In 2019, he partnered with award-winning olive oil producer Château d’Estoublon in Provence, France to come up with his first exclusive blend that is made with the olive oil varietals grown in the estate. It was a hit among guests, leading Lepinoy to launch two more new blends: the Picholine Récolte 2021, a pure expression of its namesake varietal, which Pennequin notes is “tastier but slightly bitter and peppery”, and the “elegant and light” Assemblage Récolte 2021, an ensemble of beruguette, picholine, saloneque, grossane and bouteillan.

Taking over the role from Lepinoy, Pennequin clarifies that there is no existing accreditation yet to earn the title of “olive oil sommelier”. However, he draws on his extensive experience as a wine sommelier to better understand it. The recipient of accolades such as the Best Young Sommelier of France 1989 by the Union de la Sommellerie Française and the 3rd Best Sommelier of the World 2004 by the World by the Association de la Sommeliere Internationale explains: “Olive oil and wine are related in terms of varietal, soil, location and elevation of terroir, which influence the temperature of the land and where the plants grow.” There is also the “human factor” and their “respect for nature” that influence the quality of the olives.

Château d’Estoublon is surrounded by mountains and the soil is rich in clay, making it ideal for growing healthy olives. The fruits are harvested by hand when they are at their peak, between October and December, and are pressed in the traditional mills within 24 hours. It is worth noting that the AOC Vallée des Baux of Provence, which sets the regulations on how products within the region are made, allows for growers to press the olives within three days. But Pennequin states that shortening the period is a way to guarantee the best quality of the product. The liquid passes through a centrifuge to separate the olive oil, and this is stored in airtight tanks for several months to clarify naturally before it is blended into Les Amis’ original recipe. In terms of pairing, the extra virgin olive oil is incorporated into Lepinoy’s creations, such as the foie gras with confit tomato.

Pennequin and his team present the amuse bouche with the bottle and a spoon, then encourage their guests to try the dish with and without a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. In that way, they can taste how the extra virgin olive oil brings out the “freshness on the palate”. This summer, Pennequin declares that they have a lot of goat cheese that they will serve on a platter with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil to balance the creamy texture and offset the sharpness. Imagining the combination in his mind, he smiles and says that “it’s just perfect”.

Beverage manager, Esora

When kappo restaurant Esora opened in 2018, it introduced diners to a unique tea pairing programme personally curated by its former chef, Shigeru Koizumi, a self-confessed tea lover who wanted to build a tea drinking culture in Singapore. While the culinary team has changed hands early this year and is now led by head chef Takeshi Araki, the dining experience is still anchored by its modern Japanese cuisine that has a strong affinity with nature, and a dedicated tea pairing programme curated by beverage manager Kate Pascual.

Pascual started out as a restaurant captain but learned the intricacies of brewing tea from her former mentor, Koizumi. He also instilled in her his “one-degree philosophy”, which essentially means paying great attention to the smallest detail when it comes to preparing food and drinks. She explains: “We use a certain type of water and brew various tea leaves in specific temperatures, as even a one per cent difference changes the taste profile.” 

It is a skill that she has mastered in her years of hands-on training at Esora and what she applied in curating its latest summer tea menu, a collection of eight cold brews served in vessels similar to wine glasses for better appreciation of the flavours and aromas. 

Pairing these brews with the food menu is a collaborative process, says Pascual, who works closely with Araki and chef de cuisine Noboru Shimohigashi to come up with the “perfect match”. Pascual starts by sourcing premium tea leaves from Taiwan, China and Japan, and brewing them in exacting temperatures. She uses a lower temperature of 80 C for green tea, 100 C (or boiling point) for black tea, and 85 to 88 C for oolong tea to reach optimal flavours. 

She infuses these with a variety of ingredients such as vanilla, mango, basil and peppercorn to bring out nuances that complement the chefs’ creations. “It’s all about enhancing the guests’ experience,” she elaborates, and the tea pairing helps to “balance out the overall flavours, cut through the fattiness (of meats), and add another layer of flavour to the dish”.

