Sydney will once again be transformed into a spectacular canvas of light, music and ideas when Vivid Sydney takes over the city after dark from 24 May – 10 June 2013.

Colouring the city with creativity and inspiration, Vivid Sydney highlights include the hugely popular immersive light installations and projections; performances from local and international musicians at Vivid LIVE at Sydney Opera House and the Vivid Ideas Exchange featuring public talks and debates from leading global creative thinkers.

For the first time in Vivid Sydney’s five-year history, Vivid Light will extend to Darling Harbour and transform the precinct into a spectacle of dancing water fountains, water screen projection performances and dazzling light and water shows.

The Australian-first spectacular will be masterminded by France’s legendary Aquatique Show International, which has developed and installed choreographed water and light shows for audiences in over 52 countries.

Darling Harbour will also feature a Citibank Pop-up Bar, open from 6 pm to midnight during Vivid Sydney. The Australian National Maritime Museum will light up with a rooftop projection inspired by the colour, patterns, flavours and sounds of India to complement the museum’s exhibition, East of India.

Vivid Sydney is an 18 day festival of light, music and ideas. It is the biggest festival of its kind in the southern hemisphere and will take place in Sydney from 24 May to 10 June.

The full program for Vivid Sydney 2013 can be found at www.vividsydney.com

Follow us (@agentcikay) via Twitter, Facebook & Instagram, via the hashtag, #VividSydney #Sydney or #SydneyAustralia #VisitNSW . We will be updating photos and stories live from the event!

photo credit : www.vividsydney.com

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With its moody weather, that’s almost always threatening rain, breath-taking ancient architecture, winding canals, and endless mysterious passageways, Venice was one of the places I loved most for great sightseeing and food, in Italy. This trip was almost a decade ago, but I will always remember relaxing with an espresso in Piazza San Marco, munching on a delicious slice of pizza and later, wandering off the beaten path to watch the people of the country go about their daily routine.

And at Favola, its Italian cuisine with its simple ingredients, enticing aromas, and fabulous flavors is what reminds me most about my time in Italy, the place where, once upon a time, I begin my gastronomic tour of Italian food.

Foccacia and ciabatta bread, grissini

At Favola, we start dinner with the breads. One of the highlights of eating at this restaurant happens to be, the amazingly well baked Foccacia and ciabatta breads.

These freshly baked breads of Focaccia, no doubt are a simple flat bread, but it is certainly a fine change of pace from regular bread. It’s also a wonderful base and a rather fine nibble food, especially when eaten with the luxurious truffle potato dip. If you don’t like truffle potato, at Favola the breads come with a mixed veggie & tomato confit or an Extra Virgin olive oil & aged balsamic dip as well.

Burratina

This soft creamy mozzarella based cheese, served with shaved truffle, extra Virgin olive oil, pine nuts and beef bacon was to die for.

The burratina was a terrific combination of spun paste cheese and a delicious cream filling, that once chilled, became solid butter. The texture can only be described as soft and pulpy inside, with a heart of semi-liquid. To the eye, it looked like a creamy, ivory coloured paste, more compact and yellow on the outside. The taste of the burratina, which has to be consumed in a short time, mainly depends on the “Stracciatella“ which should have the right balance between mozzarella and cream. Its aroma is a mixture between whipped cream and fresh mozzarella, it tastes delicious! We paired this with a medium bodied white wine served chilled and it was perfect!

This French Sauvignon Blanc, with which Marques de Riscal makes this varietal white wine, originally comes from the Loire Valley region. It was then introduced to Rueda, Spain, and we found it to be a rather fresh, white wine with a good medium-bodied mid palate. It was smooth and silky and showed a fantastic acidity that paired well with dishes like cheese and fish.

Garlic and Thyme Roasted Portobello Mushrooms

These gorgeous, baked nuggets of Garlic and Thyme Roasted Portobello Mushrooms with Spinach and Lombardy Taleggio cheese were like taking the elements of a vegetarian lasagna filling – ricotta, spinach and Taleggio cheese, and nestling them into roasted portobello mushroom caps. The portobello caps were huge and bursting with juices.. totally awesome stuff. This dish comes highly recommended.

