Latest news with #BarSomma
Time Out
01-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Bartender Spotlight: Bar Somma's Mel John Chavez on savoury cocktails and the perfect martini
In a city brimming with sleek cocktail joints, Bar Somma holds its own, with sharp drinks, slurp-worthy pastas, and a refreshing sense of style. Tucked within a reimagined school library space, this Italian cocktail and pasta bar in New Bahru has become one of the newest darlings of Singapore's drinking scene. Expect modern classics executed with intention and flair, like a freezing-cold dirty martini that arrives at your table at negative five degrees Celsius; a bolognese-inspired cocktail with mirepoix flavours; and a deceptively simple Campari Seltz, made with a rare high-pressure soda siphon imported straight from Italy. We sit down with Bar Manager Mel John Chavez to chat about underrated drinks, cocktail trends, and the Journey song that best captures the spirit of Bar Somma. Scroll on for our five quick-fire questions – and don't forget to check out more of Singapore's best bars in the Time Out Singapore 2025 Bar Guide, out now and available for free here. If Bar Somma had a theme song, what would it be? I'm a fan of the eighties band Journey. There's one song of theirs I really like – Don't Stop Believin'. When you play it in the bar on a busy night, it hypes everyone up. The song also resonates with me as a bartender – we have to believe in what we're doing and make sure it works out. What is a must-try cocktail at Bar Somma? Mirko's Martini. It's a dirty-style martini, and the good thing about it is that we freeze it. You can order a martini anywhere else, but maintaining its temperature as it's served is very hard. For us, we pre-make the martinis, they go into the freezer, you order one, and in the next 10 to 15 seconds, it's going to be on your table with a temperature of negative five to seven degrees. Another one is the Bolognese Muse – a savoury cocktail. Since we're an Italian bar, we took inspiration from bolognese pasta and recreated it in a drink, taking the major flavours of the dish, from the tomato to the mirepoix. We add meat to it by using beef stock, then we add whisky and cook it again through a clarification process so it becomes a cleaner, easier version of a Bloody Mary, with lots of umami. What is an underrated cocktail on your menu? Campari Seltz – Campari liqueur with high-pressure water from our machine. We created this drink to show that you can enjoy a liqueur with just two ingredients. The Seltz machine we have here is the first of its kind in Southeast Asia, straight from Campari. People think the drink will taste bitter, but the high-pressure water helps to cut through the bitterness and bring out more of the sweetness from the Campari. Which cocktail trends do you want to see more and less of? I would like to see more bars making savoury cocktails, especially because consumers are becoming very adventurous when it comes to trying new things. You'll see from time to time bars which have one or two savoury drinks on the menu. At Somma, we have four – I dedicated a category on the menu for it. And I want to see fewer gimmicky cocktails – those that require lots of actions and are very interactive, or those that have two or three components on the table. Nowadays, consumers typically want something easy and minimalistic. People just want to have a good time with good drinks, good vibes, and good food. What's another bar in the neighbourhood you'd recommend? Definitely Bar Bon Funk. I really like the concept – it's enclosed, has a nice DJ, dim lights, good drinks, and nice snacks. You'll enjoy your time there. Another bar I'd recommend is CODA at InterContinental Singapore Robertson Quay. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Time Out Singapore (@timeoutsg)
Sydney Morning Herald
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Lab-grown meat just became legal. Is it any good?
They are more ingredients than finished products, leaving room for chefs to add their twist. Italian chef Mirco Febrille, of Singapore's Bar Somma, has made a tortellini filled with Forged parfait in a hay-infused broth. 'Chefs are the artists of the food world. They're the ones that ultimately drive food culture,' said Peppou. Working closely with chefs also ensures quality control and a positive experience for wary first-timers. 'A lot of consumers' first contact [with meat-replacement products] was in retail. They brought it home, they cooked it badly and they were like, 'this shit product tastes like a hockey puck',' said Peppou. Chef and Vow ambassador Mike McEnearney will serve his popular sourdough bread with Pepe Saya butter and a cultured quail butter at Kitchen by Mike, and his new Melbourne restaurant inside 1Hotel, From Here By Mike, will feature a pan-fried 'Forged gras' on a bed of lentils. The bar upstairs will serve Forged parfait on toasted brioche. 'How often does something brand new come to market? That's what got me,' McEnearney said. 'I'd describe it [to customers] as a different way of farming … it's an educational process,' he added. 'It's not replacing anything. It's helping to support sustainable farming methods.' Food regulatory body Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has also passed updated definitions of genetically modified food to address progress in gene technologies while maintaining strong food safety protections, which the regulator says brings Australia in line with international approaches and will ensure the right labelling and oversight. 