French cuisine tends to be heavy on creams and strong-tasting sauces. However, Chef Anne Sophie Pic, a third generation chef-owner of a three-star Michelin restaurant in France, has lent her wonderful touch to show that French fine-dining can also be delicate with finely balanced flavours.
Here she is with a special greeting for guests of La Dame de Pic in Singapore.
The restaurant at Raffles Hotel is gorgeous. You can see more of it on this post on my first visit.
We had the pleasure of experiencing highlights from the summer menu. There are two choices:
EXPERIENCE
S$238 Per Guest
S$158 Wine and Sake Pairing
ELEGANCE
S$328 Per Guest
S$218 Wine and Sake Pairing
First up, breads and herbed butter. If the kitchen caught fire, and this was all I had to eat, I would have still been happy. They bake their own artisanal breads. The matcha brioche and sourdough are still here, but there's a new beer-infused pointy kind of bread (I forget the name).
Amuse BoucheAgain we have a lovely trio of delectable nibbles.
From lower right, the calamansi-like spheres are very delicate and will burst in your mouth almost upon contact. Handle with care!
The honeycomb crackers dotted with savoury jelly are kind of a nod to our own heritage snack (I love those).
The peanut butter marshmallows taste like pillow soft mochi.
A surprise snack of taco-style tuile cracker loaded with a complex yet complementary pop of flavours.
Tomato Myriad
Tomato consommé lightly infused with elderflower
Burrata ice cream
You really can't argue with French heirloom tomatoes, even if you don't like tomatoes. And they are at their best in summer. The burrata ice cream is divine. Move over, salted caramel; cheeses make such deliciously salty ice cream. And the consommé ties everything together with a floral bouquet.
Berlingots Pasta parcels filled with French cheese fondue
Almonds and sunflower seeds
Pea broth infused with herb of grace
This is Chef's signature dish. It's a mainstay in each of her restaurants, but lovingly localised with ingredients she finds in the countries. For this, she used herb of grace, a slightly bitter weed that balances out the savoury, tangy and sweet elements of the dish.
These pasta parcels are quite a technical marvel. It's not easy to mould such thin pieces of pasta into pyramids with filling, much less boil them and have them stay so perfectly in shape. Leet skills.
Turbot from Brittany
Cooked meunière
Light broth of green zebra tomato and galium odorant with fresh verbena
This is from the Elegance menu, as an option to Wild Sea Bass with Oscietra caviar and Champagne sauce (Chef's father Jacques Pic's signature dish). The Experience menu has Hokkaido Tuna Belly cooked over hot coals for the fish course.
The turbot is cooked perfectly and goes so well with the gently tangy broth.
The higher end menu also features Wild Langoustine from Norway cooked à la plancha as an additional dish.
Saga Wagyu Beef
Cooked over coals
Marinated with Kampot pepper, sobacha, cacao nibs and sake
Butter-roasted celeriac and black garlic mayonnaise, beef jus
For the red meat, both menus showcase the excellent wagyu which is cooked sous vide for tenderness and finished on coals for a beautiful outer char.
You could also choose
The Pigeon from Bresse (see first photo)
Roasted on its chest
Tsukudani and seaweed mashed potatoes
Lightly smoked broth infused with Madagascan vanilla, roasted barley, Phú Quc pepper and kumquat
Brie de Meaux Cheese with Vanilla A palate cleanser before dessert that is almost a mini-dessert in itself. The triple cream cheese still manages to be light, with an almost whipped texture.
We were also told a fascinating trivia bit. If you see cutlery with Raffles Hotel engraved on the ends, these indicate silverware that was once hidden underground during World War 2. They dug these out from the garden some time in the 1970s.
Curated Cheeses +S$38
An assortment of fine cheeses from the artisanal trolley presented by the service team. What a gorgeous selection. I want to come here just to eat cheese.
Meanwhile, you have three choices for dessert.
White Mille-feuille
Ginger flower light cream
Confit grapefruit
Litsea cubeba emulsion
This is the signature dessert, and certainly a crowd pleaser. You can read more about it in my previous post on La Dame de Pic.
Alpaco Chocolate
Hojicha and cubeb pepper light mousse
Beeswax honey ice cream
This time I chose something different. I wanted to see how good their chocolate was. It was certainly rich and luxurious, but after so much food, it may be a little too satiating.
In the background, we have the petit four. The spheres again tie back to the very first amuse bouche.
Gariguette Strawberry Genmaicha light mousse
Coconut and lemon verbena sorbet
This is for those who prefer a fruit-based tangy dessert. Looks pretty too but it's too sharply sour for me.
Now for some of the wines and sake served:
Sake Komachi, Junmai Ginjo Midnight Blue, Yamamoto NV
Served with Tomato Myriad
Wonderful recommendation by the head sommelier Eric Li. This was superbly smooth and easy to drink. It balanced the acidity of the tomatoes.
Marsanne, Saint-Péray Lieu-dit Payrolles Anne-Sophie Pic & Michel Chapoutier 2016
It is appropriate that the Berlingots are paired with a wine from Anne-Sophie Pic's own vineyard. This is a joint wine collaboration by the Pic and Chapoutier families who have known each other a long time. Using Marsanne grapes, we have a rare white wine from the Rhône valley. It's sweet, light and well-balanced with fruity, earthy and citrusy notes.
Grenache Noir, Châteauneuf-du-pape, Domaine Mas Saint-Louis 2014
Chosen to go with the Saga wagyu as the tenderloin is not so fatty, so there's no need for strong tannins.
Ximenez-Spinola Exceptional Harvest 2017
Served with my dessert (yes, each dessert warrants a different wine pairing, and I still remember the white moscato served with the mille feuille last year)
Taken mindfully with great companions, the courses at La Dame de Pic can take a very enjoyable three hours which will be a conversation piece for weeks to come.
LA DAME DE PIC
1 Beach Rd, Singapore 189673
Opening Hours
Lunch: 12:00pm – 2:00pm
Dinner: 7:00pm – 9:30pm (last seating 9pm)
Closed on Sundays and Mondays
Open on Public Holidays
Restaurant capacity: 46
Menu Pricing: Set Lunch from S$128++, Set Dinner from S$198++
Website: www.ladamedepic.com.sg
Dress code: Casual Chic (Long Pants, Covered Shoes for Men)
For reservations, please contact the Raffles Service team at +65 6337 1886 or via email at singapore@raffles.com
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