Barbecue cod fish

This flaky, succulent cod fish that had been barbecued and served with Olive oil, basil, capers, pecorino and sun dried tomato dressing was another winner. Great one for the ladies watching their waists.

Back in the day, Marques de Riscal brought groundbreaking wine-making techniques from Bordeaux and transformed the face of Rioja, Spain. The Reserva is one of their iconic wines, widely regarded as one of the top examples of traditional Rioja.

The Rioja Reserva 2007 Marques de Riscal is a classic Rioja Reserva. Full bodied and muscular, yet smoothly polished and embellished with complex aromas of vanilla and toasted oak, this red wine was the perfect pair for red meats and cheese. It got on famously with our next couple of courses – the pizza, the duck pasta, the wagyu risotto and the veal.

Venetian Pizza

Seafood pizza in Venice is unlike pizza served anywhere else in the world. And at Favola, it is a close to the original as you will get. It is tastefully prepared with a generous topping of lobster, scallops, prawns, calamari and clams – often still in their shells! The shells open as the pizza bakes in the oven, releasing their sweet juices onto the crust and tomato sauce base.

Venetian pizza, like much of the pizza you will find in the north of Italy, has a very thin crust and makes an excellent single-course meal.. we ate this with great gusto.. throwing away that low carb diet we swore to have earlier this week. This pizza signaled a barrage of carbo heavy dishes which were about to rain down on our table like zephyrs.

Pasta con Anatra Affumicata

This next dish of home made tiaglatelle, smoked duck, chili, garlic flake, basil, Portobello mushrooms and fresh greens was delicious. We liked the fact that it had chili flakes and was actually spicy. No complaints here.

Risotto con Carne di Wagyu

Then came a super rich and creamy risotto, cooked al dente. This Risotto with sautéed Wagyu beef strips and Vincon wine (non alcoholic substitute) was pretty decadent. Creamy, fatty, rich and unctuous.. all the warning words that signal a long payback workout ahead of us. No matter.. tonight, we party!

Cotoletta di Vitello Piemontese

Then it was time for the heavy weights.. enter the proteins. A Massive 12oz / 340g Piemontese veal cutlet, gorgonzola pudding and panzanella salad, served with bread, tomato, onion, basil and olive oil, just brought out the carnivore in us. Short of howling at the moon and ripping the meat apart with our bare hands, we still managed to suck the thing dry – only the bone remained.

Then all too soon, it was time for dessert. This well thought out platter of almost every dessert under the sun (at Favola) was specially crafted so that we might enjoy all the different signature desserts of the restaurant.

The desserts served were, an Illy Coffee Inspired Tiramisu, a Budino di Cioccolata (warm chocolate pudding served with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce), a Cassata , a Doppio Espresso Crostata and finally a Double Espresso Tart with fresh Chantilly cream.

When I asked the Chef, to explain to me what a Cassata was, he smirked and said, “this recipe was given to me by a friend, an Italian chef. He made me swear on a stack of ice cream that I would never reveal his recipe.” So, yes, if you were wondering what that was, I did not find the answer that night either!

I loved all the desserts but the one I liked best was the famous, quintessential ‘pick-me-up’ dessert, the tiramisu, made of sponge cake soaked in rich coffee, cocoa, amidst layers of sweet mascarpone cheese.. Many italian restaurants tussle over who has the best and the original recipe, but we feel that Favola comes close to the real deal.

With the SPG Card you get to enjoy further discounts at outlets such as Prime, Favola, Latest Recipe, Villa Danieli, Celestial Court, Essence, Prego, Splash, The Living Room, Five5enses and Qba Latin Grill & Bar as well as over 300 participating restaurants and bars in Asia Pacific.

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How high can you go?

Or How high can you fly?

Tossing the wantan noodles to new heights – that’s what this guy does for a living.

