The Italian stalwart continues to charm diners with a revamped menu by its new chef de cuisine.

Produce of the day

It’s only been a few months since chef de cuisine Armando Aristarco took over LaBrezza’s kitchen, and we’ve already seen big changes. Just take a browse through the menu and you’ll easily see how he has overhauled the offerings to follow his cooking mantra of “three key components in every dish”.

Italian panzanella

The best way to taste the changes is through the degustation menu, a six-course meal that starts with the traditional Italian panzanella. While it’s usually prepared with bread and tomatoes only—hence its reputation as a “poor man’s food”—he has elevated it with generous layers of burrata cheese and toppings of big, fresh chunks of Boston lobster.

Before the next course was served, chef Armando shared that when he first came to Singapore, he noticed how locals love to eat duck. It inspired him to create the Anatra, Mela E Rosmarino. The thinly sliced duck breast lies on a plate like a work of art, and is enriched by the tanginess of the homemade apple compote as well as the sweetness and sourness of the rosemary gastrique.

Risotto

Chef Armando loves to surprise guests, and it’s evident in his risotto, which was surprisingly light and without cheese. Instead, he naturally seasoned it with the saltiness of the Hokkaido scallops and Baeri caviar and generous lashings of olive oil. Taking the place of cheese was the vibrant green sea lettuce hiding underneath, which we mixed into the rice to reveal its herbaceous flavours.

By this time, we were curious to know what chef Armando would do with the pastas. Like an answered prayer, he served the paccheri redolent in rich, savoury pork collar ragout with crisp onions on top. It was followed by the lightly salted Angus striploin, cooked to medium rare, that rendered it pinkish, tender and juicy… and of course, highly addictive. 

Save space for desserts!

We couldn’t leave without desserts, and we had a deconstructed tiramisu where chef served ingredients individually. It was a fascinating scene watching chef as we watched him masterfully prepare it; first he put the lady fingers in a glass with mascarpone mousse, then drizzled it with a generous amount of Coffee-Bailey’s syrup. It had all the trimmings we wanted in a dessert—the creaminess, sweetness and the coffee and alcohol kick at the end. We weren’t complaining.

LaBrezza | The St. Regis Singapore, Level 2, 19 Tanglin Road, S(247911) | Call 6506 6884 | Email LaBrezza@StRegis.com