db Bistro Moderne has been a favourite spot for many foodies thanks to its consistently good French food. Celebrity chef Daniel Boulud was in town recently to launch his restaurant's new offerings and the charming culinary maestro took time to explain each dish, prepared with large doses of ‘soul' by his brigade of chefs. "Bistro food is meant to be soulful," said Boulud.

He added that when he worked in South of France, he was inspired by the Mediterranean cuisine of that area. So he wanted to present a variety of dishes from countries like France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, North Africa and Spain in his new menu. Small platters of these creations will be available at db on weekends between 3 and 5pm.

Our procession of dishes began with the Middle Eastern-inspired items - crunchy herb falafel served with freshly made hummus, babaganoush and crisp lavash bread. This was followed by the spiced braised duck coated with crispy kataifi. Paired with a dollop of sweet date chutney, this crowd-pleaser
was a harmonious fusion of taste and texture.

From the Spanish seas were the aromatic grilled octopus with marcona almonds, arugula and Xerez vinegar as well as seared Spanish mackerel with piquillo or sweet pepper vinaigrette. An Italian representative was the summery dish of vitello tonnato - chilled roasted veal draped with tuna confit in olive oil, celery, anchovy and capers.

Mains-wise, a winner at our table was the seabream - charred to perfection and served with a tangy-sweet Romesco sauce made with almonds, sweet pepper, olive oil, vinegar, and tomato.  Another noteworthy creation was the Tuscan-style dry-aged ribeye. The natural beef jus was not overwhelmed by the accompaniments of wild mushrooms, taggliasca olives, fava beans, and sauce salsa verde.

And finally the frozen dessert  of grapefruit givré had an element of surprise in every mouthful. Each spoonful revealed different degrees of texture - crunchy, creamy and chewy. The sweet-sour grapefruit sorbet fused beautifully with the creamy sesame halva, cubes of chewy loukoum (rose flavoured Turkish delight), and Persian fairy floss. Needless to say, it was a blissful end to the meal. Boulud proves to diners yet again that food doesn't need to be flashy to be delicious.

The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, Basement 1, 6688 8525

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