28Wilkie

H O S T E D
The eloquent young chef who’s not even thirty years of age, draws heavily on his childhood memories in the Piemonte region in Italy for inspiration, specifically his beloved mama’s cooking, and uses seasonal produce married with Japanese influences to articulate his progressive style of Italian food at 28Wilkie.
Priced at $128++ and $198++ for the 5 and 7-course menus respectively, I consider them genuine value-for-money considering how most if not all of the ingredients @matteo.chef incorporates into his cooking, are imported from Italy and Japan. With the exception of the caviar as that’s from Singapore-founded @caviarcolony, whose CEO and Founder Benjamin Goh also happens to own 28Wilkie.
I had the privilege of trying the 7-course menu that evening, and it was enlightening to learn of the backstory of every dish as well as all the components that went into it, as they were presented by Chefs Matteo, @marcustky and @chef_shanelim.
Here is a quite overview of what I found the most appealing about the food:

1. Snacks - All three were enjoyable but the smoked ricotta cannelloni well and truly stunned me.
2. Seven-Cereal Bread - Good aroma and a pleasant chew, this I enjoyed a lot with Bordier butter and Maldon sea salt flakes.
3. Ancelin Oyster - Gorgeously creamy with a sweet-salty profile, it would have been wonderful naked but the Japanese-forward dressing worked nicely too.
4. Rosso di Mazara prawn and Trombetta zucchini - This course stood out for me. As Chef had learned from young about extracting sustenance from every ingredient, he applied those lessons very creatively on the deep sea prawn and the zucchini to stellar results.
5. Chawanmushi - Never had I met one with two levels of flavour till this. A bold concept that translated to solid satisfaction.
6. Tagliolini - It seems to me a few Italian restaurants around town do a version of this uni pasta dish too but Chef Matteo cleverly differentiates his with housemade Tajarin, a rougher type of pasta, and and the addition of acidic components of the rare light-sour butterfly cress from local company @farmdelight and pickled chanterelle mushrooms (done in the way his mama taught him) to counter the rich zabaione of uni and butter.
7. Trout - Hailing from Mount Fuji in Japan, the fatty fish with lardo tasted remarkably moist and soft. I liked how all the other elements on the plate provided a lovely contrast to it too.
8. A4 Ohmi Wagyu - There‘s no faulting the perfectly done beef from Shiga Prefecture in Japan. The smoked bone marrow and four textures of Roscoff onion it came with were positively ambrosial.
9. Strawberry Granita - It was great to have a not-so-straightforward pre-dessert, especially since I am very fond of that 25-years-old balsamic from Il Borgo del Balsamico.
10. Persi Pien - Chef Matteo’s contemporary take on his school lunch treat of “stuffed peach” had a lot happening but they harmonised pleasingly.
11. Petit Fours - Enjoyed the chocolate with caramel and praline most but the Super Mario-like E.V.O. Sable with white chocolate and raspberry bonbon and Torrone (Italian Nougat) were good too.
12. Lorenzini cantaloupe melon - What a treat it was to have a sweet slice of Sicily‘s summer.

To top it off, Sommelier @elginvincent chose a wonderful bottle of Amarone for us.

( H O S T E D )
Caviar, caviar and more caviar - to say it was an evening of unadulterated indulgence would still be an understatement.
The Caviar Experience menu at @28wilkie restaurant is not only luxurious but enriching as it also happens to be the best way to discover the nuances of the different caviar produced by @caviarcolony. Only when one varietal is tasted immediately after another is their distinct characteristics apparent and can be properly appreciated.
I was taught by Benjamin Goh (@the_caviar_king) who is both the CEO and Founder of @caviarcolony as well as the owner of #28wilkie, to scoop the glistening (but not wet) pearls with a mother-of-pearl spoon and place them on the side of my hand to eat off. Besides being a very sensuous action in itself, doing this, as explained to me by @mscelinetan, COO and Co-Founder, allows body heat to warm the caviar, and for its flavours to bloom. I did exactly that as I “travelled” through the five types of Caviar Colony offerings presented on a large tray of ice, starting with the Amur (one of my two favourites), before moving on to the Kaluga Hybrid (this is popular with chefs as they find it versatile and easy to work with), the Russian Hybrid (my other favourite), the Russian and finally, the Kaluga. The ideal method to savour these dark pearls is to press them against the roof of the mouth to extract their flavours, and then, allow them to slide down the throat. Slow and sexy is undoubtedly the way to go.
Sommelier @elginvincent popped open a bottle of Dom Perignon Brut, Vintage 2008 for the pairing, and it was glorious. So too the fragrant potato blini made in-house by Head Chef @matteo.chef that came with sour cream and chives to be enjoyed with the caviar.
If you want to spoil yourself or your loved ones, the Caviar Experience at 28Wilkie would be something quite extraordinary. Alternatively, individual tins of #caviarcolony can be purchased to have at home. To shop, just tap on @caviarcolony’s link-in-bio on Instagram.

Thank you again for hosting me, Benjamin, Celine and @sulyntan.

Ordered the smashed avocado on toast and it was really satisfying. I loved that they smeared some smashed avocado on the toast before piling it up with larger avocado pieces, and the crispy pomegranate seeds on top were such a nice touch. The tomatoes were fresh and sweet as well. For the prices here (they don’t charge service charge and GST) and the nice airy cafe space, I think 28Wilkie is really worth the visit. Truffle fries were good too!

The best dessert that I've tried. The Seaweed Ice Cream stands out as it is not those normal ice cream that you eat at home.

I believe the restaurant has their own ice cream making machine as you can really taste the texture and smoothness of the ice cream.

A must-try dessert when you visit 28Wilkie!

@westholme presents ‘A Taste of Westholme’, spotlighting prime cuts such as the Striploin, Tenderloin and Cube Roll (or Ribeye) in five of Singapore’s restaurants – @28wilkie , Culina at COMO Dempsey, Restaurant JAG, Salt grill and Sky bar and The White Rabbit.

Feature Carpaccio, part of @28Wilkie 5-Course Set Menu.
Westholme Wagyu Carpaccio served with Caviar, Truffle, Chives and Garden Sprout 💰 $138++..
📍28@Wilkie.
28 Wilkie road , #01-01.

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▪️Gambero (Live Prawn, Japanese Daikon, Shimeiji, Osuimono & Negi)
▪️Linguine (Homemade Lingunie, Italian Bottarga, Vongole & Herbs Soil)
▪️Torta Di Limone (Italian Lemon Tart, Cream Cheese Gelato & Meringue Crunble)
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Location : @28Wilkie 28 Wilkie road , #01-01, Singapore 228051.
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#28wilkie #burpple #burpplesg