Catalunya

Suckling pig at Catalunya

Beef Wellington – Ramsay

Spent my afternoon watching this – very inspired to make one now.

Alfero Artisan Gelato

We discovered Alfero Artisan Gelato quite sometime ago – it’s a gem of a place, quiet and conducive for having a cuppa or enjoying gelato. Housed at one corner of Marina Square, the gelato is quite simply, the best gelato I’ve eaten in Singapore – creamy, delish and consistent. I know some people like Gelateria Italia (now at Plaza Singapura and Bugis +) but the texture of the gelato is so chewy that it doesn’t even taste like gelato.

7 November 2011

So, the year has come and gone – it’s less than two months to Christmas. I was in Marks & Sparks the other day and shocked to see that Xmas cards were for sale. Christmas seems to get earlier every year! That said, Christmas is my favourite festival of the year, I think it has something to do with the fact that I see it as the close to a year.

This year seems to have gone by very quickly- I’ve changed jobs, visited new places, tried many new food places (this is something that will be the subject of many blog posts) and had some significant milestones in my personal life.

Am I happier this year? Not really – in fact, this year has been middling. Middling in that in spite of good food and some great company, I haven’t felt as happy inside as I wished I could be. Some days in fact are spent feeling empty and dreading the life that I have come to know. And now, sitting at some great cafes having great company and enjoying the coffee, I’ve come to wish I led a more creative life – one that allows me to really exercise creative sensibilities and have more fun(and more flexibility in my routine). The irony of course, is that as a child, I never really wanted a creative life, although I had been constantly told that I was artistic. Naturally and intuitively, I have a fascination with fashion, and beautiful aesthetics.So if I could find a job that combines both these loves, it would be fabulous. Making the jump takes courage, and I am not sure I am ready for that, but somedays you wake up wondering why am I wasting all my glorious time (and life) in what may be a short life, doing all this for nought? Sure, I may enjoy portions of it, but if I feel constantly quite unhappy within, this can’t be healthy.

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Foodsmithtwo has been very busy as well, hence the radio silence on our end. But we’ve been trying new places and endeavour to post on from henceforth. The great thing about food I have come to realise is that when it’s good, it never lets you down. Comfort food, for one, you always feel instantly good while eating. New cuisines, when it’s good, can be surprising. Food well done, always make you happy.

If only Life were as good food is- never disappointing, always satisfying, always liberating – but then it wouldn’t be called Life would it?

Lanvin Fall 2011-2012 Ad Campaign

This is absolutely unexpected but oh so cute!

You are not yet gone

..but I already feel that it’s raining in my heart.

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Love the ads below- if only girls looked like that all the time.

Perfect weather for a public holiday- I tried the food at Hummerstons, a stone’s throw away from Canele in Robertson Quay. Good food and atmosphere. Review for that as well as Pique Nique in Ngee Ann City coming up.

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Mooncakes- Peninsula’s Egg custard mooncakes and their golden lotus paste with egg yolk are divine.Perfect pick me up for a slouchy day.

Who are you, mysterious stranger?

We’re keen on finding out:

1. who you are,
2. where you are from,
3. why you read our blog,
4. what you like or do not like about it.

Cos we are such coffee lovers, one lucky winner who emails us at thewordfood@gmail.com with the most interesting response stands to win a $20 Starbucks pre-paid card, for use in Singapore.

Chanel accessories

Someone very near and dear to me presented me with a lovely gift last week – and it reminded me of why I love Chanel so much. Simple effortless elegance. That resulted in me googling on Ebay for a mass array of accessories – pity that there are so many counterfeits in the market that I don’t dare to put down any money for them. For the time being, I am left with drooling over these lovely accessories- iPad and iPhone case included. In Beijing this summer, I came across the faux patent iPad case in fire engine red. HELLO. Baby never looked so fine.

Isn’t it gorgeous? So exquisite, the ice blue is all frosty and lovely. Now to continue googling….

A fun Saturday out

Today, we kicked off our day drinking coffee at Papa Palheta (yet again)- it’s turning out to be a ritual. The coffee is so good, and the atmosphere so relaxed you can’t help smiling lounging in the tasting room sipping good coffee and listening to Lush 99.5FM. I hope most of the patrons do pay them a decent amount for the cuppa, the baristas are just lovely.

After lunch, I nearly wanted to do a bit of shopping but instead we decided not to shop or watch Brighton Rock/Wu Xia, but to head down to Singapore Tyler Print Institute for the David Hockney exhibition.David Hockney is one of this century’s most important pop artists- the colours of his work are dominant, the brushstrokes most definitive. In one particular series, he paints a hotel and places in the hotel, from different perspectives. We loved the recent works painted on an iPhone or iPad. Looking at the paintings, it made me miss the museums in Paris, particularly the Lucian Freud exhibition which we had gone to, before he passed on earlier this year.

