Joo Chiat’s latest muse, Province, is an intimate eight-seater diner dreamt up by young chef Law Jia Jun. The recent Magic Square (now-defunct incubator restaurant in Portsdown Road) graduate also boasts a tutelage stint at three Michelin-starred Atelier Crenn in San Francisco. And if you’re wondering where exactly this rustic shoebox sanctuary is, it actually hides behind the facade of the buzzy 808 Eating House.
Each evening, Law orchestrates a seasonal tasting menu (from $138) that is steeped in the diversity of Southeast Asian ingredients and flavours. Taking a page off Japanese sensibilities, he starts off with a snack trio on a hassun tray: a firm sliver of tomato kombu smoked snapper laid to rest on a crumbly tart; a carrot croustade and ricotta that mimicked the pleasures of crunching into Japanese soy rice crackers; and a juicy prawn tsukune textured with chicken cartilage.
A memorable feature on regional tubers follows soon after. Japanese purple sweet potatoes harvested from Chiang Rai are duck-fat fried to a crisp and native orange sweet potatoes made into chewy gnocchi. Next, an aromatic smoked sweet potato espuma (or foam) is gently floated above in front of your eyes. And finally, a tart yet chocolatey buah keluak puree awaits to be rooted by the first spoonful. Law shares that it is one of his favourite dishes and so is ours.
The course cascades into a sequence of heartier proteins. Think grilled abalone on rice perfumed with laksa leaf, crisped skin coral trout with smoked coconut cream, and a succulent 14-day aged duck that comes along with grilled heart and oyster mushrooms. For dessert, expect a hyperlocal twist with riffs on the well-loved longan cheng tng and the tropical soursop.
Though in the end, like the sluggish Cigarettes After Sex lullabies that chimed in the background during the entire course, the progressive Asian menu struggled to maintain its edge. But all’s not lost. From the conscious championing of Southeast Asian produce to injecting personal anecdotes that inspire his cooking, the young chef shows plenty of promise. And for this, we’ll be sure to keep an eye on the space.
