A new decade

I think mums are always right. As I was getting excited about my impending 21st birthday celebration almost a decade ago, my mum warned me that very soon, I would be stepping into my 30s. I laughed and told her I still have a long way to go. And with the blink of an eye, I found myself (and loved ones) celebrating my 30th birthday earlier this week. Unlike most women, I am not so secretive about my age. In fact, I am looking forward to life in this new decade. The 30s is an exciting time, where your career and finance are rather stable and because of that, you have the freedom to do many things you have always wanted to accomplish and achieve in your life (at least, that's the way I see it).

On Sunday, a few of us gathered at my place for some food, wine and chit-chat and darling was sweet enough to buy me a blackforest cake from Mezza9 (I had always wanted to try it) and we had some sort of a celebration, though it was not intentionally planned.

And on my actual birthday, we went to Restaurant Andre, voted the top 10 restaurants in the world worth flying half the globe for. I have always been a fan of Chef Andre, right from the time he was cooking at Jaan. Eating at Andre feels like going to an art museum. It is no longer just about food and filling in your stomach. It is about appreciating the freshness of ingredients, the subtleties of taste and your own interpretation of the dish. Chef Andre uses some very interesting ingredients and more often than not, the melange of the different ingredients surprises and intrigues the palate of the diner which increases my curiosity as the degustation menu progresses through the night.

I was most impressed with the wine list Andre offers. Before the start of the dinner, a Japanese sommelier comes presenting us with a small and antique looking book. I didn't expect that to be the drinks menu. I always thought I knew my wines rather well so I was rather surprised to know that I know next to nothing about the wines he has in the restaurant. When probed, the sommelier explained that Andre sourced his wines from Southern France, perhaps because he started his culinary training there.

We started the dinner off with some very interesting amuse bouche and my favourite has got to be this aji tataki that you see wrapped in the foil. Another thing to note, most of the ingredients at Andre are flown in from Japan though the cuisine is definitely french. Reason being, Japan is much nearer than France, thus ensuring that the freshness of the ingredients will not be compromised.

This is another cute appetiser named "Garden". The 'soil' in the 'planter box' is actually chocolate crumbs. Eaten together with the savoury baby potatoes, there is a perfect balance of the sweet with the savoury. Aesthetics is never neglected in the presentation of the dishes.

One of my favourite dish in the octaphilosophy menu - Pure, where no salt or any condiments of any kind was added to the dish. The ingredients were presented in their most original taste and to wow anyone with such a dish, freshness and quality of the ingredients is key. Surprising, this dish is tasty but not bland and the mussels featured tasted almost like oysters. It is tender and once you rests it on your tongue, it melts away immediately.

Towards the end of the meal, Chef Andre made his appearance, acknowledging his guests, interacting with them to find out how they feel about the meal. We requested a photo with him and the suave chef immediately agreed.

Eating at Andre is definitely a once in a lifetime experience and for me, it's the perfect birthday gift. Thank you for the lovely celebration, dear! ( I know you are waiting to read this >_<)