A bumper crop of famed restaurant openings in June

Pangium Opens June 1 Getting to Malcolm Lee’s new restaurant Pangium is a scenic drive that takes you past two majestic black and white bungalows on Gallop Road set against the sculpted forestry of Botanic Gardens, before you end up at The Orangery, a new contemporary building nestled within even more lush greenery. 

If there was a lucky draw associated with restaurant locations, Lee hit the jackpot. Especially when he and his wife Jessline Lee were driving around when they chanced upon this new extension of Botanic Gardens, and cold contacted the Singapore Land Authority to see if a space was available. It was, and after going through the process of bidding against other restaurants, his concept of a cuisine deeply rooted in heritage and tradition won out. Costing a cool 7 figures to fit out, Pangium is a partnership with the COMO group.

Heritage is nothing new for Lee, whose 1-Michelin-starred Candlenut is rooted in his Peranakan ancestry and love for traditional comfort food. But Pangium goes beyond that, and is as much a culinary excursion as it is a personal journey of self-reflection for Lee.

Covid was the real impetus for him, he says. “For a lot of people, it was a time of reflection, and I felt like I needed to go deeper into my cooking, to learn more about the history of our food, and the food that our families cook. And the more I learned, the more I realised I don’t know.”

That formed the vision of Pangium - the English translation of his favourite ingredient, buah keluak. “It’s an evolving journey for me and I wanted to create a space that allows us to do that.”

Part of that journey involved spending a lot of time in second hand bookshops and paying top dollar for tattered, out-of-print cookbooks as part of his research into the cuisine of countries along the Straits of Malacca. It also involved talking to the older generation, and learning about how his grandmother used to make oyster mee sua - a Chinese dish -  with rempah, attesting to the myriad influence of different food cultures.

Lee is tightlipped about what dishes will be on the menu, but they will vary each day according to the ingredients available Among them are forgotten ingredients such as breadfruit and buah binjai, that “tastes like a cross between mango and soursop”. He was curious to find out how people prepared them in the old days, and for him, it’s about reviving such lost recipes or interpreting them to make them relevant for the modern palate. “Modern cuisine isn’t necessarily what we define it as now,” he says. “A traditional recipe lost in the past can’t be prepared now in the same form with the same ingredients, so when we recreate it, that in itself becomes a modern dish.”

Lee will be based at Pangium while his number 2 - who has been with him for 9 years - will be in charge of Candlenut. His wife Jessline will manage the front of house for the 20 seater restaurant that will serve tasting menus only at S$198 for lunch and S$258 for dinner. 

Lee is slightly apprehensive about the response to Pangium, but is steadfast in his vision and pricing which stems from the extremely labour-intensive work behind his cooking. Diners can expect a meal rich in history and storytelling, from a chef who is an old soul at heart, but with a mindset very much in tune with the present. 11 Gallop Road, Gallop entrance, Singapore Botanic Gardens. restaurantpangium.sg

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Osteria Mozza Opens May 31 If the first word that comes to mind when you hear Mozza is “pizza”, you’re only half right. Osteria Mozza is a full-fledged Italian restaurant co-founded by Californian baker-chef Nancy Silverton and controversial chef Mario Batali, which once sat side-by-side with sister eatery Pizzeria Mozza at Marina Bay Sands (MBS). Both restaurants closed suddenly in 2018, following a sexual misconduct scandal involving Batali.

But that is ancient history now that Silverton is making her Singapore comeback with Osteria Mozza, in collaboration with Hilton Singapore Orchard and OUE Restaurants - which also has Hashida, Takayama and Rempapa in its stable.

It opens only for dinner from next week, but Silverton assures that when it starts to offer a lunch service in a few months’ time, the menu will include Pizzeria Mozza’s famous wood-fired pizzas and salads.

The Mozza name has bounced back since the scandal and the pandemic, says Silverton, “and we have opened a number of restaurants since 2020 - two in Los Angeles, one in Mexico, one in London and now one in Singapore”.