He can be spotted at Restoran Simon’s Delights, tossing the wantan mee to cool it down. His incredibly skilled antics shows that he’s probably been doing this a long time. When asked, the cook says he used to work at a similar coffee shop in Seapark square. He says he plays badminton in his spare time, and you can tell where his strokes come from too. Check this out..

Higher, and higher …

He tosses it left, right, up, down…

with each time, it climbs higher and higher.. he never misses a beat, like as though he is having a one man rally in badminton, the noodles being the shuttlecock!

I hope he doesn’t scrape the ceiling.. that would be pretty gross.. “kar liew” (adding flavour) as the chinese saying goes

The noodles are not bad- not the best we have tasted but OK. And while some parts of the charsiew (BBQ pork) were hard, some parts were actually nicely caramalized in a balanced fat lean ratio. Even if not the best wantan mee in PJ, it is still pretty entertaining to watch the man. I preferred the wantan and soup here better.

If you don’t enjoy wantan mee, the same stall also cooks up pork noodles. We haven’t tried this so let us know how it fares if you have tried any of them.

At Simon’s Delight though, they sell an excellent, Gai Wo Bao, which translates to ‘Chicken Nest Bun’. Basically this is a white, fluffy bun (like a bao, but larger and flatter) stuffed to exploding point with Loh Mai Farn (as in the glutinous rice in Loh Mai Gai), that in turn is stuffed with Chicken, Mushrooms, Pork and Salted Egg Yolk. This makes it just the ultimate starch-lard meal of the day. This one is not as sweet as some other places. It’s a rather filling dish so you can just eat it as a meal in itself.

Gai Wo Bao

loads of ingredients – it’s so filling !

Another stall at Simon’s Delights also does a respectable Sing Chow Mai Fun. Good wok-hei(smoky wok aroma), flavour and tons of ingredients – value for money. They have other specialties such as salted fish fried noodles, sambal fried noodles and a variety of dishes with frog leg meat. Not the cheapest stall but pretty good tasting.

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That’s right.. Serge started work in Sydney at The Regent in 1983. He spent 18 years at the hotel, shooting their flagship restaurant to three-hat fame. Coupled with a forward thinking general manager, he was able to explore overseas trends and restaurants, bringing back to Australia a zest for interesting produce and small producers. At a time when it was difficult to get your hands on different varieties of vegetables, Serge encouraged a greater knowledge of what we can produce in Australia and worked hard to get it from paddock to plate.

Being awarded Chef of the year in 1990, his passion for produce and his promotion of regionalism was iconic. Serge progressed on to co-own the renowned Bathers’ Pavilion where it is now labelled as one of Sydney’s, if not Australia’s major culinary institution. If you eat at this restaurant you can rest assured that the food is never outsourced, nor any of the kitchen tasks. Serge produces his own bread, jam, ice cream, pastry, stock and even butter at his Restaurant. They fillet their fish from whole fresh fish and they cook in a very natural style to enhance the produce we prepare. Such is the fantastic reputation of this two-hatted restaurant. We hope to visit Serge at his cool restaurant in Sydney, month end, when we visit the place!

Apart from being a chef at heart, Serge has written 6 books, with the most recent “Summer Food” released in November 2011. We joined Serge last week, as he took over the Prego Italian restaurant, with some simply divine creations that has become his trademark dishes even at Bathers’ Pavilion. At this 5 course, wine-food paired dinner, some of the outstanding dishes we sampled were Serge’s Galantine of quail, foie gras and leek ash confit leg, verjuice jelly and mizuna; Kombu-baked ocean trout with black salsify baby gold beetroot, dried oyster, woodland sorrel and Duck magret with confit peach, pistachio cream witlof, crisp tongue and kimchi sauce. The flavours were topped only by the exquisite presentation. Here’s what we had for dinner.

amuse bouche – salted cod soup with preserved lemon

Sashimi of Snapper with Dill

This first fish dish of Pumpernickel Beurre Noisette Crumble, Capers paired with the Bolinger NV was just exquisite. Beurre noisette, just butter cooked until it goes brown and nutty smelling is one of the great sauces for fish of all time. The dextrose soil was a nice textural touch, and served with fresh dill, oil and some compressed seaweed chips, this super fresh, succulent sashimi snapper was to die for.

