Editor’s picks: The best new restaurants that opened in Singapore in 2024

Scoring big on vibe (monastic), food (sensational) and service (so heartfelt) is modern Italian restaurant Somma. Marking Mirko Febbrile’s mindful return to fine dining, it delivers big personality on forward‐thinking plates without losing its Italian roots, inspired by the chef‐partner’s varying life experiences, from growing up in Puglia to his travels around the world. Every intention is thought through and unapologetically expressed in the creations in his six‐course menu, which includes nutty burnt wheat and carob sourdough bread with a silky dip scented with coste leaves; tender milk‐fed lamb saddle layered with pine chestnut pesto and a film of wild boar lardo; and comforting mini tortellini in pigeon bone broth.

Among the three signatures offered as optional top‐ups is Febbrile’s skilful rendition of cotechino, a traditional Italian sausage typically made with pork cheek and rind, and served with lentils. In a brilliant showcase of his ability to thread between modernity and tradition as well as connect local and Italian heritage, his take features pig’s snout that is slow‐cooked in Chinese herbs and spices before being coated with a roasted tomato barbecue glaze and given a nice finishing sear over charcoal. Accompanying the gelatinous morsel is a ballad of 40‐months‐aged creamy parmesan fondue, a rich bread sauce and lentil crackers.

For cheese lovers, the Cheese Experience, starring a 60‐year‐old whisky‐infused bluefalo cheese from Lombardy, is definitely worth the extra calories.

Read more: Italian restaurant Somma by Mirko Febbrile opens its doors in New Bahru

With Hayop—the first overseas sister outlet of Manam in Manila, Philippines, that is famed for serving Filipino comfort food—Filipino cuisine is set to earn the respect it deserves in Singapore’s diverse food scene. Living up to its name, which loosely means “beast” in Tagalog, it serves up well‐executed elevated Filipino classics best enjoyed with family and friends. Nothing is more quintessential than adobo, but instead of regular chicken or pork, fork‐tender Wagyu short ribs arrive lavishly bathed in Philippine soya sauce, coconut sap vinegar, red wine and garlic confit.

Know these dishes to order like a local: sisig, a flavourful, not‐to‐be‐missed dish of fatty pork jowl and cheek served on a sizzling plate; kinilaw, the Filipino version of ceviche comprising hamachi slices steeped in local vinegar and spices; piyanggang manok—charcoal‐grilled chicken braised in various spices and coconut milk; and halo‐halo (which translates in English as “mix‐mix”), a shaved ice dessert with evaporated milk, purple yam jam, nata de coco, red beans, attap chee and macapuno that comes topped with house‐made ube sorbetes (traditional Filipino ice cream), and leche flan (milk custard).

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With the rash of boutique pizzerias setting up shop on our shores this year (including the storied L’antica Pizzeria Da Michele, whose margherita pizza Julia Roberts’s character in Eat, Pray, Love has “a relationship” with), there is no lack of options for lovers of the pie. Right up there with the best is Beyond the Dough, a homely 28‐seater pizza shrine serving up superb Tokyo‐Neapolitan‐style pizzas crafted by Japanese pizzaiolo maverick Eddie Murakami, who trained at the highly rated Pizza Strada and Pizza Studio Tamaki in Tokyo, Japan.

His secret? A special dough that is fermented for more than 30 hours before being baked in a wood‐fired oven, resulting in an unbelievably light and airy crust that is a tad chewy in the middle. His charismatic toss of Okinawan sea salt into the oven before baking also lends a nice ribbon of savouriness to the pie base. One would not go wrong with the classics—think the Margherita and the 5 Formaggi—but the Bismarck remains Murakami’s favourite. Pair the pies with an edgy Burgundy from the nifty wine list curated by director Shinji Yokota to complete the experience.

Watch now: Beyond the Dough’s Eddie Murakami shows us what it takes to make the viral Tokyo-Neapolitan pizzas

Nose‐to‐tail restaurant Dirty Supper combines chef‐owner Peter Smit’s cooking ethos of using every part of the animal with his love of open‐fire grilling. The menu at this space in Tiong Bahru is lean yet ever‐changing, as with whole‐animal cooking, dishes largely depend on the produce available for the day. Snack on small plates such as duck liver parfait laced with a red wine gel and vessels of Belgian endives; crispy chicken skin crowned with smoked mackerel; raw prawns with grated black lime zest, dollops of horseradish cream and slices of pickled green chilli; lamb tartare topped with black garlic and shavings of cured yolk; and the unctuous Pig Head Nuggets, made with a mix of meat from a pig’s head—the cheeks, snout, tongue and back of the head.

The mains, of course, are just as delightful. Think olive‐brined lamb rump with caramelised cauliflower; flame‐kissed lamb neck and juicy zucchini; and pork‐fat‐doused barbecued squid with pickled tomatoes. Even the sides are well done—the deceptively simple‐looking smoked corn mixed with miso and chipotle, for one, packs a serious flavour punch. Be prepared to order much more food than originally intended.

Watch now: How this Aussie chef challenges perceptions of what a ‘good cut’ of meat is at the popular grill restaurant Dirty Supper

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