ESORA: The Rise of the Culinary Bambinos
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15/01/2019 ESORA: The Rise of the Culinary Bambinos | High Net Worth
Dining (https://www.hnworth.com/article-category/dining)
ESORA: The Rise of
the Culinary
Bambinos
By Sihan Lee
https://www.hnworth.com/article/2018/12/06/esora-the-rise-of-the-culinary-bambinos/ 1/9
15/01/2019 ESORA: The Rise of the Culinary Bambinos | High Net Worth
December 6, 2018 Recommended
2018 has been an epic year of change
for the F&B scene in Singapore, Insights
(https://www.hnworth.com/article-
notwithstanding the sad category/insights)
departure/closure of several renowned
institutions in the industry.
With several big names out of action,
this creates room for the younger,
more ambitious chefs and
restauranteurs to strive and crack the
glass ceilings of fine dining. And for
many of these up-and-comers, beige is
(https://www.hnworth.com/article/201
the new white; and wood is the new 10-biggest-risks-for-2018/)
marble.
The 10 Biggest Risks
for 2018
(https://www.hnworth.com/article/201
10-biggest-risks-for-2018/)
Style
(https://www.hnworth.com/article-
category/style)
(http://www.hnworth.com/wp-
content/uploads/2018/11/Esora-Art-
1.jpg)
Contributing significantly to these
efforts, is the newly opened ESORA
(https://www.restaurant-esora.com/),
(https://www.hnworth.com/article/201
an intimate 26-seater Kappo-style to-get-the-nike-react-element-87-
establishment that has recently added x-undercover/)
the T.Dining Best New Restaurant
award to its impending accolades, just
https://www.hnworth.com/article/2018/12/06/esora-the-rise-of-the-culinary-bambinos/ 2/9
15/01/2019 ESORA: The Rise of the Culinary Bambinos | High Net Worth
3 months of opening its doors.
Impressive. Even more so when you How To Get The
personally experience the first-class Nike React Element
dining shift gears on full power, 87 X UNDERCOVER
combined with the zen-like disposition
of the nature forward space. ESORA (https://www.hnworth.com/article/201
to-get-the-nike-react-element-87-
translates to ‘painting in the sky’ in x-undercover/)
Japanese, mirroring Chef Koizumi’s Dining
love for the sky and his affinity with (https://www.hnworth.com/article-
category/dining)
nature. If you close your eyes, just
imagine you are in the old cedar
forests of Hakone instead of the
gentrified street that is Mohamed
Sultan Road; the light pitter patter of a
passing shower and the barest hint of
timber in the air.
The tone is set with a warm bowl of
(https://www.hnworth.com/article/201
dashi. It’s a labour of love, flavoured cohiba-cigars/)
with dried katsuobushi and yuzu. You
ease back into your chair, and do a The Perfect Pairing:
double-take to leave your worries at Martell Cohiba and
the door. Shigeru Koizumi traverses Cohiba cigars
the kitchen with quiet confidence, his
(https://www.hnworth.com/article/201
muscular forearms executing
cohiba-cigars/)
restrained movements with a gentle
Automobiles
demeanour as if to blend into the (https://www.hnworth.com/article-
category/automobiles)
restaurant. All around him, young
staff are buzzing around like soldier
bees, purposeful and teeming with
energy. In Koizumi’s utopian world,
the kitchen runs like clockwork; the
team oblivious to scrutinising glares as
if a one-way mirror was all that stood
between us.
(https://www.hnworth.com/article/201
group-signs-two-agreements-to-
build-high-performance-boats/)
USP Group Signs
Two Agreements To
https://www.hnworth.com/article/2018/12/06/esora-the-rise-of-the-culinary-bambinos/ 3/915/01/2019 ESORA: The Rise of the Culinary Bambinos | High Net Worth
Build High
Performance Boats
(https://www.hnworth.com/article/201
group-signs-two-agreements-to-
build-high-performance-boats/)
High Profiles
(https://www.hnworth.com/article-
category/high-profiles)
(http://www.hnworth.com/wp-
content/uploads/2018/11/Esora-Foie-
Gras-Monaka.jpg)
The Foie Gras Monaka is one of the
best things I’ve put in my mouth this
year. Crispy monaka shell harbouring
a goose liver torch, grounded by sweet
fig and given a nutty edge with sesame (https://www.hnworth.com/article/2017
tan-heatwave/)
creameux. Wisps of ginger flower and
grated kaffir lime brighten up the
Elizabeth Tan
savoury confection. The staff will
spare no effort in winning your (https://www.hnworth.com/article/2017
interest in their dedicated tea pairing tan-heatwave/)
programme. Heavy alcoholic imbibers
can take comfort in the fact that these
hand blended teas served in sexy
glassware can have a placebo effect.