Galantine of Quail

Next up, one of my favourite dishes, the Foie Gras and Ash Leek Confit Leg, Verjuice Jelly, Mizuna paired with the Joseph Drouhin, Pouilly Fuisse 2010, France. The usual Galantine of deboned quail that was stuffed back and rolled into a cylindrical shape but unusual that it had a little heart of foie gras. This was the best part.. as the delicate Quail galantine melted in the mouth and mingled with the rich aroma of the foie gras. The Verjuice jelly added moisture to the Ash Leek Confit Leg and it all came together beautifully when paired with the fruity and lively acid structure of the Joseph Drouhin, Pouilly Fuisse 2010, France.

Kombu-baked Ocean Trout with Black Salsify

Our next course would be a skinned ocean trout, served with Konbu that had been soaked and packed down many times over till they became compact, then sliced till they resembled black twigs. This was served with roasted baby Gold Beetroot, Salsify Puree with Dried powdered Oyster on top, Woodland Sorrel and paired with the Pascal Bouchard Chablis Premier Cru Fourchaume 2009, France. The Ocean Trout was magnificent, but when paired with this particular white wine, it made the dish somewhat fishy. I would have paired it differently, perhaps with a New Zealand Marlborough.

On to our next course.. enter the heavy weights. Duck was on the menu, and it was time to bring out the reds. For this next course, they serve us the De Bortoli Gulf Station Pinot Noir 2010, Australia.

Duck Magret with Confit Peach

The Duck Magret, cooked a nice medium rare, served with a Kimchi sauce, roasted peaches, fried ducks tongue, pickled endives and pistachio puree was a well thought out dish. The duck however, was a little hard and the skin, tough and rubbery – perhaps not the best duck I have ever had. Living in South East Asia, I guess you could say that I’m spoilt for choice, as we get tons of shops in town serving far superior ducks with amazingly succulent duck meat to boot. I did however love the flavours of the Pistachio Cream Witlof, the texture of the Crisp duck Tongue and zing of the Kimchi Sauce, that all came together beautifully and paired rather well with the De Bortoli Gulf Station Pinot Noir 2010, Australia.

The Muscat Beaumes de Venise 2009, France makes an appearance and you know that dinner is drawing to an end..

Coconut and Lime Eclair

A lovely, refreshing, beautifully presented dessert concluded dinner – Coconut and Lime Eclair served with a Frozen Lime Macaroon, Sweet and Sour Apples, Rhubarb Crisp paired with the M. Chapoutier Muscat Beaumes de Venise 2009, France was a hard dessert to top. A great choice that ended dinner on a high note.

Yes indeed, Chef Serge Dansereau prowess in the kitchen is a force to be reckoned with. One of the more memorable dinners for this year so far, to be sure.

More foodporn on FB!

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Daniel Boulud, he answered, “I bitch at (everyone including) myself about making everything perfect.”

Such is the perfectionism of this chef.

And you know, Daniel Boulud and dining at his restaurants, really is special. This French chef has the gift of being able to blend familiar flavors with the unusual. He routinely triumphs in “why-didn’t-anyone-else-think-of-it” feats such as turning a mundane burger, into a gourmet feast, and I always look forward to anything new they might have to offer on the menu.

So, at db Bistro Moderne, home of the famed “db Burger“, is a place you can find, Daniel Boulud’s contemporary interpretation of many Parisian classic as well as good old fashioned American favourites. It is a restaurant where traditional French cuisine meets the flavors of the American and Asian market. Dining here is casual, and it is more about the quality of fine ingredients served in a casual setting than it is about hoity toity dining. This is one of Singapore’s top-rated bistros and having dined here several times in the past, we can see why.

From hearty breakfasts to delicious lunch and dinners, db Bistro Moderne is packed around the clock, with families, couples and folks walking around Marina Bay Sands shopping mall hoping to catch a bite. And did we forget to mention that this was a great pre- and post-theater destination? The bistro is, after all, situated directly opposite the Marina Bay Sands Theater and it was for this precise convenience, that we picked db Bistro Moderne for a quick dinner, before catching Le Noir, later that night.

