1 Dean & DeLuca opens in Singapore

I never thought I'd do this: join a queue to witness the opening ceremony of Dean & DeLuca. Singapore's supermarket scene kicks up a notch with the entrance of another purveyor of gourmet and fine foods. Its doors finally opened today at Orchard Central L4 to much hype. There was the media, VIPs and invited guests who had their own exclusive socializing. But the public was not forgotten: the first 50 members of the public would receive a free goodie bag worth $25 and.... I was lucky number 49! The goodie bag contained various products from their line: a packet of espresso, cheesecake caramels, New York chocolate espresso beans and hickory smoked almonds. So worth the hour's wait!

Food samples were dished out. They were pretty and their taste were on par with the looks. My favorite was the bruschetta: bread topped with pesto and some sorts of vegetables in tomato sauce. The bread had an interesting texture midway between normal bread and crispbread which was great for supporting the toppings. It also absorbed all the pesto oil which made it so delish!

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Cheese is one of main highlights at Dean & DeLuca. The staff kindly handed out cheese samples to those in the queue; I'm not sure what cheese it was mild, soft and creamy, but not particularly mind-blowing. Of course, I don't expect them to give away expensive cheeses freely. In the store itself, there was a chef doling out mozzarella purses. It was exceptionally interesting: massaging the cheese and dipping it in 90 degrees, followed by stuffing it with cream and cherry tomatoes. The cheese was chewy and sticky, which frankly I do not know how to appreciate. Nevertheless I loved the creamy stuffing of fresh tomatoes. Simplest food at its finest.

I tried a couple of drinks and a dessert too. The Dirty Chai Tea Latte (ginger milk tea with spices and a shot of espresso) was tea on sugar steroids; way too sweet which masked the ginger and whatever spice there was in it. The Curcumint (cucumber, mint and honey) was more pleasing but if I had a choice, I would have less honey in it too. The fig dessert was also sweet beyond measure and I simply had the fig and left the syrup/cream mix behind. Finally the best was the gazpacho, and a very refreshing one too. I've tried my hands at gazpacho before but it was an absolute failure due to an onion overdose. Dean & DeLuca's gazpacho had the tomatoes, onions and other ingredients all in the right balance. The thickness was just right too. Makes me want to retry a gazpacho recipe.

The store was way smaller than I had expected. Given the hype and fanfare, I'd imagined something grand, along the lines of ThreeSixty Marketplace. In reality, from the entrance, there is basically only one aisle, both sides which stock their products, leading to the in-house cafe. The seating for the cafe is also rather limited, which probably seats at most 50. Their product range is mostly limited to cheese, cured meats, coffee, breads, oils, spices & condiments and sweets; not much fresh produce. I guess Brown Rice Paradise, Jasons Marketplace and ThreeSixty will still be my first choice when shopping for gourmet products.

Unfortunately, I did not have my camera with me and my handphone fell flat, so I couldn't take any pictures. Photos in this post are sourced from elsewhere.