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What’s the one thing better than Happy Hour? A Happiest Hour! JO UPCRAFT heads to Appetite where art, music and dining collide at this ‘amuse bouche’ of bars.
Appetite’s vinyl-heavy Listening Room
de Camarones, a tempura-like fritter topped with spot prawns, spiced Marie Rose sauce, and a squeeze of grapefruit and lime. Next, Foie Gras and Chicken Liver Parfait, a dish that celebrates Brehm’s formative years at Hesten Blumenthal’s The Fat Duck, UK, and his love for nouvelle cuisine. Last but not least, King Crab Bhel ome of us like to start a night out with a long, luxurious bath Puri, a rice bowl luxed-up with Norwegian king crab gives a nod to and time invested in getting party-ready. Others prefer to dive Vietnamese Chả Cá Lã Vọng. Each dish paired perfectly with the fizz straight into proceedings, hardly pausing for breath while and was not too filling. racing from boardroom to bar. Appetite offers a spot that bridges But alas, the point of Appetite’s Happiest Hour is to provide a the gap between leisurely preparation and instant gratification. pit-stop. Happening from Tuesday to Saturday, 6pm to 8pm, it’s the Tucked at the end of Amoy Street, you enter the venue through ideal launchpad for a night on the tiles or a pre-dinner soiree. “We a nondescript shophouse door and head up a narrow flight of want our guests to come in and unwind before they transition to the stairs into something of a hidden world. In contrast to the bustling rest of their evening,” says Brehm. The problem is, with nibbles and eateries below, Appetite’s Lounge area is low of light, ambience this good, plus the possibility of a 1967 mono edition quirky of layout and warmly welcoming. The walls of Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band just waiting for a are lined with art which forms a curated exhibition spin, it might be hard to get rid of us. that is swapped up every few months; the We want our seating is stylish yet loungey; staff are smiley, guests to come in and VERDICT: This two-storey gem is ideal for those who friendly and knowledgeable. unwind before they love an early evening start followed by bed by 9pm, or You could be forgiven for thinking that transition to dedicated merrymakers wanting a chic spot to start the you’ve accidentally stumbled into a hipster’s the rest of their night in style. apartment, especially when you take a second flight of stairs up into the attic, aka the Listening evening Appetite’s Happiest Hour includes three dishes paired Room. This small but perfectly formed space with a glass of bubbly at $68++. features cosy sofas, antique rugs and a 3,000-strong vinyl selection complete with turntables Tortilla de Camarones + Foie Gras Jo and Laura find some and speakers that will get anyone born and Chicken Liver Parfait + King vintage classics before 1980 feeling nostalgic and hot Crab Bhel Puri under the collar. (Look, don’t touch - there’s a music director on staff!). But wait - as joyous as the scratchy sounds of Fleetwood Mac makes us - we are here for the food. Appetite’s new Happiest Hour features a menu curated by Ivan Brehm, chef-founder of Appetite and one-Michelin-starred Nouri on the ground floor. Alongside a glass of bubbly, guests can enjoy specially created small bites and sharing dishes based on Brehm’s culinary philosophy of exploring ingredients and cultures from different regions (what he calls “crossroads cuisine”). First up, Tortilla
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Hotspots Nov22.indd 58
November/December 2022
13/10/2022 1:18:35 PM
