Sky on 57 is located on the 57th floor (duh) of Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands. The food is from Singapore’s own Justin Quek, who has cooked at restaurants around Asian and France, but came home to open this restaurant atop the hotel resort. My dad had wanted to come to the top of the building to check out the views; a ticket up to the observation deck costs S$23, but lunch here is S$50 minimum per person so we figured we might as well make a meal out of it.
Brenda’s is one of the city’s most popular brunch spots (although it is open for dinner too), serving up a mashup of southern soul food and American brunch standbys. That means gumbo, po’boys and beignets on the menu next to omelets and French toast.
This was my first time to the restaurant; we were able to squeeze into the last two seats available during a busy Monday lunch rush. Breakfast is served until 3pm while lunch is served from 11am onwards, and we arrived right in that sweet spot where both menu options were available. We tried a couple of items from each.
Petit Crenn is Dominique Crenn’s follow-up to her two Michelin starred Atelier Crenn. This restaurant is very different from the Atelier’s haute multi-course tasting menus; Petite Crenn is a small neighborhood restaurant serving a daily family-style menu inspired by Crenn’s childhood in Brittany, France. The food is seafood and vegetable-focused and is priced at a relatively reasonable $79pp for five courses (inclusive of service).
Church & State was one of the first really exciting restaurants to open into the reinvigorated Arts District of downtown. With Walter Manzke in the kitchen, the restaurant was an immediate success. The neighborhood has had a ton of new development over the years, but Church & State has been a standby serving classic French bistro food. The restaurant celebrated its seventh anniversary last week and rolled back prices to 2008 levels in celebration. It’s been a long five years since I dined at the restaurant, so a revisit was long overdue.
Daniel Boulud is one of America’s most notable chef/restaurateurs with 16 restaurants in 4 countries around the world. I’ve tried a few of his restaurants with mixed thoughts, feeling like he’s spread himself fairly thin. However, I’ve always wanted to try Restaurant Daniel – Boulud’s flagship restaurant in New York City.
I’ve been to the Beverly Hills and Las Vegas locations of Bouchon numerous times although I had not been to Bouchon’s first location here in Yountville (until now). I’d like to think I’m very familiar with the cuisine here; the menu at all Bouchon locations is pretty much the same serving up Thomas Keller’s interpretation of French bistro food. One thing that does set this location apart is that it’s garnered a Michelin star.
Melisse 1104 Wilshire Blvd Santa Monica, CA 90401 Dining date: 7/24/15 My last time dining at Melisse was a year and a half ago when it participated in the dineLA Restaurant Week promotion. While Melisse didn’t technically participate this time, they offered a special 5-course 16th anniversary ‘Dine Melisse’ menu that happened to coincide with dineLA….
Restaurant August 301 Tchoupitoulas St New Orleans, LA 70130 Dining date: 6/13/15 Restaurant August was high on my list of places to try while in town. It’s John Besh’s flagship restaurant and consistently regarded as one of the top restaurants in the city. The food here combines Besh’s classical French training with the cuisine and…