Cover Pastaro is chef Willin Low’s latest homegrown endeavour where he plates up fresh pasta with a Mod-sin twist (Photo: Willin Low)
Pastaro is chef Willin Low’s latest homegrown endeavour where he plates up fresh pasta with a Mod-sin twist (Photo: Willin Low)
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Instead of reviving the beloved Wild Rocket, the father of Mod Sin cuisine reveals why he decided to unveil something completely new with Pastaro
Exciting gourmands from all over the island, chef Willin Low’s latest homegrown endeavour is all sorts of delicious. Pastaro quietly opened its doors at the beginning of August in Chancery Court, and it is where the father of Mod Sin cuisines presents handmade pasta with a bodacious mix of Singaporean, Japanese and Italian flavours. Its clandestine location—not far from Relish, another concept by Low located in Cluny Court at Bukit Timah—is amped up by the fact it finds home within a Cold Storage Fresh, made accessible only by lift.
It is rapidly becoming the foodie hangout of the neighbourhood. But why unveil something completely new, instead of bringing back the beloved Wild Rocket or even the tried-and-tested Roketto, his restaurant concept in Niseko, Japan?
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“Living in Japan, I noticed an abundance of small neighbourhood restaurants and bistros, run by a small team with a small menu, but executed very well,” shares Low, when he spoke with Tatler Dining on the inception of Pastaro. The existing gap for such restaurants in Singapore presented an opportunity for Low back home, as he reveals that a cosy pasta osteria similar to those in Japan had been on his mind for many years.
Low recalls, “As my team and I get older we want to create a concept that we can grow old into. We (the team including Low himself) came from the kitchens of Garibaldi where we first learnt how to make fresh pasta. And we have always wanted to take what we were doing and marry it with Mod Sin. Since we opened, many of my regulars from Wild Rocket days have visited and said it feels nostalgic, which warms my heart.”
Above The new laksa pesto spaghetti comes with slipper lobster at Pastaro (Photo: Instagram / @madhanrui)
The new laksa pesto spaghetti comes with slipper lobster at Pastaro (Photo: Instagram / @madhanrui)
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Indeed, Pastaro feels like a younger sibling of Wild Rocket, Low’s famed restaurant uniquely celebrating Singaporean and Asian flavours that shuttered in 2018. Low’s acclaimed laksa pesto spaghetti, first created in 2005 and birthed a wave of tasty Mod Sin creations, makes a return on Pastaro’s menu. There’s a slight edit though. It now comes with succulent slipper lobster instead of tiger prawns.
His Mod Sin philosophy—to celebrate the flavours and ingredients of local cuisine, and balance between serving a dish in a way that is not traditionally done and yet never deviating from the spirit of the original dish—remains unaltered.
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Above The comforting baked napa cabbage is the perfect starter at Pastaro (Photo: Instagram / @aun_koh)
The comforting baked napa cabbage is the perfect starter at Pastaro (Photo: Instagram / @aun_koh)
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Having spent much time in Japan, either shovelling snow or ploughing through them, these travel stints serve as inspiration for the globetrotting chef and his new creations at Pastaro. There is a comforting baked napa cabbage that only uses miso, nori and katsuobushi, a reflection of how he cooks for himself when living in Niseko. Then there is the highly sought-after gula melaka pandan flan dessert that stems from a memorable purin (Japanese egg custard) Low enjoyed in Kanazawa.
Above The hearty lion’s mane mushroom pasta is the headlining main at Pastaro (Photo: Instagram / @aun_koh)
The hearty lion’s mane mushroom pasta is the headlining main at Pastaro (Photo: Instagram / @aun_koh)
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But perhaps the most impactful dish points to the lion’s mane mushroom pasta—one that Low personally raves to us at the time of writing. “I was foraging with children from Niseko Church last autumn and boy, we foraged so much wild mushrooms that I made pasta to feed everyone over lunch,” enthuses Low. “The kids loved it so much that I knew I had to serve it at Pastaro.”
This hearty dish spotlights the meaty mushrooms—responsibly sourced from Mushroom Buddies, a non-profit farm in Singapore that employs youths with special needs—with Hokkaido butter and cheese, soy sauce, garlic, walnuts and a sprinkle of lemon zest.
Above Addictively crunchy pork belly thinly coated with fermented shrimp paste batter and fried to a crisp (Photo: Instagram / @aun_koh)
Above The evergreen Singapore fried noodles at Pastaro (Photo: Instagram / @aun_koh)
Addictively crunchy pork belly thinly coated with fermented shrimp paste batter and fried to a crisp (Photo: Instagram / @aun_koh)
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Other highlights to note from the concise menu are the har cheong fritters, an addictively crunchy pork belly thinly coated with fermented shrimp paste batter with a side of funky chinchalok (fermented shrimp condiment); the evergreen Singapore fried noodles, dressed in crustacean oil, chilli and kaffir; and, of course, a pour of Rasen sake—the only sake served in Pastaro. Fun fact: Low worked with 350-year-old sake brewery Yaegaki to create the first sake made to pair with Singaporean cuisine.
Does the debut of Pastaro mean that Low’s coming out of semi-retirement? Perhaps not. Citing that the former team of Wild Rocket will entirely run the cosy pasta bar, Low won’t be in cooking or running operations everyday. He jokes, “Now I can take a slightly less active role and be ‘Minister Mentor’, away but watching over the shoulders of the ‘Prime Minister’ of the kitchen”.
Pastaro
Address: 36H Dunearn Road, 02-45 Chancery Court, S(309433)
Credits
Images: Pastaro
