Floggers Meet

Not so long ago, I advertised for all Singaporean floggers to get together. And after much anticipation, we finally did last night at Sage! Sage is an exclusive restaurant at Robertson's Walk, a stone's throw (if you're really strong) away from Clarke Quay and about a 20 minute stroll from the Clarke Quay MRT station. But hey, I'm not complaining and I didn't hear anyone else complaining. Foodies are known to travel far and wide for good food anyway.

This year's gathering, unlike last's, was organised by Colin from Epicurative. Oddly, before meeting him, I had the impression that he was some balding middle-aged man with a passion for good food. Imagine my confusion when he appeared as an articulate and young guy in black shirt and jeans, and told me he was only going to enter university this coming September. Anyway, thanks to him, a total of 17 foodies got together to talk about (what else but) food.

Sage was a restaurant I had not heard about before Colin's introduction, but after visiting their website and finding out that it was helmed by a husband and wife duo (Jusman and Kimberly), I could not wait to sink my teeth into one of their dishes. But I could imagine the amount of stress that Chef Jusman was under, cooking for not 1 but 17 people whose lives revolve around food.

When I arrived, I was greeted by a box of Gryphon Straits Chai tea, which I had the honour of trying before and LOVED. With sachets made of silk, and prices so affordable, I'm sure they will be a hit once their brand is officially launched. That's right, floggers are getting a little preview of a brand of tea not on the market yet. The only other people who will be able to lay their hands on these beautifully packaged boxes of tea would be the people attending the IMF this coming September.

The menu featured 5 courses that already sounded delectable. By the way, those restaurants which cheat by counting coffee/tea as a course, ought to be closed down forever.

In the interest of floggers who insist on remaining unidentifiable, here's a real mysterious photo taken by Ivan. Actually when I walked in, I felt like I had landed upon a tai-tai's gathering. I don't mean that in a bad way. They all, like the stereotyped Tai Tai, dressed well (making me pale in comparison in my 'army' pants, even though they were made of satin) and looked better than your average girl. It must be all the good food, right?

Also, the proportion of estrogen to testosterone was greatly imbalanced. The three lucky souls were able to bask in the attention of the other 14 ladies. But we were all connected through food. Talk did not just revolve around food per se, but about taking photos of food, relationship with friends and family when it comes to food, restaurants with sucky service, and the list goes on...

Our first course featured a Fricassee of Burgundy escargot with lentil du puy and field mushrooms, poached egg and italian parsley cream.

I was EXTREMELY apprehensive about the first course, this being my virgin escargot attempt. If I could run away from these dead snails, I would, the way I usually run (at full speed, nonetheless) away from live (albeit slow) snails. The only other creepy crawly that trumps snails in terms of freaking me out would be earthworms. I kid you not, they can make me cry from horror.

But Chef Jusman and his team definitely made this experience painless and actually extremely pleasurable. I put the images of gooey garden snails at the back of my head and tucked in daringly. The flavours all went together beautifully, making the photo a very lousy representation indeed.

The next amazing course was a Chestnut mousseline with oxtail consomme and truffle oil, that I excitedly tucked into without taking a photo. It was served in a glass coffee mug, in three neat and contrasting layers. Contrasting not only in terms of colours, but texture. I dug in my spoon way down to the bottom, the way ChubbyHubby recommended, to scoop out a little of each layer to create 'heaven on a spoon'. It really was heaven to me, in the most surprising way ever. The creamy chestnut, shredded oxtail, in the super tasty oxtail broth amazed me. I never thought I'd drink soup out of a cup and enjoy it so, so much. All those prepacked cup-a-soups are henceforth condemned out of my life.

On to the third course of a Baked fillet of sea bass topped with tiger prawn mousse, braised fennel and a lemon-basil emulsion. While I enjoyed the lemon-basil emulsion and braised fennel, the sea bass was just a little too tough for my liking. But I can imagine how difficult it must have been cooking for 17 (very critical) people, and ensuring that each course was served simultaneously. The coordination that is required, not to mention the precise organisation in that unbelievably small kitchen of theirs is incredible. Only anyone who has cooked for large groups of people will understand this. And considering that I once screwed up just ONE serving of monkfish for myself before, I really have no authority in this aspect.