The tea odyssey begins with the
Sparkling Oriental Beauty tilted into a
champagne flute, a delicate brew
infused with hibiscus flower and
umeshu, and then given an
effervescent character with the
introduction of soda. Champagne,
move along now.
The meal takes a turn with the hideous
monk fish taking shape in a picture
perfect duo of dishes: chawanmushi
with dashi jelly topped with coriander
cress, flanked by a slender sliver of
toast with churned Ankimo (Monk
https://www.hnworth.com/article/2018/12/06/esora-the-rise-of-the-culinary-bambinos/ 4/915/01/2019 ESORA: The Rise of the Culinary Bambinos | High Net Worth
Fish Liver) christened with Narazuke
(Japanese pickles) that have been
soaked in sake lees. The tea pairing
that emerges is an Oolong blend with a
distinct creamy backbone.
You’ll feel the warm embrace of
Autumn with the Sashimi selection.
Pretty vessels sitting on the most
wondrous bed of autumn leaves lit by
a candle tube made from thinly shaved
radish. I count my blessing avidly. I
have never seen a presentation so
exquisite. There’s lightly smoked
katsuo, a trio of tuna that is to be
eaten irrefutably in an increasing
order of luxury. Bafun Uni nigiri, and
finally Hokkaido clams with green
mustard. It’s clearly a dish founded by
great produce—seeking approval via
an ostentatious presentation. And you
know what? It’s getting its way.
Chef Koizumi prances over to a small
induction panel placed strategically in
front of my vantage point. He
proceeds to fish out matsutake
mushrooms from a simmering stock
pot. I have had an ocean’s worth of
hearty soups in my time, but nothing
that resembles anything like this one.
It’s like a fever dream of Japanese
inspiration—clear as day, yet bursting
with sweet earthy flavours from the
mushrooms and abalone that has been
slow cooked for 6 hours at 85 degrees.
It makes you appreciate each spoonful
as opposed to gobbling it down with a
certain vengeance. And then there’s
the momentous moment when
https://www.hnworth.com/article/2018/12/06/esora-the-rise-of-the-culinary-bambinos/ 5/915/01/2019 ESORA: The Rise of the Culinary Bambinos | High Net Worth
sprightly sudachi lime marries the
seaworthy broth, delivering an
exquisite combination.
(http://www.hnworth.com/wp-
content/uploads/2018/11/Esora-Omi-
Wagyu.jpg)
Here at ESORA, everything occurs
with graceful harmony, the chefs
obviously are attuned to the level of
hunger of each guest, committing
themselves to the finer details like the
pacing of courses. There is a thick slab
of Japanese Amberjack belly loin, the
fish lightly tinted with sweet smoke
from the charcoal grill overwhelming
my palate with a concentration of
briny fats. Its heftiness, a precursor to
the brilliance of Omi Wagyu glazed
with aged red vinegar. I muse, almost
grinning in triumph at the wonderful
deliverance of the prized meat first
cooked in an oil bath before hitting the
grill. The Daikoku Shimeiji mushroom
continuing in the same meaty
wavelengths. A donabe or claypot of
snow crab is the highlight of the
Kappo experience, and I am glad that
Chef Koizumi stuck to traditions. The
Hokkaido Yumepirika rice is the
perfect foil to the sweet interceptions
of crab meat.
https://www.hnworth.com/article/2018/12/06/esora-the-rise-of-the-culinary-bambinos/ 6/915/01/2019 ESORA: The Rise of the Culinary Bambinos | High Net Worth
Desserts get equal attention here and
the meal concludes without any
blemishes with the Wasanbon Ice
Cream. A dessert so light, yet so
resounding in flavours that it’s almost
whimsical. It sits on an intense
scaffold of steamed chestnuts with an
added flourish of Alba white truffle
shavings—contributing a nice earthy
inflection into the milky combination.
There is an almost serendipitous feel
that washes over you as you cup a
ceramic mug of warm matcha to your
lips. ESORA marries the stylish
elegance of Odette with the timeless
ideology of Kappo-style feasting to
create a dynamic institution that feels
entirely organic, yet distinctly
authentic. For those of you who think
fine dining is dead, it’s not, it’s just
metamorphosing. This is hope. And
outside, a thick Singaporean rain
begins to fall.
[ Read: Is Fine Dining Dead in
Singapore?
(http://www.hnworth.com/article/2018/11/22/is
finediningdeadinsingapore/) ]
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