The Singapore outpost had much to do with MBS’s former F&B director Adam Crocini, who is now Hilton’s global head of F&B. “Adam was looking to introduce an Italian restaurant concept for the new Hilton, which wanted a Mozza-like restaurant. He approached us to bring back Mozza itself and here we are!”

How different will the new Mozza be? “Compared with the previous Osteria Mozza, there is a newness and brightness to the space,” says Silverton. “The format of the menu is still structured the way it was – we have the antipasti, mozzarella bar, pastas, secondi, vegetable side dishes and dessert. But when we open, I want our customers to see that we’ve done a lot of development over the last couple of years, so there are lots of exciting new dishes that fit well within the framework and sensibility of Osteria Mozza.”

It’s also a welcome back for 80 per cent of the former Mozza team who reached out when they heard about the new opening. That includes executive chef Peter Birks, who headed the original kitchen from 2016 till its closure. Silverton herself will return at least once a quarter.

Osteria Mozza serves Californian-Italian cuisine, “which focuses on my personal Italian cuisine rather than say the typical red sauce American-Italian cuisine,” she says. “I like robust flavours, fresh seasonal ingredients, and letting them show through on their own in the dish.” If the genre could be linked to anyone, “I would say my former and late husband Mark Peel invented California-Italian cuisine,” says the veteran chef-restaurateur who spends every July in her home in Panicale, Italy. And she shows no sign of slowing down “because when you are a serious cook like myself, you would never think that there’s nothing more to learn”. Level 5, Hilton Singapore Orchard, 333 Orchard Road. Tel: 6831-6271

Fiamma by Mauro Colagreco Opens June 15 You could say Mauro Colagreco is on fire in more ways than one, with his name attached to not one but now three dining concepts in Singapore, since the chef-owner of 3-Michelin-starred restaurant Mirazur launched his much-hyped pop-up in May 2021. After a short-lived stint with burger joint Carne which closed down late last year, he is now in the spotlight again with the all-day-dining, Italian-centric Fiamma at the Capella Singapore resort in Sentosa.

The Capella project had been in the works since before the pandemic, which delayed the project till now. Rather than a fine dining concept like Mirazur, Colagreco has been consciously moving towards more accessible dining experiences such as a sustainable bakery in the south of France to his all-day-dining restaurant Riviera, aptly located on the French Riviera.

It’s the same for Fiamma, with its sea-facing, 138-seat interiors divided into several sections including a main dining room with a glass enclosed kitchen and semi-private dining area showcasing a wood-burning pizza oven.

“Simplicity is key,” says Colagreco of his philosophy. “You don’t need to be overly fussy with preparation. I choose to focus on sourcing the best ingredients available and letting them shine on the plate with a more natural presentation.”

The menu includes an Italian red prawn tartare, livened up with citrus juices and served with kumquats and fava beans. Or the catch of the day fired on the grill before being finished in the oven, paired simply with seasonal vegetables, olives and capers. As a nod to sustainability, produce will be locally sourced as much as possible, with some harvested from the Capella’s own herb garden.

While based in France, Colagreco has been expanding in Asia, most recently in Bangkok with the fine dining restaurant Cote, also in partnership with the Capella group. Of the region’s culinary scene, he sees “a lot of fresh talents creating new restaurants and concepts; and a strong commitment to sustainability and product”. He sees plenty of opportunities for business expansion in Asia compared to Europe, so diners may well see the flames of growth spreading quickly in the near future. - additional reporting by David Yip Capella Singapore, 1 The Knolls, Sentosa Island. capellahotels.com/capella-singapore/dining/fiamma

Nobu Singapore Opens June 1 The closest that Singaporeans have gotten to eat at Nobu would be at its pop-up at the Paddock Club during Formula 1, but now it has a space to call its own at the Four Seasons Singapore.

Made famous with the partnership of Hollywood great Robert De Niro and Peruvian-influenced Japanese chef Nobu Matsuhisa, the fusion restaurant was once the hippest restaurant to be seen in, and still enjoys some cachet today.

