Lunch : Julien Bompard at Ascott Raffles Place

What can be better than going to a good restaurant to enjoy a meal? Well it is when your Chef/Mentor personally cooks for you. My friend Manuel (Grand Sommelier at St Regis) had just arrived to work in Singapore, and I am showing him the top restaurants in town. Obviously the 1st one on the list is with my Chef/Mentor Mr Bompard. I expected it to be good (of course I knew it would be), but to our surprise he did a menu for us all personally cooked by him. It was a great treat to see him behind the stove. The flair and confidence as he approaches each plate is what us chefs all aspire to carry.

Everywhere I work, I use him as the benchmark to succeed. Having been in the team when he just started, he had set the standards high for all of us. A standard that is so high, yet obtainable through positivity and hard work. He has always been a realist, a realist to the business and to life. I vividly remember once, quite a while back when I was prepping the amuse bouche for service and he came up to me and said something like, “do real food Mr Ben, not fantasy food …” then he walked away into the mis en place … I did not get it, so after service I consulted him and he explained the importance of serving food that people can relate to on the plate, not in magazines …  This lesson always comes to mind whenever approaching a new dish, but me being me, I still stray towards fantasy on the plate. And till this day he still takes a friendly piss at my direction of food, but has always been supportive none the what. He is one of the chefs (although sadly a VERY rare breed now in Singapore) who doesn’t care much for awards, as he knows his award is when every customer leaves the restaurant happy, satisfied and making plans for their next visit, or when anyone in his team makes their mark in the industry. Well back to the lunch ….

For amuse bouche, we were presented with a cornet of cod brandade and lobster emulsion. Simple and sleek.

Then, it was a cured New Zealand Salmon cleverly paired with a Spanish Omelet with Avruga Caviar. The smoothness of the salmon and omelet went just heavenly with the smokiness of the caviar and the small bit of lemon, plus the bitterness from the marmalade just balanced the whole dish out.

Next we were treated to some Asparagus ala Plancha with romesco sauce. Chef told us that he wanted to re-create the feel of the famous festival in Spain where calçots, a type of spring onion, is well charred in the ground. But he went for that similarity with asparagus, and the exploding flavours from the romesco was amazing.

Following this, chef served us a soupy good mix of octopus with squid and chorizo, with a dusting of smoked paprika. Hearty yet light, and the octopus was unbelievably tender.

Then, with a touch of shyness and a dash of hope I

asked if he served his lobster bisque here. And voila! He did! With delight and almost childish admiration, I explained to Manuel how perfect his Lobster Bisque is. It is one of those great recipes where you learn from somebody but would never want to put the same one in your menu. It’s just that you really don’t want to do it any injustice. Yes it IS THAT DAMM BLOODY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD !!!

After recovering from the absolute ocean of a bisque, we were served a seared foie gras (ah yes, what would lunch be without foie gras …… hmmmm spoken like a food snub… hahaa … more like a pig maybe … ), that was paired with a slice of gorgeous silky pink smoked duck breast, herb salad and prune sauce. Just before this course was served, chef poured us a glass of red (yes I know I sound like a duck not knowing where it came from .. could you blame me? I was still recovering from my “bisque moment”), and he explained that from the character of the wine you could have an end taste of prune, similar to the taste of the prunes he used for the prune sauce … simply fantastic.

We hit the “motherload” with the main course – a crusted & roasted baramundi nicely cooked with tender tomatoes served with basil oil and balsamico. When you’re at that acquired level of cooking, something so simple and done so well is all you need to serve.

Caramalised Pineapple with chocolate sauce and a coconut sorbet ended the experience, with my usual double shot cappuccino and petit fours ….. of course.

Like I was telling my friend over lunch, sometimes when I see Chef Julien I suddenly become this little boy, not because of fear but because of the utmost respect I have for him (maybe that’s why he served us his famous Lobster Bisque upon my request … hahaaaaa mind you it really is a good Lobster Bisque !!!)

Lunch (as I said) was great, simple, no fuss and perfectly executed. This is where I make my point that the dining experience is a whole package – food and service. And having the chef give you both was a real treat. He was cooking for us, explaining the dish, why the ingredients were paired together, what his vision was with the dish, paired a wine for us… It was like a personal cooking class from the master himself. A meal that I will always cherish for the rest of my life.

HAPPY FOODING !!!

Follow the link HERE for more photos from the lunch.