On a typical Wednesday in the National Gallery of Singapore, you trot right past a bunch of sluggish tourists taking a breather on the hammocks installed as part of the Angin cloud art installation, a concept that pays homage to the industrialisation of a hill side from Vietnams’ central highland.
They are sedate, not privy to the building excitement within you nor the quickening of your footsteps as you traverse the black-and-white checkered floors of the foyer in search of your lunch venue.
With a turn of the corner, you come in sight of the familiar undulating golden channel letters — ODETTE. You breathe a sigh of relief as you step through soft veils into an ethereally pink sanctuary, settle into the inviting banquette seat and cradle a glass of fresh poured Frederic Savart champagne. It is now, that you have an inkling that life is about to get a whole lot better.
And just like that, a whirlwind of grignotage (or snacks) are called to your attention. There’s a golden orb stuffed with Saint-Nectaire cheese, made in the Auvergne region that Chef Julien was born in; a candied onion tartlet laced with coffee dust; and finally a red tuna taco filled with ceviche tossed in ponzu jelly and garnished with fried ginger. Some of these soft-launching us into the deep dive that is the winter menu at Odette, an exuberant melding of French comfort foods that sticks to the ribs, and haute cuisine.
The famous Mushroom Tea followed suit, walnut and buckwheat, providing crunch to the massively comforting hug mug of soup.
The bread service sees a duo of truffle brioche and pain de campagne, the latter made with flour sourced from Auvergne; served alongside aerated butter and olive oil from Catalunya. You refrain from the temptation, but the brioche endowed with a come-hither glossy sheen tear down your defences. There will be no regrets, of course.
Lunch proceeds at a languid pace, this in fierce juxtaposition to the vigorous level of activity in the kitchen visible through the glass walls. While the food triggers the pleasure centers with its tastes, it’s impossible to gloss over the details. In fact, to really enjoy the Odette experience, one has to care about the details, one has to understand and wallow in the details.
A dish of Jacques Cocollos Oyster makes it way to the table. The molluscs transported from its home in Oléron, France is paired with white asparagus (the first of its season) — coaxed into the smoothest of veloute — Hokkiado uni and lavished with Daurikus caviar from Kaviari. This brings me back to the romantic but somewhat sombre portrait of the French coastline in winter, the air tinted with saline from the ocean spray and seagulls squawking overhead.
The next dish transports us to slightly warmer territory with a rosette of shima aji and thinly sliced kohlrabi resting on a furrow of dill spiked oil, the show-and-tell complete with a flurry of buttermilk snow. It commands your attention with its vivacious flavour composition and stunning presentation.
“What you’re getting now, is the onion dish,” proclaims Chef Julien Royer as he gently lifts the cloche on the next course. But not just any onion that, the emblematic Cévennes onion is featured here — the PDO (Protected designation of origin), handpicked, sweet onion from south-central France. And it is glorious.
A generous silver of this treasured allium gingerly peeled back and layered with shavings of Périgord black truffle. Its sweet traits championed by a dreamy vin jaune sauce enriched with beurre noisette.
To pair with our next course, Head Sommelier, Lesley Liu pours a Torrotés de Raíz Naranjo from female Argentinian wine maker Susana Balbo. A real wildcard of a draft, this 100% Torrontés, amphora-aged orange wine proved to be the perfect match to the Limousin Veal Sweetbread. It was lush, intellectual and delivered notes of sour plum and white peaches in spades. The offal too endeavoured with its scored and golden exterior providing textural adjacency to the flanking morel mushroom.
Not skewering from the convention of a winter menu where seafood is imminent, the Scottish blue lobster comes next. This time coaxed out of its shell to the likes of roasted pineapples, yuzu sake beurre blanc, Kyoto miso and endive. It’s a hefty, satisfying bruiser and I start to worry about my waning appetite.
That was till a lamb saddle perfumed with torched rosemary was air lifted to the table. Chef Julien proves to be an absolute master with red meat, accompanying the tender silvers with an ethereal umeshu salt-baked aubergine and anchovies. I consumed it with a laissez-faire attitude, washing it down with swigs of Domaine du Bel Air’s ‘Clos Nouveau’ 2015.
And because I cannot resist a cheese trolly, we had the flag down the cart. Akin to a round of speed dating, we’re made the rudimentary introduction to an entire squad of very eligible-looking cheese only to promptly shortlist a few based on first impressions.
They were the Corsican stud — Fleur du Maquis, the soft-hearted Plancherin d’Arêches, the Swiss heartthrob Tomme de Grisons and the intensely complex Roquefort from Maison Gabriel Coulet. The real dark horse of the lot — the creamy Camembert au Calvados imbued with the sweetness of apples. Do not be mistaken, I would have loved to continue this short-lived relationship outside of the restaurant but Alas! Desserts proved a giddy distraction.
“Some of my Italian friends say that my tiramisu is better than their mums.”, jests Chef Julien as the final course is served. The ‘Grain de Cafe’, a riff on a tiramisu involving Brazilian Rio Brilhante coffee, amaretto, mascarpone foam and pecan praliné will leave you speechless with its flawless layering of smoothness and textures. It disappears like a cloud on the palate, leaving you just enough room for the petit fours.
The brazen nature of Odette’s staff may be too much for some, but perhaps its a clear sign that they themselves are keenly aware that a meal here is a bucket list experience.
Odette
Address: 1 St Andrew’s Rd, #01-04 National Gallery, Singapore 178957
Opening hours: Tuesday — Saturday; LUNCH 12.00pm to 1.15pm; DINNER 6.30pm to 8.15pm
Instagram: @odetterestaurant @chef_julien
