Although Curate at RWS seems to have a reputation as being the venue for visiting chefs from Michelin-starred restaurants, a lesser known fact is it is actually a full-time restaurant. @chefhalat.restaurantcurate who helms it, was born and bred in Germany. He was last at the Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur prior to moving to Singapore earlier this year.
For now, Curate serves only dinner and guests have a choice between a 5-course and an 8-course menu. I happen to love that these come printed on thick paper and sealed with wax to build up anticipation.
Last month on a Friday evening, I celebrated my birthday there with my "makan kakis" and we enjoyed the fine cooking by Chef Halat and his team. Coincidentally, he was launching a new menu that very night. Since then, it seems that a couple of the dishes have been tweaked.
Shown above are the six snacks we started with. Each of them exhibited an element of surprise and/or fun which was thrilling to discover.
We started with a champagne-marinated ama ebi on icy-cold stone with a sesame emulsion. That got us pumped for the rest to come. Second to appear - Chef Halat's modern take on the curry puff, prettily presented with curry leaves. Soft cubes of olive oil jelly topped with kalamata olives and chilli followed. The fourth and fifth snacks were the chorizo madeleines and the intriguing "edible stones", which was based on a theme of bringing the beach to the table. This took the form of seaweed-wrapped tuna sashimi with a touch of cashew nut. Last but not least, we were presented with the palate-cleansing tomato sphere. Under the lightest pressure, the little domes burst to fill our mouths with a delicate tomato liquid.
In summary, an adventurous start to the rest of our meal.