A SINGAPORE PRESS HOLDINGS WEBSITE
by Debbie Yong
Singapore, February 13, 2013 Communal Add: 12 North Canal Road #01-01 Though it was the British who first started the gourmet junk food movement, it seems the Americans are quickly catching up (case in point: Danny Meyer's cult burger joint Shake Shack and its myriad imitators across the country.) Now, Singapore-based American chef Ryan Jette wants to take it a step further: by applying the notion not only to burgers and pizzas - but the entire gamut of American diner food, too. Recently opened this month is his first independent restaurant, Communal, on North Canal Road. The 30-seater space fits 16 on a bar counter by the open kitchen, and serves up dishes like lobster mac-and-cheese, fried chicken, and sides like cornbread and biscuits with gravy - but all put together and plated to restaurant standards. "We want to change people's perception of what diner food can be by using gourmet ingredients and more refined French techniques," says chef Jette. The 31-year-old, after all, picked up his chef chops from far finer establishments than his local diner. He was previously the executive sous chef at The Sentosa Hotel and prior to that, worked in top restaurants in New York, San Francisco, Miami and London, such as Thomas Keller's French Laundry, The Farm winery in Napa Valley and at Japanese fusion restaurant Asiate in the Mandarin Oriental. Lunch sets at Communal comprise a soup or salad and a sandwich and will cost $12 to $14, while a la carte mains start at $10 for a sandwich to $38 for a seared 1855 Black Angus striploin steak. At a tasting preview last month, the Caeser Salad soup ($9) impressed with its clean, light flavour. Aloe vera chunks in the soup added an unanticipated sweetness, and together with its deep green colour, this is surely one for the health nuts - nevermind the little spritz of bacon foam on top. The BELT (short for bacon, egg, lettuce and tomato, $12) sandwich's unfussy appearance belies the amount of work that goes into it: the bacon is house-cured pork and cut thicker than usual to give a bigger flavour punch. Bigger appetites can load up on the CBD burger ($25), which packs in a whopping 250g double patty alongside bacon, onions and an egg done sunny side up. Also intriguing was the braised beef cheek ($24), which reflects obvious Asian leanings in its oyster sauce, ginger and Chinese wine-tinged gravy. Wash it all down with ice-cream floats, milkshakes or a rotating selection of American craft beers and a limited selection of American (and some Chilean) wines. "This is all comfort food that I like to eat when I'm not at work," says chef Jette. "It's approachable and not pretentious. Eating well shouldn't have to break the bank." debyong@sph.com.sg
www.communal.sg
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