British star chef to cook for diners here

British star chef to cook for diners here

British chef Ollie Dabbous, whose London restaurant Dabbous has a 12-month waiting list, is cooking here in November.

He is among four chefs headlining 4xFour, an annual pop-up restaurant featuring edgy culinary stars from around the world.

Two other chefs confirmed for the event are Davide Scabin, who serves modern Italian cuisine in his restaurant, Combal.Zero, in Rivoli, Italy; and Paco Morales, who is opening his restaurant, Noor, in Cordoba, Spain, later this year.

The fourth chef in the line-up has not yet been confirmed.

4xFour will run from Oct 28 to Nov 20 at 39 Harding Road, near Dempsey Hill, and bookings start from Sept 1.

Chef Dabbous, 34, made waves when he opened his industrial-chic restaurant in 2012, serving inventive, flavourful and unfussy food without the frippery of high-end restaurants.

The restaurant critic of London's Evening Standard, Fay Maschler, gave his restaurant a rare five stars in 2012, saying: "Five stars is reserved for when a place comes along that changes the game."

Before opening his own place to this and other rapturous reviews, he worked for chef Raymond Blanc at Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons in Oxfordshire and did stints at The Fat Duck in Bray, L'Astrance in Paris, Noma in Copenhagen and Mugaritz in Errenteria, Spain.

Aside from Dabbous, which has one Michelin star, he also has a casual restaurant in London called Barnyard.

He is among a group of young British chefs, which includes Isaac McHale of The Clove Club, James Knappett of Bubbledogs and the Kitchen Table behind it, and Lee Wescott of Typing Room, credited with revitalising the dining scene in London, the way the bistronomy scene in France showed that fine-dining was not only to be had in stuffy, ornate restaurants.

The chef will cook from Nov 16 to 20 and his menu is still being developed.

Mr Darren Chen, 36, executive director of Savour Events, which organises 4xFour, says: "One of our main objectives is to give food lovers access to the best and trendiest culinary stars from around the world. Ollie Dabbous' restaurant in London is consistently booked out, so we decided to solve this by bringing him to Singapore instead."

The other two chefs are also game-changers in the culinary scene.

Scabin, 50, a former cosmetics salesman, is known for breaking culinary rules, making souffle out of macaroni and cooking rabbit so it tastes like tuna.

His restaurant in the Castello di Rivoli museum outside Turin has two Michelin stars and he also has a wine-focused restaurant, Mulino a Vino, in New York's Meat Packing district.

Spain's Morales, 33, former head chef of Mugaritz, used to head Ferrero by Paco Morales in Madrid and is also the culinary consultant for Alacena, a restaurant in Rio de Janeiro.

He is known for combining Arabic and Spanish flavours in his food. His upcoming restaurant, Noor, which means "light" in Arabic, embraces the Arabic influence on the culture of southern Spain.

WHERE: 39 Harding Road

WHEN: Oct 28 to Nov 20

PRICE: Lunch ( six courses) - price to be confirmed, dinner (eight courses) - $248++ for Visa cardholders, $288++ for others

INFO: Book online at www.4xfour.sg from Sept 1 


This article was first published on August 15, 2015.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

This website is best viewed using the latest versions of web browsers.