3 bottles & a bit more | twelve hours in Singapore
"Women are like fine wine. They all start out fresh,
fruity and intoxicating to the mind and then turn full-bodied with age until
they go all sour and vinegary and give you a headache." Have you heard of
this one?
- 2001 Vincent Girardin Beaune Clos des Vignes Franches 1er Cru
When this wine was bottled, the
definition of a good time for three girls, fresh out of university, fruity and
intoxicating (as they would like to believe) is endless tequila and vodka shots
at 3am from the bar at the clubs in
Fast forward to three days ago, we amused ourselves by matching the sophisticated dishes that come out of Chef
Dorin Schuster’s silent kitchen with the menu we read earlier. Next, we were
literally describing the minute daily eating and drinking schedule for our autumn
trip to Kelowna,
located in the wine growing region of
– an idea conjured up nonsensically a minute ago by women drinking wine and consuming marvelous
food. Whether or not we make the trip
is not important, talking about it itself is already so much fun.
An hour before, we almost missed
all that good time. Our reservation for
lunch at Iggy’s was somehow not in their book and the restaurant was as
expected fully booked for Monday lunch service. The owner himself, came out with countless apologies for the mistake and
promised that they will accommodate us. Immediately we were served drinks and a chilled pumpkin tofu hors
d’ouvres as we waited.
Without doubt we were extremely pleased with our three course table d’hote
lunch and with the wine, which tasted better and better either due to it having
some time to breathe or because of our skewed and alcohol-influenced taste
buds. I’m sure it was the former.
2003 Chateau Larmande St Emilion Grand Cru
The head waiter at Andre Wine
& Dine had just corked this bottle merely 5 hours after we finished our
lunch. By now we had already sipped
coffee, overate Chinese New Year tidbit samples in
(so sweet from the tap!). And looked
like just about the right time for another bottle of wine.
H recommended this French restaurant which served satisfying meals without costing
an arm and a leg. Earlier she received
an SMS during lunch to inform of their current promotion – 20% discount on all
dishes, free corkage and a 4-course set dinner going at 4 sets for the price of
3. So at lunch of the bar counter,
reservation was made for dinner! What
greedy girls you must think we are.
- 2002 Chateau ???? St Emilion Grand Cru
Our last and final bottle
accompanied three excellent main courses we shared. The restaurant had received rave reviews of
its Duck Confit. Crisped skin on the
outside and tender meat, it didn’t disappoint. The other main course was equally good, breaded cod fillet served with
the chef’s special teriyaki dressing. However, the winner for the night must be
awarded to the Lobster Pasta, despite my initial hesitation as to its
not-so-French origin, came as angel hair pasta bathed in a clear seafood broth
served with bite pieces of lobster and a light sprinkle of parsley. With a broth so rich in taste, I could have
eaten it all even without the lobster.
reasons.
hour and finally dinner, you can imagine how much we talked and talked about
the past, the present and the future (especially future meals!). It will have to be another twelve months before
we can meet to catch up like this again. And already I am looking forward with glee.
tequila and vodka days but not yet sour and vinegary to give anyone a headache
(we hope). If turning full-bodied with
age is this much fun, I have absolutely no complaints!
- 8 February 2007
- dining out, travel
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