Surrounded by rainforests with the calm, cascading waves of the South China Sea lapping onto shore, Ember Beach Club is the definitive dining experience situated within the private compounds of luxury resort, One&Only Desaru Coast. Known for captivating all five senses with its stunning views coupled with an impressive menu that refines the concept of open-fire cooking, and featuring a tapestry of regional, farm-fresh ingredients sourced from local, sustainable, and organic suppliers wherever possible, the culinary team at Ember Beach Club is dedicated to reducing food miles, maximising their network of local growers, producers and fishermen.
Ember Beach Club’s latest appointed Chef de Cuisine is the accomplished Chef Bianca Palmer from Australia. Her culinary dogma is deeply rooted in celebration of earth, honouring land’s produce by using sustainably-grown seasonal ingredients from local farmers, and taking it a step further by fully utilising One&Only’s eco-minded Chef’s Garden that’s brimming with spices and herbs such as pegaga, pandan, betel leaf, local spinach, laksa leaf, kaffir lime and more.
Following the success of the recent Dioriviera pop-up event and restaurant takeover, this is the third edition of EMBER CURATES: In Good Spirits, a collaborative series presenting exceptional drinks and dine experiences that are specially curated to feature some of Singapore’s most notable personas and chefs in the F&B scene. This edition features an exceptional partnership with a four-hands dinner at Ember Beach Club and a bar takeover at Dusky Monkey, showcasing curated specialities from Singapore’s award-winning boundary-pushing gastro-cocktail destination, Tippling Club, alongside Ember Beach Club’s very own Chef de Cuisine, Chef Bianca Palmer.
At Tippling Club, it is a safe haven for chef-owner Ryan Clift to display his tendency for theatre and exceptional culinary prowess innovating fresh techniques and creations that offer unique dining experiences touched with playfulness at every menu iteration. Behind his team of culinary talents, Head Bartender Arathorn Grey is the mastermind behind A Guide to Modern Drinking, Volume III — 6 Decades of Music, an experiential cocktail menu that offers an intriguing mix of classics alongside his own inventions that are inspired by music and meant to be paired with a curated playlist of music’s legends.
In the company of good friends is how this edition of EMBER CURATES: In Good Spirits materialised. The restaurant world is a borderless one where working professionals end up becoming comrades and friends, and this is clearly evidenced when Ember Beach Club at One&Only Desaru and Tippling Club created one formidable dining and cocktail program over that weekend.
We were wooed by Chef Bianca’s snacks, which came in the form of Potato Bread – A bold start served with a topping of whipped chicken lard and local caviar – a strong prelude of what’s to come!
By Chef Bianca
Golden French Toast – With a delicately piped mound of smooth chicken liver parfait topped with Kyoho grapes and delicate Sudachi meringue with a handful of aged hamachi rounded off with hints of wasabi
By Chef Ryan
Arrowhead Scallop Noodles – The noodles are steamed, chilled, rolled and painstakingly chopped to fine ribbons to make a smooth noodle served with shio kombu dressing, Honshu tobiko for an added crunch, and pickled leek
By Chef Ryan
MAINS – three Star dishes of the night:
Foie Gras Mont Blanc with Japanese Plum – foie gras is a decandent choice of meat and yet, it’s a staple at Tippling Club’s menu, taking on different forms over the years. For this dinner, and taking cues from the infamous Mont Blanc dessert, Cognac is blended through twice to make a fine, stable foie gras that is delicately piped into a mound to resemble the common chestnut dessert; and with roasted hazelnut, 7-year aged umeshu, and gold leaves for an added touch of opulence.
By Chef Ryan
Smoked Trout, Jerusalem Artichoke, Horseradish – a gorgeous trout that originates from the Mont Blanc mountains is smoked and brined, and then served with a hollandaise emulsion panna cotta and topped with the crispy, delicate fish skin that’s sprinkled over with toasted fennel and sorrel stems; and just the stems because it’s useful to note that the leaves were painstaking to remove
By Chef Ryan
Wagyu Beef – served on a bed of bone marrow verde and smoked oyster crean, the dish is topped with torched enoki mushrooms that showcase the skills of open-fire barbecue, a hallmark of Ember Beach Club
By Chef Bianca
PALATE CLEANSER – sustainability at its best where whey from yoghurt production is transformed into a cold and refreshing Coconut jelly, coconut meringue and sour pear
By Chef Bianca
DESSERT
Taking inspiration from his favourite chocolate bar from childhood, the Double Decker, this playful rendition is made with 72% wild harvested chocolate from the Amazon, almond ice cream, oabika, candied nuts
By Chef Ryan
The dinner was paired with specially curated cocktails by Head Bartender of Tippling Club, Arathorn Grey. The menu is inspired by the great musicians of our time spanning decades from the 40s up to the 90s drawing inspiration from musical legends and their iconic songs to craft cocktails such as Good Ole-Fashioned Lover Boy by Queen – a white brandy and white port based drink, and the Dear Jessie by Madonna – a citrus-y, vivacious cocktail for gin lovers, and the I Heard It Through The Grapevine by Marvin Gaye featuring dashes of sherry, champagne and grape.
Edited by Aileen Lim. Written by Theri Burhan.
