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Appetite: The New Restaurant At The Crossroads Of Visual Arts, Music, Culinary History And, Yes, Gre...

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Culture

Appetite: The New Restaurant At The Crossroads Of Visual Arts, Music, Culinary History And, Yes, Great Food

Michelin-starred Nouri’s sister outlet marries the arts and food in an innovative lifestyle environment.

by JAMIE EE   /   August 29, 2020

Imagine a space where people of different nationalities sit down, chill and discover they have more in common than they think – at least in food, culture, music and art. They may also share similar foibles such as talking too loudly, encroaching on another’s personal space and a vague suspicion of tinned anchovies, but that’s another matter.

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In March, we held a one-day-only collaboration with Thai artist Rirkrit Tiravanija. Forty participants were requested to bring a surprise ingredient. Together, Rirkrit and our team cooked a participatory and improvisational meal. ⁣ ⁣ Rirkrit Tiravanija is a Thai contemporary artist residing in New York City, Berlin, and Chiang Mai. Since the 1990s, Tiravanija has aligned his artistic production with an ethic of social engagement, often inviting viewers to inhabit and activate his work. ⁣ ⁣ Solo exhibitions of his work have been mounted by Reina Sofia in Madrid, Museum of Modern Art in New York, Singapore Tyler Print Institute, and others. Tiravanija's work has also been included in major exhibitions such as Venice Biennale, Whitney Biennial,  São Paulo Biennial, The Shapes of Space at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York.

A post shared by Appetite (@appetite.sg) on Jun 9, 2020 at 12:30am PDT

Appetite, as its name suggests, wants to feed you – in more ways than one. It serves food for thought, but refrains from shoving it down your throat from an arty high ground. Take the serious gallery-level art on its walls with its powerful message about perceptions of the female form. You can engage, or see them as pretty pictures and move on.

There’s a record library – cutting across more genres than your limited vocabulary of 80’s pop stars can handle – with a music ‘sommelier’ on hand to educate you. But you can also just sip your glass of newly-discovered Portuguese Niepoort red wine and space out to the ambient sounds.

Read More: 12 “Non-Essential” Artists Share Their Never-Seen-Before Works With Us

Nouri’s little sister sits upstairs from the main restaurant, where chef-owner Ivan Brehm tackles issues of cultural identity deliciously through his signature crossroads cuisine.

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A little history of Singapore before election day. Our second edition, featuring Nasi Lemak. ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ APPETITE ON HAWKER is our ongoing research project on Singapore’s hawker culture. We explore essential dishes from this city’s culinary tradition and investigate their international influences. Link in bio!

A post shared by Appetite (@appetite.sg) on Jul 2, 2020 at 12:26am PDT

“At Nouri, we ask questions about how cultures are similar and connected using food as our medium,” says Kaushik Swaminathan, Appetite’s general manager and head of research – who currently also doubles as tour guide of the multi-concept restaurant-lounge-gallery.

He’s chef Brehm’s right hand man in joining the dots between the cultures and cuisines of the world past and present, with research that subsequently finds its way to Nouri’s dinner menu. But with Appetite, “we’re pushing these research interests with more intensity and expanding them to include the domains of music and the visual arts”.

“At Nouri, we ask questions about how cultures are similar and connected using food as our medium.” – Kaushik Swaminathan, Appetite’s general manager and head of research

There are steep flights of stairs to climb in the two-level space that’s dressed up like a plush shophouse living room by Nouri’s designer – Singapore-based Colombian-Japanese Akira Kita who pretty much embodies the cultural crossroads DNA.

The first level holds the dining room and art gallery – the latter an evolving series of exhibitions, the first being a partnership with STPI and Yavuz Gallery. “It’s about bringing the experience of an art gallery into a more informal and relational space,” says Mr Swaminathan.

Read More: Meet The Emerging Creatives Shaking Up The Arts And Design Scene Here

See it as wandering around the home of an art-collecting friend, where a salmon skin dress by Bangkok fashion designer Shone Puipia hangs next to the wall-lined wine chillers; and the wall is covered by the deceptively whimsical works of Thai contemporary artist Pinaree Sanpitak.

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Appetite is proud to present She/Her, a group exhibition bringing together the work of four artists— Pinaree Sanpitak, Yanyun Chen, Shone Puipia, and S.H. Lim — who inspire us to think deeply and differently about representations of the female form across iconography and abstraction. ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ With the support of STPI Creative Gallery and Workshop, Yavuz Gallery, and the artists, the exhibition promotes a trans-mediatic approach to art, the likes of which are rare in Singapore. ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ We are open Tuesday – Saturday, pop by soon! Please call/text us at +65 9751 5300 to make a reservation if you would like to join us for food and drinks at the same time.

