Mother's Day

The family went out at the ever-ready to serve, ever-ready to please, cosy fine dining modern Chinese cuisine touting Jiang Nan Chun. This is a restaurant I truly feel at home. While there are now many newer trendier restaurants precipitated by the fad-chasing Singaporean dining industry, it is sad to see that while these chase the new highs of chic-ness, most, if not all, have forgotten the fundamentals -- that people go out to restaurants to eat to feel good, not just to look good.

My family of four (yes, it suddenly dawned on me we're now four!) celebrated Mother's day simply by having lunch together. I picked a bottle of Laurent-Perrier Brut 1996 Champagne as a token for celebration. It's just too bad Fiona didn't quite get along with bubblies as she claimed that just a fraction of a sip she took earlier had gotten to her head. Well, it's Mother's day and it's her day. She calls the shots. So 'poor' me ended sipping the bottle all by myself (actually I asked the restaurant manager to join me for a couple of sips together as we chatted -- talk about cosy and homey...)

The bubbly was decidedly and bracingly dry a la 1996. The nose was quite Chard-like: leesy with pears, minerals and crushed stones. Moderately textured in the mouth and quite refined with green apples and again, bracing acidity. Rather austere and ungiving at this moment but I liked the bone-dry finish of this wine which accentuates its fairly sappy fruits.

Oh and the food? Compared to Graze the previous night, this one is simply superb.