Is it possible for Cure, famed for its Nua (Gaelic for 'New') Irish gastronomy, to get even more Irish? The answer is yes. Thanks to a team-up that just makes sense, all of us non-natives will get to experience the best of Ireland. Produced under the world's first government-approved sustainability programme for food and drink, no less.
Courses evoke the excellence that has earned the restaurant its star, with some signature plating and familiar desserts rekindled in this array. Especially if Cure has been on your list for some time now, this would make the perfect introduction to savour what it stands for.
Rather than embellish with a couple of quotes from Chef-Owner Andrew Walsh or Directors from Bord Bia (the Irish Food Board, quite literally translated) that you'll only skim past because you've hardly got any attention span, we thought we'd take you through honest impressions quickly taken down on Notes. It's not the most refined, but boy is it succinct.
Soda, Stout & Treacle Bread
Potato Flat Bread
Irish Brown Crab, Seaweed & Caviar
Beetroot & Salmon Tartlet
No shying from the stereotypes opening with stout and potatoes. The flavour elements really come through the first two, while it's explosion of textures on the following two.
Irish Gallagher Oyster, Almonds & Dill
King Scallop, Cider & Sea Asparagus
Colcannon, Cashel Blue Cheese & Caviar
Tales of the Silver Hill Duck
What a way to showcase seafood freshly harvested from clear Atlantic waters. Case in point: Gallagher Speciale Oysters come from a family-owned farm handpicked at 30 months for optimum quality. Other smaller players really tie everything together in the most unexpected way; from oil dollops to a hidden thin slice of potato.
The main course just knocks it out the park with the subtle smoke and beautiful bite, likely thanks to prep methods like slathering liquid fat (bad on paper, great on palate). The great Irish produce that is Silver Hill Duck's premium poultry (known as the "Wagyu of ducks") is not only Gold Standard certified for green efforts, but is also sought after by around 300 of our local restaurants here.
Childhood Memories of Peat 2.0
Caife Gaelack & Truffle Sandwich
Lucky Gold in Chocolate Pot
Almond Brown Butter Cake & Burnt Honey Cream
A magic show in both presentation and taste for the first. No honestly, how does ice cream get so perfectly peated? All pillowed into the extra crunch of its exterior. Truffle adds a welcomed dimension to the second dessert, like certain alcohols do when incorporated in cooking. Finally, you end with a tiny nugget of gold (unearthed from a pot for the gag) and a large petite four.
Black Velvet (Guinness Stout, Shanky’s Whip, Champagne, Stout Foam)
Kopparberg Pear Cider
Drunken Lepchs (Bertha's Revenge Gin, Melon, Pineapple, Citrus)
Black 1847 (Jameson Irish Whiskey, Poitín, Homemade Guinness Stout syrup, Irish bitters)
Shanky's Farmers (Five Farm Irish Cream, Shanky's Whip)
Artisan Irish Cream
The beverage pairing has a vast range—from a smooth, creamy start akin to spiked root beer, random but well-pairing Swedish cider, to an Old-Fashioned lite and what would essentially be fancy Baileys.
The partnership menu with cocktail pairing is priced from SGD385 and runs through the month of August 2024. Make your reservations at Cure.
With the way things are going, years down the line, our culinary scene might be transformed out of necessity. Known for its innovation, Johnnie Walker Blue Label collaborated with several forward-thinking chefs about the future of dining. To kick things off, the label got chefs Andrew Walsh (CURE), Mickael Viljanen (Chapter One) and Mark Moriarty (Diageo)to create a menu centred around the theme: "Air. Land. Sea." Here's how it went:
Taking place at CURE, the six-course dinner utilised AI-inspired digital artwork and 2D and 3D animations throughout the evening. Served on a table with projections exploring "sky, ocean and land", the entire endeavour reminds us of Le Petit Chef but this time, it is a more sombre affair.
Diners were proffered the question: what will the future be like in an era of global warming, overfishing and overfarming? What will the dining experience be like when certain ingredients are scarce? With this in mind, alternative elements were used for the dishes served. (Steak was replaced with red-earth cabbage!)
As diners contemplate the import of heirloom ingredients in a shifting industry and environment, the dishes were paired with exclusive Johnnie Walker Blue Label cocktails. While the menu was created solely for the evening's experience, the dessert, Velvet Cloud Yoghurt 2223, along with a Johnnie Walker Blue Label pairing, were made available to the public at CURE… albeit for a limited time.
In a world that's ravaged by corporations' greed, it's a sobering look at how we will eat. Especially, around the time of CURE's 8th anniversary. But it is Chef Andrew Walsh's hope that this menu would cultivate conversation. And that conversation would lead to acts, which would lead to positive change. It is a perfect alignment with Johnnie Walker Blue Label's commitment to sustainability and innovation. One that will be the stepping stone to a better culinary and spirited future.
