by a narrow margin because of the generous heaping of
truffles. It looked like an ordinary piece of bread with a
dollop of cream, but it was actually a decadent sourdough
bread that had been aged and stuffed with onions stewed
in butter before being topped with a thick swirl of
parmesan custard and thinly sliced truffles. My heart
swelled for this dish, along with my stomach.
WE OPTED FOR the mixed alcohol-and-juices pairing—
and were handsomely rewarded. The surprises were
mind-blowing. The Gen Sapphire Yodan Jikomi sake by
the Katsuyama family brewery is no longer in
production. Zén’s general manager and beverage director
Aaron Jacobson had bought 25 bottles, and at the time of
this writing only two were left. We were apparently one
of the last people ever to taste a sake whose rice solids
were extracted by a centrifuge machine, an “almost
never used and extremely expensive way of clarifying,”
Jacobson told me. “This process gives a much cleaner
flavor due to the fact that there is no pressing of the rice,
which lends to volatile flavor profiles.” It was also filtered
using the fukuro shibori system, where sake is poured
into filter bags and allowed to drip down.” The result? A
very clear sweet drink with an intensely rich mouthfeel
that I can still remember.
Then there was the 2015 Le Zaune à Dédée that was
paired with the kinmedai. Produced by a brother-and-
sister team whose family has been cultivating grapes
since 1650, it was a quirky orange-colored biodynamic
white that was a blend of 80 percent skin-macerated
Gewurztraminer and 20 percent Savagnin, the latter
being aged sous-voile (under a veil of flora yeast) for
seven years in oak barrels. I wasn’t a fan at first, but the
pairing was key. Drinking it in between mouthfuls of the
kinmedai, I found the floral notes accentuated the
sweetness of the fish and the light tannic structure from
the Gewurztraminer complimented the fattiness.
The juices were no second fiddles either. Each is made
with a centrifuge to extract all the solids and pulp,
leaving a clear liquid. Playing up the earthiness and
sweetness in the French toast was a purple-carrot juice
mixed with maple syrup that had been smoked in-house
for six hours over cherry wood and the whole mixture
left to sit for up to a day.
Even the curtain-closing “petite fruits” (my pick of the
bunch: chamomile-glazed strawberries filled with edible
pinecones) demonstrated so much attention to detail that
I slowed down to savor them. At nearly one in the
morning, my husband texted, asking if I was alright. I
wasn’t; I was traumatized trying to decide between a
second cup of soothing organic peppermint tea, or—
YOLO—another shot of that heady 30 percent ABV
Swedish punsch that I was sure would cause rueful
regrets the next morning.
Yet, luckily enough, I woke with only lingering
reminiscences of amazing food served sizzling tableside
on beautifully handcrafted crockery, the most creative
beverages I’ve ever had, and the out-of-this-world, once-
in-a-lifetime sake, all bolstered by easy-going and
knowledgeable staff that I would gladly spend a year’s
shopping budget (or the cost of a vacation in the region,
for that matter) to hang out with all over again. And if
another food-crazy and rock-and-roll-loving friend with
deep pockets can come along, all the better.restaurantzen.com; tasting menu at S$450 per person with
drinks pairings at S$250 for alcohol, S$175 for mixed and
S$125 for non-alcoholic.The restaurant's
signature French
toast with truffle.
RIGHT: Beer-
poached
crustacean,
smetana and wild
trout roe.