Opening pages: Wild Rice Stem - steam roasted Makomotake, spiced buttermilk gratin, cultured cabbage Opposite: Black Pepper Fish- Locally farmed grouper, black pepper and vanilla sauce, charred pickled carrot.Images by Robin Thang
great food could not have existed in isolation. While not Brehm’s sole purpose, the accolades (from Michelin, and more) are validation for how people have bought into his vision. “Restaurants are the last vestige of a community-focused space in a world that prefers digital connection to physical one”, he believes. This sense of community extends to the procuring of produce. Brehm works with Weeds & More, an organic farm collaborative based in the lush, Cameron Highlands region of neighbouring Malaysia. Banana flowers, endemic herbs like wild pepper leaf, fruits like bilimbi and nuts like Kulim are a few of the items the chef likes to incorporate. “When sourcing quality imported ingredients we maintain a tight link with purveyors, and keep our eyes and ears very open,” he explains. “We try to stay close to Singapore with ingredients, but I am of the belief that passion, care and quality from everywhere deserves to be promoted, and so the occasional seasonal strawberry, green almond, etc makes it to our menu as well.” Dinner comprises a five or seven course chef’s tasting menu (with wine or sake pairing), while lunch is ‘a fast introduction to Nouri’s cuisine.’ Brehm notes that the lineups, “Aren’t rooted in seasonality, though things are kept flexible enough that we can incorporate seasonality in it.” It is cultural research, or comparative gastronomy, that anchors the dishes. ‘Crossroads’ is what Brehm calls the act of cooking food inspired by the shared traits of this interconnected world. He cites dishes like Acarajé and Vatapá (an Afro-Brazilian fritter with turmeric and coconut sauce, bread, and salted prawn vatapá) plus the Scallops with Coconut as preparations “that elicit a certain layer of near universality which I feel the world is in dire short supply of”. His approach can actually be distilled into one word: the restaurant’s very name. When sharing the background story with the Michelin Guide, the founder confided, “My wife was the one who mentioned the word ‘nouri’. It’s a Latin word for nourishment, things that you derive sustenance from. ‘Nouri’ in Korean means ‘planet’, while in Persian, it means ‘fire’ in the relation to consciousness. It was very relevant to what we wanted to do with our restaurant: to bring some kind of mindfulness to eating, and to people’s experiences.” The white marble table awaits. 69