In the restaurant’s signature amuse bouche of monaka stuffed with foie gras torchon, for example, Pascual serves it with oolong tea infused with vanilla for sweetness. “Monaka has a sweet component,” says Pascual. The tea plays on the creaminess of the foie gras and the toastiness of the wafer, exciting the palate for the dishes to come. In the grilled Omi Wagyu nasu, where the beef is marinated in red wine and miso, Pascual created the more robust hojicha infused with sancho pepper to offset the marbling of the beef, while highlighting the sweetness of the miso. 

Pascual’s tea pairing menu will regularly change, just like how the food menu will be updated according to the peak seasonality of the ingredients. “We will constantly adjust the flavours and blends to see how they can pair better with their accompanying dishes.” It’s an ongoing process, she says, which will be based on the taste and texture of the chefs’ creations. At the end of the day, Pascual and her team want the “food and drinks to be a complementary enjoyment at Esora, and not only enjoyed independently”. 

Beverage manager, Restaurant Born 

Restaurant Born chef-owner Zor Tan is a teetotaller and only enjoys the occasional sip of alcohol, so he asked beverage manager Tan Si Hao to create a non-alcoholic beverage programme that would complement his nine-course menu as much as their wine offerings. 

“It was a real challenge because coming from someone who enjoys alcohol, there are certain limitations when it comes to flavour and complexity sans alcohol,” admits Si Hao. As the food menu took shape, Si Hao took inspiration from the ingredients to curate a non-alcoholic beverage menu comprising house-made fermented juices, sparkling sodas and unique Chinese tea blends. 

Learning to make these beverages was a culmination of his professional experiences—sharpening his palate as the former chef de partie of the now-defunct Sorrel and modern European Iggy’s, mastering the art of fermentation at Native Bar, and learning about teas from multiple tasting sessions with suppliers “who shared their knowledge with me”. The Certified Specialist of Wine (CSW) is also adept at pairing food with wines, and he notes that most principles that revolve around wine and alcohol pairing are also “transferrable”, or can be applied to non-alcoholic beverages. This means that carbonation, acid and tannins cut through the fattiness and keep the palate sharp; salinity and umami add complexity; and what grows together goes together. 

It also helps to have a good understanding of the ingredients and how the individual ingredients taste like, which is where his background as a chef comes in. “For example, beetroot is sweet and has a distinct earthiness to it. In order to ‘lighten’ the earthiness and balance the sweetness, I’d pair it with something acidic like hawthorn.” Sometimes he starts by imagining the colours of the end result and narrowing down the ingredients he can use. 

Si Hao’s knowledge of flavour combinations shows in the perfect balance of aromas, acidity and flavours that elevate Zor’s creations. In the appetisers of pickled Japanese daikon skin and jellyfish pickled with mountain chilli, he pairs them with the Celery & Shiso sparkling soda made in-house with the namesake ingredients, lemon zest and pink Himalayan salt. Bright, fresh and fizzy, the sparkling soda rounds off the acidity of the pickled appetisers. In the Jerusalem Artichoke “Fly”, the funky and refreshing fermented juice made with vegetable sugar and water offsets the richness of the Jerusalem artichoke puree topped with lily bulbs and caviar. 

Si Hao jazzes up his non-alcoholic beverage programme with interesting Chinese teas, offered in a tableside tea ceremony to be able to “interact with guests”. Green tea, he says, has the umaminess that goes well with seafood—which is why he serves the steamed monkfish with chicken fat emulsion, green Sichuan pepper oil and chilli, with the Woojeon green tea sourced from Jeju in South Korea. With the tea’s sweet, mildly vegetal and umami notes, it accentuates the fish’s delicate sweetness without overpowering it. 

The restaurant has only been open for a few months, but Si Hao continues to experiment with new non-alcoholic beverages that will be rotated with the menu. For sure, it will always be a good mix of ferments, juices and teas to bring out the nuances of the dishes.

Restaurant Born, 1 Neil Road, 01-01, S(088804), 6223 3292

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