Savour 2014

yoohoooooo! :) wow last week was really an eventful one (literally!) where i was out almost every single night because of one event or another. haha pretty tiring, but i'm not really complaining because i had so much fun with each of them! shall start with the biggest event that just happened - Savour 2014!!!! i am SO absolutely, incredibly happy that i was one of the winners of a competition to win tickets to this event!! :') 

it's the second time i've been to Savour (no idea why i didn't blog about my first time! hmm) and this time i could bring a +1 which made it even better! ^^ haha rachel and i were totally going gaga over not just the food, but also the numerous EYECANDIES there!! those any moh chefs are too charming :') and they were so friendly too! we were so excited that they agreed to take photos with us *swoons*

reached on the dot at 5pm when the dinner session started and immediately proceeded to check out the Michelin-star chefs there! 

never ever missing out on a photo op :D haha. saw a pretty backdrop for Veuve Clicquot and there were even props for us to play with! and now i shall just skip over the descriptions and dive straight into pictures, shall i? ;)

kicked off our foodie session with the Altimate Kobe Burger by Stellar at 1-Altitude. it was SO GOOD. i was really surprised  by the pretty big portions here! always had the impression that we would be served a fraction of the portions in the restaurants because it was priced cheaper. this burger was $18 at Savour (each ticket came with $30 Savour credits), and i would assume that it is at least twice the price in the restaurant itself?? (well you gotta pay for that gorgeous view right? hehe). and this burger was so damn good. two thick pieces of beef that was so juicy and succulent, and the bun was beautifully done as well, with a fluffy interior and crisp skin.

we tried Chef Alvin Leung's Molecular "Xiao Long Bao", and boy, it was an interesting experience. haha a speedy one, which my brain never really got the chance to process :P look at that ball! haha it looks like an egg yolk to me. oops. not trying to be rude or anything, but guess i just can't reallyyyy appreciate it. haha the moment i popped it into my mouth and bit down on it, the liquid just squirted out and went down my throat. it was gone in seconds. i barely even tasted it! though the soup inside was quite flavourful and yummy - but don't ask me for the details.

there was a funny story behind this dish :P we stood in front of the booth for the longest time staring, not at the food, but at Chef Julian Royer who was standing nearby! :P hahaha. he was so good-looking omg!!!! i could totally start gushing about him here, but you all would just think i'm nuts. anyway, we asked one of the staff whether we could take a photo with the chef if we ordered from the booth, and he said YES! ^^ haha we were super elated at that. and Chef Julian was soooo friendly too :) and he's french! awwwwww. he's the chef at Jaan!!!! OMG. it was one of the places which i've always wished i could try (if some money would drop down from the sky - hey it rhymes! that was unintentional haha). gosh. it was so fascinating to be able to meet him :') fan-girl moment. hehe.

wheeeeeeeeeee ^^

and btw that dish was a 55' Smoked Organic Egg which was really interesting! it had the texture similar to that of a poached egg, and was mixed with smoked potato, chorizo, iberico and buckwheat. a very interesting combination of flavours that went perfectly together. 

next booth we dropped by was Chef Riccardo Catarsi's, and i believe he is italian! hehe and so we definitely had to go for the pasta right?! :D the Linguine, Crab and Nduja. i LOVED how the pasta was cooked al dente - realised that many people don't seem to be able to appreciate it, but i actually quite like how the pasta is just slightly undercooked such that it holds its texture and flavour without being overwhelmed by the sauce. especially with such a full-bodied sauce like this, which was slightly creamy and generously mixed with crab shreds. 

we got to take a photo with Chef Riccardo too! (:

it was really interesting that we had a chance to do a meet-and-greet with Chef Alvin Leung too!! got his autograph (Y). coooool haha.

and he personally did a demonstration of one of his famous dishes served on that day (thankfully not the xiao long bao haha) - the Mao Tai. for the uninitiated, Mao Tai is an alcohol from China that has an alcoholic content of 50-60% and to drink it on its own (especially in Singapore where it's so hot) is quite... *WOW*. haha i wouldn't want to try it :P but anyway, he made it into a dessert by freezing it with liquid nitrogen! and added on really interesting flavours such as salted caramel popcorn, calamansi, kaffir lime and preserved kumquat. 

it was a cacophony of sensations in my mouth, and it literally confused my tastebuds. but i loved the mao tai sorbet that was super refreshing and it was a really interesting dish! (:

ended our day of food on a sweet note with this chocolate pot! i can't remember which chef it is from, but it was a luscious dark chocolate creme that was bittersweet, and livened up by the bits of honeycomb in it. 

besides the Savour Village where we ate all this food, we also explored the Jason's Market which was a fascinating medley of all sorts of gourmet food too! had such a fun time just chomping our way through the place haha. it was such a great experience trying all those food, and i'm so glad for the opportunity to be at this event ^^ till next year ~ (if i'm lucky again hehe)