Meet the Pros: Chef Gunther Hubrechsen of Gunther's Modern French Cuisine, Singapore

Back in February this year, Hubby took me to Singapore for a weekend getaway. One of the places that we dined in was Gunther's Modern French Cuisine on Purvis St. A meal at Gunther's is how a good meal should be - you leave the restaurant smiling and will still be talking about it many months down the line. (You can read our previous review here)

Chef Gunther Hubrechsen

Gunther's Modern French Cuisine was opened on 2 August 2007, a collaboration between award‐winning Chef Gunther Hubrechsen and Roberto Galetti, representing the Garibaldi Group of Restaurants. Gunther's Modern French Cuisine has made it into The Miele Guide's Asia's Top 20 since 2008, and is currently listed No.14 on the list. They were also listed as no.84 restaurant in the San Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants in 2010. Most recently in 2012, Gunther’s was awarded with the “Restaurant of the Year” and “Outstanding Caterer of the Year” at the World Gourmet Summit Excellence 2012; an achievement that demonstrates culinary, cuisine and service excellence in Singapore.

 

Of Belgian descent, Chef Gunther has worked in several renowned restaurants in Belgium, including Le Bouquet, and Restaurant Gravin van Buren before moving on to France where he worked as a sous chef under his mentor, Chef Alain Passard at his three-star Michelin restaurant, L’Arpège in Paris for 5 years.

In 2002 Gunther arrived in Singapore to work with the Les Amis Group. Thanks to his dedication and talent, he brought Les Amis restaurant to 83rd position in the UK Restaurant Magazine’s list of Best 100 Restaurants in 2007.

Gunther’s cutting edge style and flair using natural jus and slow cooking techniques to enhance the flavors of a dish offer a refreshing change to classic French food. This modern angle emphasizes the importance of textures and flavors and leaves no margin for error in the kitchen.

Not only is Chef Gunther a master of the kitchen, he is also an extremely down-to-earth guy. After our meal, he approached us and started chatting to us as well as giving us a brief tour of his restaurant and kitchen - it felt like we hit the jackpot! He even made us his signature dish - the cold angel hair pasta served with white truffle oil and oscietra caviar (S$60) which tasted absolutely heavenly.  We were truly impressed with the taste, flavours and presentation of all his dishes.

Baby Sumo (BS): What inspired you to open your own restaurant?
Gunther Hubrechsen (GH): Well, after working with other group of restaurants for so many years, I thought it’s about time that I can present my cuisine that I can truly call my own. Afterall, I've always wanted my guests to focus on my food and to feel at home when they come to Gunther’s.


BS: What is your style of cooking? Do you have a favorite cooking method/technique?
GH: I enjoy cooking simple, honest and down-to-earth food, using fresh ingredients. And I like to be creative when it comes to cooking, like doing small little steps so I’m able to bring out the flavour of each ingredient. Working too much on the product is not my kind of style simply because I respect the natural shape and flavour for every ingredient. Nothing like a lobster that look like a lobster and nothing cooks better than what nature has to offer.


BS: After we were seated, your waiting staff brought out a tray of produce to showcase to us.  We thought it was a brilliant idea. Tell us more about it.
GH: We want to let our guests know that whatever we serve at Gunther’s are served fresh and of quality, because what they see on the tray is what we are going to serve on the table. Plus, we are able to do different cooking style to suit our guests’ taste. So they can ensure that the food they are eating are top-notch and enjoy the whole dining experience at Gunther’s.

BS: How often do you update your menu?
GH: We update our menus quarterly to reflect changes in season, and to include the world's finest ingredients. For our lunch menu we rotate it weekly so our guests are able to enjoy different dishes when they come. Our 3-course set lunch menu is very affordable at $38++ only! 

BS: (I can attest that it is indeed very good value for money and absolutely delicious!)

BS: What is your signature dish and what is the main ingredients and method of preparation.
GH: My signature dish definitely has to be the Cold Angel Hair Pasta with Oscietra Caviar and this is the dish that I enjoy cooking the most. It is a very spontaneous dish plus, everyone loves it. (Laugh) If I give you the ingredients and method of preparation, I will be giving away one of my most prized possessions.

BS: Is there a particular ingredient that you like to cook with.
GH: I don’t really have a particular ingredient but seafood is often my choice. For example, Alaskan king crab, blue lobster, beef, mushroom, clams and also any fresh vegetables.

BS: What are the must-try dishes for anyone visiting your restaurant?
GH: 1. Cold angel hair pasta, Oscietra caviar.  2. Fine apple tart “ à la dragées“, Havana rum ice cream  3. Alaskan king crab leg, chili Monte Poro.

*We would like to thank chef Gunther for taking time to answer our questions. All photos courtesy of Gunther's. For anyone wishing to read my full review of the restaurant, please click here. 

Join their Facebook page here for latest menu updates.



Opening times: Mon to Sat 12.00-2.30pm; 6.30-10.30pm.