Shortly after, in came some US corn fed beef shortribs braised in red wine topped with slices of foie gras and bone marrow, glazed root vegetables and a mousseline of butternut pumpkin. Oh. My. God. If the Chestnut and Oxtail soup brought me my heaven in a spoon, here I present to you my heaven on a plate. Okay, I know I've waxed lyrical about lots of food before. But here was some really phenomenally tender beef served with bone marrow AND foie gras?

Chef Jusman knew that foodies, in general, would be suckers for such sinful pleasures. Although, I was expecting some visible slices of foie gras atop the braised shortribs. I am known for my greediness but didn't let it get the better of me by storming into the kitchen and demanding for more (visible) foie gras. In fact, thankfully I did not. Considering the growing number on my weighing scale, I better watch what I put into my mouth (as if I really can).

Finally, we had a simply delectable dessert of Fromage Blanc panna cotta topped with candied strawberries, Champagne jelly and strawberry sorbet. So good, that I would return to Sage just for this. But do bear in mind that I am BIG on desserts. Also considering that I have not perfected my sorbet-making skills, anyone who can make sorbet this refreshing and smooth without being overly sweet, gets into my good books immediately.

Actually our meal did not end there. Other than the constant flow of red and white wines, Limoncello and Grappa (courtesy of Umami and Ivan) and of course the abovementioned Gryphon tea, we also had other freebies. These adorable volcano shaped truffles were courtesy of Julius from Julius Truffles. Admittedly, I am not big on truffles. I love my chocolate but in small amounts, and not intensely bitter, which I usually find truffles to be. But these were surprisingly not so even though they were dark and creamy on the inside. Apparently they contained alcohol, but Ivan's Limoncello single-handedly ousted any alcohol taste in them. Julis Truffles also had other varieties that I did not try, and I admire his guts for daring to put his truffles under the review of so many demanding palates.

Another freebie that we all received is a Kasumi Knife. I can just imagine some of you just WISHING you had started a food blog, even if it was just for a chance to come to this event, or more specifically to get this Kasumi knife. Generously sponsored by RazorSharp after some talking to from the now extremely famous Chubby Hubby, they are frighteningly sharp and resonate with a 'ring' if you run your thumb against (not along, for god's sake) the blade. In fact, it is so sharp that I have no idea how to safely keep it. It requires an entirely drawer on its own. Actually, this is a good reason (read: convenient excuse) for me to get a nice sturdy knife holder.


I had a ton of fun at the food bloggers' gathering, which seems set to be an annual event (Thank you Cindy, for organising next year's, not like you really have a choice). Even though I was constantly teased by a couple of them, who threatened to begin rumours (RUMOURS, MIND YOU) about me being a lesbian (don't ask me why). So before anything gets thrown in the air, I am NOT lesbian. Nothing against them at all, really. I just feel like I have to clarify my sexuality.

I felt entirely comfortable in my own skin at this gathering, somehow. Perhaps it was the alcohol. Or perhaps it was the simple fact that during dinner, I could take all the photos of food I wanted, talk selfishly and endlessly about food (and all things related to it), and realise that I was not the only one committing such social faux pas. In fact, such behaviour was greatly celebrated.

And of course the food was such a steal at 65 bucks flat, served with such grace and ease as well. They did not chase us out, even though we may have overstayed our welcome just a little, and still bade us farewell with a big smile.

Another fantastic outcome of the night was my discovery of a ton of other food bloggers residing in this tiny island.

The 'alumni' members, or at least the ones I knew about before dinner, included:
Cheateat
Joone
Epicurative
Chubby Hubby
Dim Sum Dolly
Skinny Epicurean
Umami
Haute Stuff

The new ones I have yet to explore are:
Cocotte Rouge
Ice Blue Orb
Sook’s Food Notes
Food Recent Runes
Fine Fare
Cindy
Lavender Cupcaker


Reluctant update: Actually my night would have been more fantastic by leaps and bounds if I had won one of the lucky draw prizes that CH managed to get sponsored for the night, from Razorsharp and BATS. A Kasumi 10 INCH slicer, a Staub Fondue set and 2 Staub Cocottes (self-basting too!). But don't even get me started on all of that, because it is painful to relive my experience of having to be the 'honoured' one to give out the prizes and see the beauties (I'm referring to the prizes of course) move further and further away from my open, welcoming arms. For a more detailed write up, head on over to Ivan's.

Here are the three people who made this night such a success - Chef Jusman (in his white coat) and wife Kimberly, with Colin.

I applaud those who actually read every single word of this long entry.