Bacchanalia
re-opens at 39 Hong Kong Street in mid-August, 2015
An intimate kitchen inspired by the world
The acclaimed Singapore restaurant
Bacchanalia, formerly located in the historical Masonic Hall on Coleman Street,
is preparing to open a fresh, evolved version of the same restaurant on
up-and-coming Hong Kong Street.
Reducing the dining room from 120
covers to 36 covers, the new Bacchanalia will offer a vastly improved dining
experience from the old.
An ambitious layout will decrease the barriers between
the guests, the staff and the food, creating a more light-hearted and festive
ambience. A deeper and more responsible approach to sourcing will make it one of
Singapore’s most sustainable restaurants.
Occupying an elongated open plan
shop house, the Hong Kong Street restaurant has no walls between the multiple
kitchen counters and dining tables, reducing the distinction between guests,
servers and chefs.
Guests will be walked through the kitchen before being
seated for their meal, helping to create informality and allowing guests to
actively engage with the cooking.
“The size of the Masonic Hall on
Coleman Street and distance between kitchen and dining room affected our
ability to directly interact with guests”, says Bacchanalia’s head chef Ivan
Brehm.
“The new Bacchanalia is a living room, dining room and kitchen all in
one. It closes the gap between guests and the kitchen, people and food, making
the experience more akin to a dinner party in your own house and more aligned
with our belief that great restaurants should be about connected and shared
experiences”.
Brehm, who was born in Brazil and worked at the Fat Duck the UK, Mugaritz in Spain and Per Se in the USA before taking the helm of Bacchanalia, together with sous chef Mark Ebbels, has been overseeing all elements of the design and ambience for the new venue.
“This new space validates our work as chefs”, says Australian born Ebbels who previously worked as a development chef for Heston Blumenthal. “It’s the missing piece in the jigsaw.”
Designed by Singapore based
Distillery, the new Bacchanalia will be outfitted in leather, wood, stainless
steel and granite, with collectibles and images of irregular shaped vegetables
adorning the walls.
Many of these vegetables, by nature of their unevenness
usually discarded from supermarket shelves, but here symbolizing grace and
beauty, are at the heart of the two chef’s approach towards product and nature.
A dramatic light feature with some of the 400 hand blown globes gracing the
ceiling at Coleman Street will be the only design element to move with the
restaurant.
In line with the work Brehm and
Ebbels started at Coleman Street, the food at Hong Kong Street will continue to
reflect a strong commitment to sourcing and cutting edge cooking methods
to create new flavour combinations and reinterpret traditions.
Taking
responsible sourcing one step further than the original Coleman Street venue,
the majority of ingredients will be obtained from local producers.
These
include a range of heirloom herbs and vegetables from Bacchanalia’s organic
farm in Malaysia’s Cameron Highlands, rare tropical fruits from Penang, garnish
herbs and flowers from the restaurant’s back yard garden and local fish and
seafood from an aquaponics farm in Singapore.
Pairing these ingredients with
techniques from around the world, the new Bacchanalia will present novel new
dishes like pickled Japanese sardine with sweet corn, spring onion purée
and chickpea cream and Tiberian Harvest snapper carpaccio with Penang mace and
Sichuan leaf dressing.
They are innovative dishes best described as modern cuisine
from the crossroads of cooking.
Two tasting menus and a small a la carte menu
will be offered for dinner: the seven course incorporating favourites from the
original Bacchanalia on Coleman Street with dishes using exclusive products
that are only available for a limited time. Bacchanalia will also offer set and
a la carte menus for lunch.
Drinks will include select wines from unique
vineyards, craft beers and ciders, artisanal spirits, single origin coffees as
well as a short but elite selection of loose leaf teas sourced by Brehm.
Bacchanalia will offer a seven-course communal
chef’s table every Thursday seating up to 12 guests. “The chef’s table is
designed to encourage connection”, says Brehm. “We hope people will be open to
this new experiences”.
The new Bacchanalia: Fine dining for the open
minded.
About Bacchanalia
KitchenAid Chef of the Year 2015,
World Gourmet Summit
Indoguna Best Restaurant 2015, World
Gourmet Summit
Eurocave Old World Wine List of the
Year 2015, World Gourmet Summit
The Peak Gourmet and Travel, Best
New Restaurant 2014, Western Category
San Pellegrino Best New Restaurant
2014, World Gourmet Summit
About Ivan Brehm, head chef: Inheriting his love for
cooking from his grandmothers, both who were exceptional cooks, Ivan has spent
most of his life in a kitchen. Born in Brazil and schooled in the USA, Ivan
worked at Per Se, Marguritz and the Fat Duck before taking the helm of
Bacchanalia, where he oversees a kitchen inspired by his multi-cultural
upbringing and worldly view.
About Mark Ebbels, sous chef: Born in Toolangi in the Yarra
Valley in Australia, Mark developed methodical and uncompromising
attention to detail as a culinary consultant and development chef for Heston
Blumenthal before joining Bacchanalia. Here he manages research, development
and the quality of the produce.
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