We also had sashimi for Lunch at old favourite Tampopo and finished off one Wagyu Beef ball, and creme puff at its deli for dessert. Yummlicious – and a perfect start to the weekend.

Papa Palheta

Coffee so good you wanna drink more than a cup!

Memories of Beijing

I just came back from Beijing nearly two weeks ago – it feels however, like a month ago. Beijing is not exactly the most ideal tourist spot to many people, but being a Chinese-historyphile (in my youth), I figured I should at least make a trip there at least once in my life. During the trip though, I remembered sitting in MacDonalds marvelling at how far the Chinese have come.

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I am not from my father’s or grandfather’s generation – I did not see the progress the Chinese made in the 1990s post-industrialization, and I am both ashamed and embarrassed to say that I know so little of its past. It also made me feel like a fraudster in my Chinese skin- though Chinese on the outside, I can’t say I know as much of Chinese culture as I would like to. The Chinese experience is that unique and complex.  But I can only imagine it as I looked at the subway, the newly paved walkways, the bridges on Tiananmen Square, gloriously organised and orderly barricades outside the National Museum of China as we stood there testing time. There was something to be proud of- for a moment, it felt like Chinese all over the world congregated and could feel proud, to trace their ancestry (how small, how distant, how foreign) to this center of the world (or once aupon a time, as they proclaimed, the center of the universe). If the Chinese could just get their social graces down pat, this is a city worth remembering and revisiting- the richness of Chinese history, the complexity of the Chinese migrant experience, the difficulties in transition to the future and often paradoxical beliefs and sociopolitical changes all make for a truly intriguing cultural experience, and something that no seasoned traveller should bypass in favour of something more European or Western. Rome wasn’t built in a day — but neither was China. And just think, if it hadn’t closed its doors to the world many centuries ago, it might be the America we now fly half the world over just to see.

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The city itself is beautiful — even as there is admittedly great poverty in the alleys, on the side streets where naked children run about, catching insects, lying in the sand, sitting on tiny wooden stools peeling lychees, oblivious to strangers averting their gazes, even as their shorts have a tiny hole (little boys can conveniently pee), even as a man lies prostrate on the ground of the subway missing an arm, this is juxtaposed alongside the intoxicating smell of fast moving traffic – the daredevil taxis zipping through corners and racing in the face of oncoming traffic all just to earn that 2 yuan taxi fare for each km traversed, the rickshaw carts being pulled by diminutive women with their straw hats. Coupled with great poverty, there is also the decadence of the noveau riche, an almost embarrassingly unabashed splashing of new money, new wealth in places you least expect- in a former colonial outpost, in an art district, in carved out expat living quarters. Beijing is a wonderful wonderful place- if you keep your heart and mind open, you will find that the city like any other, has an amazing textured richness to it: from old folks looking at varieties of plants in the park, to line dancing and taiji early in the morning, to a man quietly practising water calligraphy in the pavements and surreptitiously stopping upon discovering tourists interrupting his peace and solitude, it is so full of character and flavour.

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I love Singapore- but sometimes, confronted with cities like Beijing, you can’t help but ask yourself: am I missing out too much on living in a real city? After all, these are not man made cities, marked by the presence of a foreign merchant from ashore.

Beijing is lovely- if you will let it be.

 

Sidenote: In the park at the Temple of Heaven, a man squatted on the floor doing his water calligraphy quietly. In that moment, I looked at him and felt sad for myself. Here was a man who took delight in something so pure and simple- something so ephemeral it would evaporate into thin air, or be washed over.

Antoinette

If you’ve been trying to get a place at Antoinette and have been unable to, let me just say that the wait is worth it.

We’ve been fans of Chef Pang’s creations when Canele was a young outfit, with only one branch at Robertson Quay. I used to frequent it post/pre-theatre, for a coffee or cake and not many people knew what Canele was. It did not also have such an extensive collection of cakes as it does today. Chef Pang however was a mainstay, and I remember thinking that it was quite rare that cakes of this quality were being produced right here in Singapore.

Now that Canele has blossomed and Chef Pang has gone onto, imho, better things, I am very proud to say that Chef Pang is entirely home grown, and in my opinion, someone that warrants the credit and accolades that have come his way. Recently, work has got me thinking that it is not necessarily the most glamorous of work, or the most well paying job that deserves respect- but sometimes if you have this raw talent in an industry that is small, and your work is stellar or really stands out, then you already have my respect. The cakes at Antoinette are lovely, and sitting there eating cake today, I thought to myself – if I could have one-fifth of his talent in my line of work, that would be just..well, frankly fabulous.