“Nobu is a household name for its famed Japanese-Peruvian style cuisine and also as a destination to dine at,” says Peter Draminsky, Regional Vice President and General Manager of Four Seasons Singapore. “With Japanese-Peruvian cuisine being relatively novel to the Singapore palate, and understanding the adventurous and travel-savvy diners we have here, Nobu is a space where food and technique meets fun and stylish dining in the city centre.”

Part of the hotel’s third floor was completely refurbished to house the restaurant, which also features an outdoor Japanese garden, a first for Nobu. While a sushi bar anchors the restaurant, there are several private and semi-private rooms as well as a chef’s table - another first - for diners to watch head chef Hideki Maeda and his team at work. 

Maeda is a protege of Matsuhisa who helmed Nobu London before being posted to Singapore. He’s joined by executive sushi chef Takahiro Tim Otomo - also a Nobu alumnus from Las Vegas, and general manager Gopi Kanala of Nobu Kuala Lumpur.

“Nobu Singapore will also be one of only a handful of Nobu restaurants to offer teppanyaki with two customised teppanyaki private rooms,” adds Draminsky. Of course, the classics will be on offer - miso-marinated black cod, toro tartare with caviar and Nobu’s crispy rice, served with its own sake brewed by Hokusetsu brewery. Level 3, Four Seasons Singapore, 190 Orchard Boulevard. Tel: 6831-7653

Restaurant Born Opens June 21 It’s been delayed multiple times, but Zor Tan’s culinary opus, Restaurant Born, is finally set to make its grand debut at the historic Jinrikisha Station - once a seedy KTV lounge and now a multi-million dollar stage for the chef’s artistry.

Renovation works have thrown a constant spanner into his opening schedule, with “a shortage of raw materials as well as manpower”, says Tan. “There was also some rectification to be done as some of the work was not to our specifications.”

The most eye-catching feature is likely to be the main dining hall with its double-height glass ceiling, and a dramatic paper sculpture by artist Peter Gentenaar. Arches within the restaurant also act as a metaphor for the different stages of Tan’s culinary journey. 

“The dining experience and menu are based on the philosophy of the Circle of Life,” says Tan. “Each dish is an expression of my life, key milestones and my personal values.”

His first course - Buri/Galangal/Daikon - features aged buri in kombu, diced and mixed with sesame dressing, paired with daikon in a fermented ginger dressing and galangal snow. The use of soy sauce, wasabi and pickled ginger are a nod to his early days working in a Japanese chain restaurant. A Beef/Oyster/Fried Bao combination is partly based on an oyster snack his mother used to make, while his wife’s confinement dish of fish maw is reinterpreted as a French-style chou farci in his creation Fish Maw/Cabbage/Smoked Eel. 

The restaurant features an open kitchen, with counter and table seating, as well as 2 private rooms and 2 lounges. Diners can expect a 9-course menu starting with pickles and snacks and ending with petit fours. Pricing has yet to be finalised but is likely to be in the region of S$350 a head. #01-01, 1 Neil Road. 

Sushi Sakuta Opens June 1 Sushi Kou may be no more but the chefs behind it still have a long runway ahead of them. Namely its former head chef Yoshio Sakuta, who now gets a sushi restaurant named after him as he opens Sushi Sakuta at the Capitol Kempinski Hotel.

Previously from the 2-Michelin-starred Shoukouwa before he joined Sushi Kou, Sakuta will serve omakase at his 16-seater eatery starting at S$500 a head, a reflection of the prices commanded at high end Japanese establishments.

It’s understood that Sakuta’s partner is the Singapore distributor of Richard Mille watches. Menu-wise, expect the usual premium ingredients such as abalone sourced from Chiba or Kyushu, slow-cooked for 6 hours in sake and kombu, and Edomae-inspired sushi. Level 1, The Capitol Kempinski Hotel Singapore. Tel: 9863-9302