Snippets: Basilico @ Regent Singapore | A taste of Head Chef Luca’s new menu

Posted on October 6, 2015 by theRantingPanda in Snippets

What’s New: Award winning Italian restaurant Basilico at Regent Singapore welcomes its new Head Chef Luca Beccalli with more than twenty years of culinary experience. Chef Luca was born in Northern Italy and has a vast culinary experience across Europe and North America. His new à la carte menu at Basilico is reflective of his home-style Italian cooking, which we obviously will not mind having it at home everyday.

The Highlights: Starters include the likes of the Beccalli’s 60-day cured black pepper Wagyu Beef with 40-month aged parmesan cheese and summer salad with Amalfi lemon dressing ($31), Tomato Tartare with smoked burrata, oregano crostini and frisée salad with basil dressing ($24), or the Roasted Foie Gras in moscato wine served with toasted truffle sweet brioche, caramelised peach and moscato wine reduction ($32).

I started with an authentic Italian antipasti – Tomato Tartare with smoked burrata, oregano crostini and frisée salad with basil dressing ($24). The burrata surprised me most with its fresh flavour as I am quite fussy when it comes to cheese.
From the main course selections, we tried the Fagottini Pasta stuffed with pear and Tuscan pecorino cheese in sweet gorgonzola sauce ($34) and the Thyme-roasted rack of Lamb with braised leeks and legume ragout, drizzled with Barbera wine and star anise sauce ($38). My pick goes to the lamb if I can only choose one main course, as I find it done to the right degree without any gamy flavour. On a trivial note, the lamb rack is apparently Chef Luca mum’s secret recipe.
Other options on the à la carte menu include Deep-fried Veal chop “alla Milanese” with wild rocket salad, roasted cherry tomato, rosemary ratte potato and aged balsamic vinegar ($58) and Sardinian malloreddus pasta with queen scallops, zucchini, pachino tomato and Norcia black truffle ($35).

For desserts, the new introduction was the Homemade Saffron gelato with Amaretti biscuit and Amarena cherry ($14). What was impressive was the presentation of the dessert, where hot chocolate was poured over the chocolate dome which contained the gelato. I guess I am a more visual person, so it excites me when I witnessed the chocolate dome crumbled slowly. The rich decadent chocolate was a sweet ending to my meal.
Exclusive for ladies: Every Wednesday from now until December 30 2015, ladies can enjoy an exclusive dining experience of between Basilico and Manhattan. The evening experience starts with the three-course dinner at Basilico, which comprises an appetiser buffet, a main course and a dessert buffet of Italian sweets, including homemade gelati and sorbets. Chef Luca has specially curated the dinner menu for the ladies. Post dinner, ladies will be personally escorted to Manhattan bar for the signature Princess Cut cocktail.