Location: Gunther's Modern French Cuisine, 36 Purvis Street, #01-03, Singapore, 188613

Tel: +(65) 6338 8955, or +(65) 8655 0208 for SMS reservation.
Website: http://www.gunthers.com.sg/index2.html

Cooking class with Les Amis Singapore's Chef Galvin Lim at Mandarin Oriental KL

A stalwart of the Singapore fine dining scene, Les Amis Restaurant is the flagship fine dining French restaurant of the Les Amis Group. Since its opening in 1994, Les Amis has garnered numerous awards over the years including being ranked No.53 on The World's 50 Best Restaurants in 2012. It is also ranked 19th on The Miele Guide's Asia Top 20 for 2011/2012. 

A collaboration of KL and Singapore's finest...

Last Friday, I was invited to the Mandarin Grill in Mandarin Oriental KL for a cooking class with Les Amis Group's Executive Chef, Galvin Lim. I had so much fun during my last cooking class with 1-Michelin star Chef Igor Macchia at Mandarin Oriental KL so I was really looking forward to this masterclass with Chef Galvin too.

Of Singaporean descent, Chef Galvin has undergone training in some of the world's most renowned kitchens such as Lameloise in Burgundy, Le Gavroche in London, L'Auberge des Cimes in St Bonnets les Froids Rangis Macon and Les Elysees du Vernet in Paris under Alain Soliveres. In 2008, Chef Galvin earned himself the Commanderie of Cotes de Bordeaux, one of France's highest recognitions for chefs and sommeliers. 

Marinated white asparagus, crispy egg, mushrooms and herbs

During the cooking class, we were taught three of Les Amis's signature culinary delights, which uses the finest and freshest ingredients. Chef Galvin is fond of using seasonal ingredients, some of which he displayed during the cooking class is the white asparagus from France, black truffles from Australia and Sakura ebi from Japan.

The first dish demonstrated to us was the marinated white asparagus with crispy egg, morel mushrooms and herbs.

Chef Galvin Lim and his team, sous chef Joon and Alan. 

Ingredients for the day

Chef Joon teaching Julie, one of the cooking class's participant how to remove the fibrous skin off the white asparagus.

To cook the white asparagus, use boiling water with sugar, salt, butter, lemon juice and bread (to absorb some of the bitterness from the asparagus). 

Marinating the white asparagus with the cooking liquid with added white wine vinegar and extra virgin olive oil.

Plating of the dish was a delight to watch!

One of the interesting things I learnt from the class was how to cook the perfect poached egg. The egg is placed into a steam oven at 70°C for 15 mins before being removed and put into boiling water until the white firms up. Beautiful eggs everytime! The egg is the wrapped in thinly sliced ciabatta bread before pan frying to achieve the crispy exterior. I assure you, it's very delicious and paired beautifully with the white asparagus and morel mushrooms.

A work of art. Gorgeous!

Marinated white asparagus, crispy egg, mushrooms and herbs

The next dish demonstrated was the Sous Vide Danish halibut with potato gnocchi, spinach, sakura ebi and black truffle shavings. The halibut fillet is cooked sous vide at 55°C for 15 minutes with olive oil, garlic and lemon thyme. For the potato gnocchi, Chef Galvin recommends using Yukon Gold potatoes for best texture. It is lightly sauteed with butter and finely chopped shallots and deglazed with truffle jus. For the benefit of my readers, I have taken videos of how to "roll" the gnocchi on the grooved board (use the palm of your hands) and also the immaculate plating of the dish by sous chef Joon.

Sakura ebi from Japan which are in season in spring and autumn.

Australian black truffle

The potato is baked and sieved through

Add creme fraiche, nutmeg, egg yolk, flour, salt and pepper to taste.

Roll it

How to roll gnocchi into desired shape

The Sakura ebi is sauteed on low heat til crispy and finished with a dash of truffle oil.

Chef Galvin sauteing the gnocchi

Black truffles anyone?

Plating of the sous vide halibut

Slow cooked Danish halibut "sous vide" with potato gnocchi, spinach, Sakura ebi and black truffle

Last but not least, sous chef Alan showed us how to make Les Amis' fancy lemon tarte with thyme ice cream. He made the lemon curd using a Thermomix, however at home, one can just make it using the stove and then bake it in a 180°C oven for 15 minutes.

Chef Alan showing us how to make the crumble.. bake it in a 160°C oven for 30 minutes, removing every 10 minutes to "crumble" the mixture. The dessert is garnished with lemon balm to complete this lemony dessert.

Chef Alan giving the meringue the blowtorch treatment

Fancy Lemon Tarte with thyme ice cream

Chef Galvin Lim, Baby Sumo, Chef Joon and Chef Alan

After the cooking class, we proceeded to Mandarin Grill for a 5-course dinner prepared by the Les Amis team, including 3 of the dishes that were taught in the cooking class.

Freshly baked bread with tomato butter and unsalted butter

Laurent Perrier Champagne

We started our meal with the marinated bamboo razor clam with tomatoes. The clams have been marinated in white wine and olive oil only, hence we could enjoy the natural sweetness and freshness of the seafood. It is nicely presented on a bed of salt coloured by squid ink.

