This wasn’t the case at the Cluny Court branch so obviously very chef-dependent.)

Riders Cafe
51 Fairways Drive, Bukit Timah Saddle Club
Another non-offensive burger in a nice environment. Buns slightly soft, patty made of decent beef helped along by bacon (who cannot be helped along by bacon?). If you take a verandah seat, you can watch horses canter past (and when the wind changes, smell the stables).

Soho7 Café & Bistro (formerly. Swee is now at 7 Kickstart Brewiches)
50 Armenian Street, #01-02 Wilmer Place
Good burgers for a good price at fairly pleasant surroundings. The Best Ever burger was consistently juicy, and while height was an issue, the well-played condiments, including intriguing mustard seed aioli, balanced with the beef, made the whole quite delicious.

Spruce
320 Tanglin Road Phoenix Park

Swiss Grill
587 Bukit Timah Road, #01-05 Coronation Plaza
11.30am – 10pm (Tuesday – Sunday)

Many others have tread this dead cow meat-strewn path before me (and with much nicer photos too):
Accidental Epicurean’s hunt for the best burgers
ieatishootipost’s various burger posts
ladyironchef – Singapore’s Best Burgers