WALKING into the brand-new Gunther's, you are left in little doubt where the restaurant's focus lies.
For a fine-dining French restaurant, the interiors are rather plain. The grey walls of the dining room, an intimate space which seats only 25 people, are bare except for a single painting.
Other paintings from the same series also adorn the walls of two private rooms, one which seats up to 10 and the other up to 18.
To create relief, light is cast on the bare walls from spotlights as well as artistically curved Murano crystal wall lamps.
The result is soothing rather than boring, but there is certainly little to distract you as you wait for your food to arrive.
But then, that is the effect that chef and co-owner Gunther Hubrechsen wants. In a press statement given out before the restaurant opened last Thursday, he said: 'I wanted the focus to be on my food.'
That might be the sentiment of most chefs, but in the case of Hubrechsen, one suspects that it is something he won't compromise on.
Before opening Gunther's (pronounced Goon-thers) together with Roberto Galetti from the Garibaldi Group, the Belgian was chef of Les Amis Restaurant in Scott's Road.
While there, he was named Rising Chef of the Year at last year's World Gourmet Summit awards and was instrumental in putting it in the 83rd place in Britain's Restaurant Magazine's list of Best 100 Restaurants this year.
So when he says he wants his food to be the main attraction, it is something that few of his fans would argue with.
I have to admit to being one of those fans. I would usually avoid a restaurant on its opening night, which is when everything could go wrong and usually does. But confident of the high standards attached to both the Gunther and the Garibaldi names, I was there last Thursday.
Sure enough, everything went without a hitch, from the friendly staff and the smooth pacing of the evening's service to the good food.
Hubrechsen's cooking is characterised by what I call the Gunther style: very light and often very simple, with the emphasis on quality ingredients.
And if you sometimes do not feel very full after a meal, you forgive him anyway because the sensations are so exquisite. In fact, with many of his dishes, I suspect that they will lose their magic if they come in huge servings.
This means that if you like your food robust and heavy, you are not going to enjoy dining at Gunther's.
The menu may not be a copy of Les Amis', but the dishes are just as light and simple.
For starters, I would recommend the grilled mushrooms, which come with a sunny side-up egg and slices of cured ham ($32). There is nothing complicated but the dish comes together well with the different textures and flavours of the girolle mushrooms, the runny egg and the aromatic ham.
If you have a softness for caviar, the cold angel hair pasta with oscietra caviar ($55) is a delightful luxury. But for a more economical appetiser, try the warm angel hair dish where the pasta is tossed with chilli monteporo, kombu, dried prawns and chives ($38).
Among the main courses, I already have three favourites.
The grilled Scottish bamboo clams with tomatoes and grilled mushrooms ($36) are faultless. The plump clams have a nice crunch and taste very sweet, a result of perfectly timed cooking. There is nothing worse than overcooking shellfish, but I suspect that is a crime the chef will never be guilty of.
Similarly, the roasted Maine lobster à la presse, Provencal style ($78) is very lightly cooked, allowing you to enjoy its natural sweet flavours.
But my top marks are given to the grilled Australian Kobe 'Cote de Bouef' ($110). Cote de Bouef is a cut of beef near the rib, and the piece of grilled meat here is so succulent: firm to the bite but juicy and tender when you start chewing.
For dessert, my recommendation is the champagne sabayon with red fruit, crushed candies and Tahiti vanilla ice cream ($15). The flavours of the sabayon, a beaten blend of egg yolk, sugar and champagne, are amazing with hints of orange and basil.
The candies and pieces of fruit add variety, but really the sabayon is divine even without them.
GUNTHER'S 36 Purvis Street 01-03
Tel: 6338-8955
Open: Noon to 2.30pm, 6.30 to 10.30pm
Food: ****
Service: ****
Ambience: ****
Price: Budget at least $100 per person for a la carte. Three-course set lunch is $38 while a six-course tasting menu is $128.