William Fevre Chablis 2010

I was looking forward to taste the dishes that we learnt  from the cooking class and they certainly did not disappoint. I loved the marinated white asparagus dish, eating it brings good memories of trips I had in Germany and Austria. The egg was both crispy on the exterior and gooey in the centre. Very very delicious. By the way, I learnt that this dish is always served with the spear facing the diner as this is the best part of the asparagus.

Marinated white asparagus, crispy egg, morel mushrooms and herbs

Perrin Cotes Du Rhone 2009

The halibut was beautifully cooked - moist and flaky. The Sakura ebi added texture to the dish.  And oh, the truffles - heavenly!

Slow cooked Danish halibut "sous vide" with potato gnocchi, spinach, Sakura ebi and black truffle

Breakfast is served in the form of a "sunny side up" - very interesting and visually appealing. The "yolk" is actually a pineapple (molecular) sphere. The "egg white" is a milk ice cream with chilli. A lot of praises sung at our table for this dish.

"Sunny side up"

Dessert wine

A fancy lemon tarte with thyme ice cream ensured that our meal ended on a sweet note. It is a deconstructed version of a lemon meringue pie. The cocoa crumble was nice and gave this dessert some texture. I love the tartness of this dessert.

Tea with petit fours (gula melaka chocolate and royal dark chocolate) from Canelé Pâtisserie Chocolaterie which is owned by the Les Amis Group. Whenever I visit Singapore, I always have to have their macarons. And they do a very delectable strawberry shortcake too.

Goodie bag :) - delicious chocolates from The Mandarin Cake Shop, personalised apron and recipe book :)

As always, it's lovely getting to learn from professional chefs and the Les Amis team did an excellent job in conducting the cooking class as well as putting together a delicious meal for us all. I hope to be able to visit Les Amis Restaurant during my next trip to Singapore (Hubby, *hint hint* LOL).

Thanks very much to Mandarin Oriental KL for the opportunity to attend this cooking class.


Full set of photos can be viewed on my Facebook page here.

Price: RM255++ per person (cooking class and 5-course wine pairing dinner).

Location: Mandarin Grill, Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur City Centre, 50088 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: 03-2380 8888

GPS Coordinates: 3.155514, 101.711555

Website:  http://www.mandarinoriental.com/kualalumpur and http://www.lesamis.com.sg/index1.html

*All recipes will be shared in due course. 

Lunching @ Sage Restaurant & Wine Bar, The Gardens KL

With so many new restaurants opening around KL plus the fact that Baby C has started pre-school this year, we have not been to Sage for a while for lunch. The promise of foie gras, scallops and steak was all it took to prompt Hubby to make a reservation at Sage. 

Unfortunately, it's not so easy to get a reservation at Sage these days... the restaurant is often closed for private functions. Can't blame everyone for wanting to eat here, it is afterall one of my favourite lunch spots in KL. 

Still as good as ever..

We were greeted by a few familiar faces when we arrived, but there were many new faces amongst the waiting staff. It was good to see Chef Daniel cooking in the open kitchen (IGB chairman etc were dining there on the same day). We were also pleased that a good friend of ours, Quay Po could join us for lunch.

Complimentary warm bread  - I think Sage is the place I can eat the most bread at! The bread is so good and I love the basil dip. 

To start, Hubby and Quay Po had the consomme of maitake mushroom with duck foie gras and sea scallop. It came with a hefty portion of foie and two big scallops.. I was so jealous that I didn't order this! The consomme was poured tableside. Both my dining partners enjoyed this very much.

Golden consomme

Luscious foie

Simply gorgeous

I had the cold buckwheat noodles with tuna chutoro, flying fish roe and Togarashi pepper. Now that I look back at the menu and photos, they seem to have missed out the flying fish roe on my plate. Hmmmmm. I do love the cold noodles at Sage plus the tuna chutoro was so fresh. My only complain is that the portion is too small (for me anyways).:P

Pretty and petite

We also love the steaks that we get here at Sage. The Angus Beef Striploin was cooked to medium rare, as requested and the presentation is slightly different since the last time we came. Hubby feels that this is much more aesthetically pleasing. The steak as usual is very flavourful and delicious.

Angus Beef Striploin with Potato Gratin, Sauteed Vegetables and Dijon Mustard

Dessert was fresh mango with passion fruit puree and ricotta ice cream. It was nice but a little boring to be honest. I would have preferred a bavarois, mille feuille or chocolate molten cake, all which they do so well here at Sage.

Quay Po made us some of these delicious carrot cupcakes with cream cheese frosting to take home for the kids. Thanks so much dear - my children loved them very much! I do hope that you enjoyed your lunch session with us at Sage. :)

Full set of photos available to view here. 

Pork-free.

For their weekly lunch menu, click here. Full a la carte menu here.

Dress code: Smart casual.

Opening hours: Lunch:Monday to Friday 12.00pm to 2.00pm; Dinner:Monday to Saturday 6.00pm to 10.30pm. Closed on Sunday.

Price: RM100 nett per person for 3-course lunch. 10% off with The Gardens Club card.

Location: Sage Restaurant & Wine Bar, The Gardens Residences, Level 6, The Gardens, Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra, 59200 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: 03-2268 1328

*Children below the age of 6 are no longer allowed in the restaurant.