Savour 2012

C says:

The inaugural Savour event took place from 30 March to 1 April. The F1 Pit Building was transformed into a Gourmet Village of sorts, with over 50 pop up stalls showcasing food from acclaimed international as well as local chefs, seminars, masterclasses and a Gourmet Market featuring various F&B purveyors.

The concept was interesting – you could either buy tickets for lunch or dinner (with dinner being more expensive). Your ticket would then entitle you to a certain number of Savour$ (less than the price of the ticket), which you could then use to purchase food or products at the event. Additional Savour$ could also be purchased at various booths throughout the Village.

Prices of dishes ranged from $6 to $21, and one of the major marketing angles was that this was an opportunity to sample Michelin-starred cuisine at fairly reasonable prices. Some of the guest international chefs included Alain Passard and Alvin Leung. On the local front, there were offerings from Gunther’s, St Pierre, Jaan, Sam Leong and a host of others.

Some items were indeed a steal, like St Pierre’s Menage a Trois, a salmon-based sampler that seemed to have at least 20 components, for only $15. In contrast, Alain Passard’s Chaud Froid Egg with maple syrup and xeres vinegar was, in my opinion, somewhat of a rip off at $18.

Consistency seemed to be a bit of an issue though. We thought the Cod 2.0 from chef Hans Valimaki from Chez Dominique in Finland was one of the best dishes we had, and friend Y, who was also there for the Saturday lunch session, was also quite impressed. However another friend S was there for dinner the night before, and found the fish rubbery.

Gunther’s cold angel hair pasta with Oscietra caviar was good, if a bit pricey at $21. A last minute decision to try Sam Leong’s pumpkin rice with XO sausage and seared foie gras paid off – the fragrant rice steamed within a mini pumpkin was one of the best dishes we had that day.

Other dishes sounded better than they tasted, like Alvin Leung’s egg waffle with vanilla condensed milk ice cream. The waffle smelled amazing, with bits of black truffle in the batter, but the ice cream was too rich, dense and heavy, and could have been a bit sweeter. His molecular xiao long bao and har mei lo mein were pretty good though.

I must say that for a first time event, Savour 2012 was very well organized. There were ample areas to either sit or stand while you grazed from stall to stall. And given the number of disposable plates that they no doubt went through, it was heartening to see that they used Cornware, the range of biodegradable disposable cutlery made from corn.

I think a few things could have been improved upon, like introducing a stored value card system (similar to Marche and Ramen Champion) rather than physical coupons representing Savour$ that you still had to count out. Overall though, kudos to the organizers on a job very well done, and I’m definitely there if they decide to do this again.

A says:

Not bad. Not cheap. And it could have benefited from a more advanced stored value payment system though. And of course, more sheltered seating. But overall, I would go again next year.