Sensational Singapore
by Chevalier Wesley Jefferies
May 15, 2024
As a misty twilight settled over the nation’s capital, members and guests of the Bailliage of Greater Washington, D.C., gathered at Cranes, a Michelin-starred restaurant renowned for fusing Spanish and Japanese cuisines. For this dinner, however, Chef Pepe Moncayo recalled his extensive time in Singapore and prepared a Singaporean menu exclusively for the bailliage. This unique opportunity to experience Chef Moncayo’s southeast Asian cuisine generated excitement among members like few other events had – including a Chaîne member from the Jeddah Bailliage in Saudi Arabia who had flown in to experience the dinner.
As members and guests strolled in for the reception, they were each greeted with glasses of Bollinger Champagne Special Cuvee Brut. Frittered oysters delicately seasoned with sambal, a spicy Singaporean pepper-based sauce made with garlic, ginger, shallots, sugar and lime juice, were passed around for attendees to sample followed by lime dorade cradled in crisp lettuce leaves.
As dinner commenced, the first course unveiled a pas de deus of textures and tastes: a tender and succulent chicken satay engaged in a teasing but tantalizing tango with a savory peanut sauce while the tangy notes of pickled onion popiah pirouetted with a vegetable medley as both were gently serenaded by a sweet chili sauce. The first course ended with a rojak salad with tofu and tamarind dressing. A Susana Balbo Crios Torrentes 2022 from the vineyards of Lujan de Cuyo, Argentina lent crisp and citrusy notes that gallantly cut through rich spices and savoriness of this culinary overture.
The chili crab commanded the center stage in the second course as members and guests enjoyed a sultry culinary bolero as each bite of the soft-shelled crab revealed a delicate yet resilient succulence as a subtle crunch yielded to a silken tenderness enveloped in a tight and passionate embrace by a rich tomato-based chili pepper sauce. The sharp turns and strong stomps of the chili crab were accompanied by bright and open notes of a Bodega Hiruzta Txakolina 2022, a Basque wine made from 100% Hondarrabi Zuri grapes, dropping a lingering sequence of sensations on the palate joined together like a string of fresh pearls.
The third course offered a culinary tableau with the arrival of a salted egg vegetable dish, a mélange of stir-fried gai lan, white asparagus, and fragrant curry leaves topped off with a smooth and buttery salted egg. Paired with a Bodegas Exopto Horizonte de Exopto Blanco 2021, a white Rioja, the palate was guided through a soft crescendo of citrus and floral notes that seamlessly intertwined and advanced the savory richness of the salted egg and the verdant crispness of the leafy vegetable medley.
Laksa followed for the fourth course, a traditional Singaporean noodle soup prepared with thick and tender tiger prawns in a velvety coconut-curry broth. A Jos. Jos. Prom Zeltinger Sonnesuhr Riesling Spatlese 2019, a German wine from the Saar wine region, introduced notes of tangerine and ripe peach that magnified the crisp tenderness of the prawns while its gently rippling acidity elevated the coconut-curry broth.
The dinner reached a dramatic climax in the fifth course as members and guests were presented with a traditional Singaporean beef short rib dish, Rendang, but with a stunning twist; it was prepared with Wagyu beef with an intense and intricate marbling that evoked the ornate baroque designs and structures of the summer palaces built in 17th Century Europe.
The Wagyu beef, served with an aromatic coconut sauce and spiced biryani rice, boasted of an otherworldly silkiness with each delicate savory fiber gently melting on the tongue in a complex yet serene bloom of a rococo bouquet of flavors and textures.
Paired with a Chateau La Martinière St-Nicolas de Bourgueil 2012, a rare red wine from the Loire Valley made with Cabernet Franc grapes, the Wagyu’s ethereal textures were complemented and enhanced by the wine’s subtle earthiness, notes of ripe berries, and subliminal hints of leafy spices.
The grand finale came with the dessert course, an elegant twist on a Singaporean ice cream sandwich known as Loti. Caramelized pandan brioche, candied orange, and coconut-pandan ice cream found its perfect partner in an Oremus Tokaji Late Harvest 2015, a sweet Hungarian wine from the Tokaji wine region, as its notes of honey and hints of dried fruits playfully danced with the creamy and tropical flavors of the loti.
As the evening reached its denouement, Chef Pepe Moncayo, the Barcelona-born culinary maestro who owns and operates Cranes, emerged to a warm and enthusiastic ovation. After explaining his vision and preparation for the evening’s gastronomic marvels, Bailli Judith Mazza presented him with a commemorative Chaine plate as a memento of the cutting-edge culinary exploration that had fascinated and expanded discriminating palates.
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