Feed your imagination at this sweet shrine dedicated to chocolate. Renowned local pastry chef Janice Wong hopes to provide an in-depth, inside look at the ubiquitous sweet, by highlighting the entire bean-to-bar process.
It starts with the humble bean. As part of the chocolate degustation menu ($40) at Pure Imagination, an entire fresh cacao pod might come on the plate. Touch and cut into the fruit, then pop a raw seed into the mouth to sample its pulp (creamy with a mangosteen-like aroma). The highly immersive and educational experience will also come with a 15-minute behind-the-scenes tour of the chocolate-making factory. Of course, the journey comes punctuated with a platter of chocolate-themed delights. Each course will explore three fundamental flavours of chocolate: sweetness, acidity, and bitter undertones. Sip on some refreshing cascara tea, made from steeping dried cacao skin, and bite into nutty cacao nibs sprinkled atop vanilla ice cream. Cut into sweet layered cakes, and end off with mouthfuls of decadently rich hot cocoa.
For serious dessert lovers, consider getting schooled in the art of chocolate-making with the bean-to-bar workshop ($250). For two hours, try your hands at roasting, winnowing, and even tinkering with recipes to churn out a completely personalised slab of sweet.
And more than just celebrating cocoa, Janice is also laying the roots for a loftier ambition through Pure Imagination: to create the first Singapore-grown chocolate. Over 1,000 cacao trees will be planted across the island, including the entrance of Great World, Gardens by the Bay, and Spectra Secondary School. Janice shares: “We have now embarked on a year-long community effort to eventually fulfil our dream of a true made-in-Singapore, bean-to-bar chocolate.” And when the trees are ready for harvest some three to four years later, that dream will turn into a sweet reality.