'Our safety assessment confirms that many modifications achieved through new breeding techniques are equivalent to those from conventional breeding, which is widely recognised as safe,' said FSANZ chief Dr Sandra Cuthbert. How lab-grown meat gets made The process of making lab-grown or cultured meat, this masthead was told in a tour of Vow's factory (sometimes referred to as Sydney's first 'meat brewery'), isn't too dissimilar to the fermentation process in brewing beer. A biopsy, or small tissue sample, of an animal – in this case, a quail – is taken and placed into a 20,000-litre temperature-controlled fermentation tank, which is designed to replicate the body of a quail. Hot water lines the tank, for warmth; oxygen and glucose are pumped in the tank, where the tissue scraping is given plenty of space to grow over the course of a month. 'Harvesting' then occurs every two to three days for about a month, where three-quarters of the glucose mix is removed from the tank and topped up for the growing process to continue. The liquid is then poured into a separator, which sorts out the liquid from the solid meat matter, akin to curd, or blitzed chicken mince. To sell their products, Vow had to undergo, and co-design, a lengthy regulatory process with food regulatory body – because the category of lab-grown meat didn't exist yet. Loading 'We are so new, we don't fit into any of the boxes for the food system,' said Peppou. 'Everything which is trivial, should be trivial, is really complex for us.' Peppou's first time trying his own products in a restaurant was April last year, alongside 14 influencers in a members-only club in Singapore. Now, he will be able to try it in his hometown with his parents at a six-course degustation at Italian restaurant Olio in Chippendale, or the Waratah Hotel with his mates. Now that Vow has FSANZ approval, the NSW Food Authority will conduct a final audit before awarding a food manufacturers' licence, which will allow it to sell in Australia. It's been a long journey for Peppou, who had to make 30 per cent of his staff redundant in January. The former biochemist is already eyeing other markets, including the UK, Middle East, and is working with nine regulators.
The Age
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
Lab-grown meat just became legal. Is it any good?
They are more ingredients than finished products, leaving room for chefs to add their twist. Italian chef Mirco Febrille, of Singapore's Bar Somma, has made a tortellini filled with Forged parfait in a hay-infused broth. 'Chefs are the artists of the food world. They're the ones that ultimately drive food culture,' said Peppou. Working closely with chefs also ensures quality control and a positive experience for wary first-timers. 'A lot of consumers' first contact [with meat-replacement products] was in retail. They brought it home, they cooked it badly and they were like, 'this shit product tastes like a hockey puck',' said Peppou. Chef and Vow ambassador Mike McEnearney will serve his popular sourdough bread with Pepe Saya butter and a cultured quail butter at Kitchen by Mike, and his new Melbourne restaurant inside 1Hotel, From Here By Mike, will feature a pan-fried 'Forged gras' on a bed of lentils. The bar upstairs will serve Forged parfait on toasted brioche. 'How often does something brand new come to market? That's what got me,' McEnearney said. 'I'd describe it [to customers] as a different way of farming … it's an educational process,' he added. 'It's not replacing anything. It's helping to support sustainable farming methods.' Food regulatory body Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has also passed updated definitions of genetically modified food to address progress in gene technologies while maintaining strong food safety protections, which the regulator says brings Australia in line with international approaches and will ensure the right labelling and oversight. 'Our safety assessment confirms that many modifications achieved through new breeding techniques are equivalent to those from conventional breeding, which is widely recognised as safe,' said FSANZ chief Dr Sandra Cuthbert. How lab-grown meat gets made The process of making lab-grown or cultured meat, this masthead was told in a tour of Vow's factory (sometimes referred to as Sydney's first 'meat brewery'), isn't too dissimilar to the fermentation process in brewing beer. A biopsy, or small tissue sample, of an animal – in this case, a quail – is taken and placed into a 20,000-litre temperature-controlled fermentation tank, which is designed to replicate the body of a quail. Hot water lines the tank, for warmth; oxygen and glucose are pumped in the tank, where the tissue scraping is given plenty of space to grow over the course of a month. 'Harvesting' then occurs every two to three days for about a month, where three-quarters of the glucose mix is removed from the tank and topped up for the growing process to continue. The liquid is then poured into a separator, which sorts out the liquid from the solid meat matter, akin to curd, or blitzed chicken mince. To sell their products, Vow had to undergo, and co-design, a lengthy regulatory process with food regulatory body – because the category of lab-grown meat didn't exist yet. Loading 'We are so new, we don't fit into any of the boxes for the food system,' said Peppou. 'Everything which is trivial, should be trivial, is really complex for us.' Peppou's first time trying his own products in a restaurant was April last year, alongside 14 influencers in a members-only club in Singapore. Now, he will be able to try it in his hometown with his parents at a six-course degustation at Italian restaurant Olio in Chippendale, or the Waratah Hotel with his mates. Now that Vow has FSANZ approval, the NSW Food Authority will conduct a final audit before awarding a food manufacturers' licence, which will allow it to sell in Australia. It's been a long journey for Peppou, who had to make 30 per cent of his staff redundant in January. The former biochemist is already eyeing other markets, including the UK, Middle East, and is working with nine regulators.
