Pared-down simplicity

WHEN you're dining at the hands of Ollie Dabbous, looks aren't everything. Food-wise, that is. Because even though the 34-year-old chef owns a one-Michelin star restaurant - Dabbous, in London - his personal preference is for his dishes to not look too "cheffy".

He explains: "I want that look of effortless simplicity that sometimes takes a lot of work in a kitchen, but is very restrained and looks very organic ... there's a lot of very modern food that looks quite similar, so my style is I just like a few elements on a dish."

In other words, don't be surprised if you're served a humble braised fennel sitting in a fennel puree and sprinkled with fennel pollen, or a bundle of charred broccoli next to a dollop of sauce. In fact, those were two out of eight courses that chef Dabbous served at the 4xFour pop-up dinner event in Singapore earlier this week.