A post shared by Appetite (@appetite.sg) on Aug 22, 2020 at 3:09am PDT

Upstairs is the record library, filled with 3,000 records and deep plush sofas you can burrow into. Make yourself at home but don’t forget the two house rules – no stepping on the Afghanistan carpet with your glass of wine, and no touching the records so you don’t risk leaving germs on them.

The heart of this home is clearly the kitchen, which continues in the vein of crossroads cooking, but in snack form, with some larger plates. It’s an informal open concept, with a semi-circular dining counter surrounding the prep area helmed by lead R&D chef Ashlee Malligan – a familiar face from Nouri’s kitchen who’s been given a bigger role upstairs.

As it’s barely been open a week, it’s much too early to review the food, but the limited menu already holds good prospects for what’s to come.

The heart of this home is clearly the kitchen, which continues in the vein of crossroads cooking, but in snack form, with some larger plates.

The cross-cultural hints come through in snacks such as Bunuelo de Viento with Hokkaido scallop – or the Mexican cousin of our kueh rose, the crunchy honeycomb cracker made with kueh pie tee batter and sandwiched with a scallop mixture decorated with blue pea flowers. A keropok-like tortillas de camarones are crackling good fried fritters made with Sakura ebi and topped with poached amaebi dressed in Marie Rose sauce.

Spanish-style tinned food gets good play here with high-end Don Bocarte bluefin tuna garnished with sweet citrusy gremolata. Beautiful meaty and sleek anchovies are served in its own flavoured oil – expensive stuff but still a taste we haven’t acquired.

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Say hi to @ivanbrehm and @ashleemalligan! ⁣ ⁣ Our Kitchen is a centre for culinary research as well as an intimate and experimental dining experience. ⁣ ⁣ We are open Tuesday – Saturday for dinner and drinks: think small bites, sharing plates, great wines and spirits. Come find us soon, and call +65 9751 5300 to make a reservation!

A post shared by Appetite (@appetite.sg) on Aug 18, 2020 at 4:39am PDT

But we do have an appetite for its easy-going, uncomplicated fare with top grade ingredients whether it’s just aged prosciutto or giant olives with spiced nuts; sourdough bread topped with foie gras and chicken liver parfait or tingly mala-spiced stracciatella. A memorable big-headed Carabinero prawn is expertly poached and minimally dressed in flavoured oil and aromatics. Match the food with non-alcoholic naturally fermented fruit juices and a curated list of intriguing wines.

A bigger menu is worth holding out for, and the weekly R&D tasting menu that chef Brehm will preside over with chef Malligan. And for the thinking crowd, workshops, book launches and art events are all on the cards.

With so many elements, Appetite may be a multi-purpose concept but as an experience, it’s one of a kind.

Photos Yen Meng Jiin & Jamie Ee/The Business Times 

This article first appeared in The Business Times.

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https://www.femalemag.com.sg/gallery/culture/appetite-nouri-singapore-restaurant-art-music-food-history/
Appetite: The New Restaurant At The Crossroads Of Visual Arts, Music, Culinary History And, Yes, Great Food
image

Appetite’s record library is filled with 3,000 records and deep plush sofas you can burrow into. Make yourself at home but don’t forget the two house rules – no stepping on the Afghanistan carpet with your glass of wine, and no touching the records so you don’t risk leaving germs on them.

image

The first level of Appetite holds the dining room and art gallery – the latter an evolving series of exhibitions, the first being a partnership with STPI and Yavuz Gallery. “It’s about bringing the experience of an art gallery into a more informal and relational space,” says Kaushik Swaminathan, Appetite’s general manager and head of research.

image

The heart of Nouri is clearly the kitchen, which continues in the vein of crossroads cooking, but in snack form, with some larger plates. It’s an informal open concept, with a semi-circular dining counter surrounding the prep area helmed by lead R&D chef Ashlee Malligan.

image

The cross-cultural hints come through in snacks such as Bunuelo de Viento with Hokkaido scallop (right) – or the Mexican cousin of our kueh rose, the crunchy honeycomb cracker made with kueh pie tee batter and sandwiched with a scallop mixture decorated with blue pea flowers. Those hybrid flavours also include the sourdough bread (left) topped with foie gras and chicken liver parfait or tingly mala-spiced stracciatella.

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MCI (P) 032/12/2022. Published by SPH Media Limited, Co. Regn. No. 202120748H. Copyright © 2023 SPH Media Limited. All rights reserved.