The Disgruntled Chef

Ironically, a meal here yesterday did not leave me disgruntled. More photos to come soon- suffice to say that the food was excellent, and very similar in concept to Artichoke tapas style menu. I have to say though that surprisingly, I may prefer it even to Artichoke. The food was delish, and as I remarked, showed a remarkable amount of restraint – just the right pairing and seasoning, and alot of maturity by the chef (Daniel Sia, formerly of the White Rabbit).

Finally

Finally it’s the end of a long week.

Repetto Flats

I have a pair of these lovelies, in shimmery grey ash silver.

So fabulous

Before Sunset

I watched Before Sunset again tonight – the last time I watched it was in 2005, nearly 6 years ago. The strange thing was, you know how it’s such a good film that now having grown older, and watching it again, different parts of the dialogue resonate with me. I can identify with that loss of idealism, that recognition that what was once the infallibility of youth has passed us by. It was as though the younger version of me that had watched it with innocent eyes and marvelled “Oh so that’s what it’s like turning thirty and all”. The irony is though I may be soon down that road, I now watch it with new eyes and it feels somewhat despairing and depressing. Sometimes, it feels as though all your youth, you wait with bated breath for your prime, and then when you actually have it, it’s not all that it was made out to be, or all that fabulous. And time passes like Celine says, even faster and faster as you grow older. Watching it, it reminded me of how connections, real connections, with people are so hard to find. And all the more reason to cherish. How many people can you truly connect with in one lifetime?

Part of the wonderful aspect of the film is that the dialogue between the 2 leads is so natural and so affectionate, it feels as though you are listening in on what could be 2 soulmates’(or 2 very good friends) conversations. The concept of The One is absurd, but the concept that two ple could connect with each other so nicely, is not.  When Celine was angry at Jesse, I could understand why she was angry – not at him, but at for having wasted all that time searching and feeling lost. When I was younger, I thought I found someone like that, but it turned out not to be the case. Age drove us apart.

Paris is captured beautifully – the city is beautiful, in spite of its service and hangups. The trees line the sunlit boulevards, the lovely cafes lining the trees, the smell of the fresh air, the space in the city. I was there last year, but cos of various reasons, my initial happiness of going resulted in some sadness, and I remember standing by the side of the road tears welling up.

At the beginning of the film, a journalist asks Jessie if the two of them end up together- he says “well, it depends if you’re a romantic or a cynic”. I am not a romantic, but I like to believe that Celine and Jesse having found each other again after so much time apart, would end up together.

“I want to remember how your face looks like now, forever.”

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I have been in better moods. Just one week more- I can last this.

the illusionist

So touched, and so sad after watching Chomet’s The Illusionist.

20 March 2011, 7.37 pm

Modern girls

All the news over Chanel recently has been of the ad campaigns of Blake Lively advertising the Mademoiselle bag- however, what is really exquisite in my opinion, was Chanel’s Spring/Summer 2011 Haute Couture collection. For one, it featured jeans. Coco Chanel was famous for saying that girls should not be in jeans, but Karl Lagerfeld felt that this reflected what modern girls wear. His inspiration for the show was none other than Blake Lively.

The show featured clothes that for a haute couture show, looked surprisingly wearable. I love the pointed black heels with the plastic see-through ankle strap, the gorgeous black ribbon worn at the necks of the models, the skinny pants with buttons on the side carelessly unbuttoned, to the metallic sheen of the tweed to the beautiful usage of tulle. Everything was astonishingly elegant,graceful and polished. The girls looked ethereal.

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Cloud 9 ice cream

Cedele is better known for its sandwiches, soups and salads. For a period of time however I decided not to patronize the stalls after the bad service at a number of its branches, made worse by the fact that after writing into management to give feedback I did not hear from them at all. This sentiment of poor, brusque service is lamentable given that the quality of its breads and expanding selection of sandwich fillings is a step in the right direction. They have also had Cloud 9 ice cream but it wasn’t until today that I managed to sample. Each cup is $3(4 cups for $12)and $2.80 if you add it to a meal. There’s quite a selection of ice cream n sorbets – mango tango, blueberry cheesecake, cappuccino almond, vanilla bean, mango sorbet, sea salt caramel, lychee.

I had the vanilla bean- the texture of the ice cream is smooth and creamy with the scent of vanilla coming through. It was however in my opinion a tad sweet and strangely chalky. Apparently the ice cream is eggless without trans fats as with the advertising for the sandwiches. Half decent if you want something cold to round up your meal, aside from the cakes.