City buzz

SHAOLIN MONKS PUT UP JAW-DROPPING FEATS

THEATRE Shaolin

FORGET the Ip Man films, here's the real deal: Shaolin is a stage spectacular where 20 real-life monks perform jaw-dropping super-human feats before your eyes.

All of them hail from the fabled temple in the foothills of the Song Shang mountain range in China's Henan province,which also inspired the chop socky Jet Li classic, Shaolin (1982).

The acrobatic monks do everything from breaking hard objects with their bare hands and "botak" heads to engaging each other in lightning-fast duels that would make Jackie Chan weep.

The troupe has been touring around the world with their breath-taking act for close to two decades now.

Whatever you do, just don't try any of this at home!

By Dylan Tan

ART Art Apart Fair with interiors

ART Apart Fair puts art and furniture together in contemporary, vintage and industrial themes for its 8th edition.

The fair takes up 6,000 sq ft of space at Isetan Wisma Atria Level 2. Fair director Rosalind Lim has curated art works from North and South-east Asia and paired them with interiors to show how art can merge with the living space. The exhibition will run from July 11 to Aug 28 and there are talks every weekend.

Art Apart Fair is mainly a hotel-based art fair which started in 2013, featuring the works of emerging and mid-career artists from around the world. For more information on the talks, please check www.artapartfair.com

By Cheah Ui-Hoon

DINING Chef's Table by Chef Stephan

YOU never know what you're going to eat when you sit down at Chef's Table by Chef Stephan.

There is no menu. Instead, you get a list of 28 ingredients which represent the season's best produce. Let chef Stephan Zoisl know what you'd rather not have, either because you are allergic to it, or simply don't like it and then let him surprise you.

There are four, six and eight-course menus to choose from. Naturally, the bigger the menu selected, the higher the number of ingredients used.

The best thing is chef Zoisl has a notebook of all the dishes he's cooked, so even if you return the next night, the menu will not be the same. It also helps that the list of ingredients changes regularly.

Some of the dishes you could expect include a dish nicknamed Breakfast, which comprises Spanish octopus, with jamon iberico, organic egg yolk, corn textures and home-grown rocket leaves, or the Japanese sea perch with bouchot mussels, saffron tomato stock, cauliflower, and pea shoots.

By Tay Suan Chiang

DINING Truffle Constellation

TRUFFLE lovers are in for a treat this July at Stellar at 1-Altitude. Chef Christopher Millar is presenting an eight-course menu featuring truffles from the famed Manjimup truffle farm in Western Australia.

"This is now the peak of the winter truffle season in Australia," says chef Millar.

Dishes on this special menu, which is only available for dinner, include the truffle scrambled Japanese egg with sevrugar caviar, a truffle latte with truffle macaron, and a smoked gnocchi with black truffle and summer greens.

Naturally, there is also truffle in the dessert, which is a delightful Madagascar honey truffle ice cream.

By Tay Suan Chiang

DINING Bedrock Bar & Grill guest chef series

HAVE a taste of Texas this weekend with A Texas Meat Feast at the Bedrock Bar & Grill, where the first round of its new guest chef series features chef Jay McCarthy, from the Cascabel Restaurant in San Antonio, Texas.

His menu will run at the restaurant for three days, and highlights include a Tomahawk Steak (market price) paired with one of four sauce options including chef McCarthy's roasted apple horseradish, and a lobster mac & cheese with cheddar cheese sauce and toasted breadcrumbs (S$45). Desserts are Bourbon-inspired with highlights like a Bourbon Black Forest Tart with brandied cherry, flourless chocolate ganache and white chocolate cream (S$18) and a Waffle Ice Cream Sandwich with chocolate sauce and Bourbon ice cream (S$20).

By Rachel Loi