To go with our meal, we had the Tour des Gendres, Bergerac 2011 as well as the Château Mas Neuf, Costières de Nîmes, Compostelle 2005

Wild Mushroom Soup – Sunchoke Confit, Chive Chantilly

I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for gnarly, knobby vegetables. I am of course referring to the bulbous tubers called sunchokes. I love their nutty, earthy taste, which I think is somewhat of a cross between potato and mushroom with a slight hint of artichoke. This wild mushroom soup of sunchoke confit was warm, earthy and nutty without being really heavy. Finished it with a little cream and fresh chive chantilly, though fresh thyme would be equally delicious – perfect to wrap your mouth around a spoonful of this, on a cold, rainy night.

Seared Tuna Confit, Tomatoes, Boiled Egg, Potatoes, Olives, Fine Beans, Tonnato Dressing

db Bistro Moderne’s version of the Salad Nicoise is a gorgeous mixed salad of tomatoes, fine beans and potatoes topped with tuna and anchovies and dressed with a creamy tonnato, and served on a bed of lettuce. The tuna was lightly seared with a nice rosy center and the most addictive hard-boiled eggs and Nicoise olives were the perfect accompaniments that completed the salad.

Tarte Flambée – Alsatian Flat Bread, Fromage Blanc, Bacon, Onion

Midway through our dinner, a waiter came around offering slices of smoky bacon tarte flambée, the Alsatian flat-bread pizza topped with fromage blanc, caramelized onions, and crisped lardon. Think a thinner, crispier version of the pizza, and you wouldn’t be far off the mark. The tarte Flambée also known as flammekueche and flammkuchen, was said to have been created by Alsatian bread bakers who would use it to test the heat of their ovens. At peak temperature, the tart would cook in just one or two minutes, the edges of the thin pie nearly burned by the heat of the flames, hence the name. What a clever creation!

Orecchiette Pasta – Spicy Pork & Tomato Ragoût, Basil, Parmesan

The great thing about dining in Singapore, is that pork is readily available on every menu. Italian for “little ears,” orecchiette are those nickel-sized round noodles that look like tiny hats or flying saucers. They catch sauces beautifully and this spicy pork pasta was nothing short of fantastic. What is it about the sweetness imparted by pork that cannot be replicated with any other meat..? A great pasta dish to order if you are dining at db Bistro Moderne.

Moules Marinieres – Celery, Fennel, Tomato, White Wine, Garlic Fries

Finally we had the Normandy classic making an appearance. Surely moules marinieres is the quintessential French holiday dish. The combination of spanking fresh seafood, wine and shallots accompanied by large hunks of crusty baguette is an intoxicating one. These fresh mussels that are either cooked in dry cider or white wine, add sweet and sour flavours, that work well with the sweetness of the shellfish. The wine and shallot and herb reduction at the bottom of the bowl, will have you drinking every last drop, or if you want to be more civilized, asks the waiter for more bread to tear up for dipping!

Jackfruit Verrine – Coconut Tapioca, Lime, Jackfruit & Palm Sugar Ice Cream

An interesting, refreshing dessert of Jackfruit Verrine – Coconut Tapioca, Lime, Jackfruit & Palm Sugar Ice Cream completes dinner. Unfortunately we did not have enough time to try the famed king of fruits (or should I say, king of pong) the Durian Souffle, brainchild of db Bistro Moderne’s Executive Pastry Chef Benjamin Siwek, but we vowed to return next time for this.

mini madeleines sprinkled with icing sugar .. a pleasure to eat!

Then it was time to catch Le Noir. Le Noir (booked via the #YourSingapore Live website) turned out to be a terrific circus spectacular, held at the Sand’s Theater Marina Bay Sand (across from db moderne) and this act came direct from a sold-out world-premiere season in Tokyo. Think cirque du soleil and you won’t be far off the mark. We had a great time – this show comes highly recommended. Definitely a must watch!

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