From the onset, Odette is the embodiment of understated luxury. The foyer stands tall, hiding the rest of the three-Michelin-starred restaurant from view. There is an undeniable sense of intention behind every design decision, from the new art installation by Dawn Ng that hangs behind the front desk to the renewed decor, courtesy of London-based interior design studio Nice Projects. And we haven’t even gotten to the food yet.
Step inside the French fine dining establishment and bear witness to a sanctuary of refined gastronomy and soft, lilting ambience. Nothing seems out of place, and everything is flawlessly curated. Ten years after it first launched, and just days after its reopening, chef-owner Julien Royer and company have done their very best to embrace a future that honours the restaurant’s original vision. Many might (understandably) consider this new season a step up, although that might be hard to imagine, given Odette’s peerless reputation for being among the finest of fine dining restaurants in the country.
Everywhere your gaze turns, the space is awash with the warm embrace of soft beige and pink undertones. The furnishings, such as the exquisitely crafted marquetry screens installed by Nice Projects, complement the atmosphere wonderfully, capturing the illusive feeling of ‘elevated, yet utterly accessible’—a feat that, anywhere else, one might expect to be fleeting. But Odette remains a cut above the rest, timeless and self-assured in its visual direction. Unsurprisingly, this rarified air extends to the quality of the service.
Odette’s staff, both front- and back-of-house, are generous with their time and mannerisms—endearing, yet profoundly knowledgeable, never missing a beat when it comes to keeping you in tune with the intimate, accomplished rhythms of their work and craft. The whole experience is an exercise in exceptional artistry.
This is never more apparent than when it comes to the food itself. The menu’s heart remains all-things-French, its calling card increasingly shaped by subtle Asian influences that have, over the years, been seamlessly assimilated by Royer and his team. Every dish, plated to absolute perfection, is but the tip of the iceberg, the barest peek at the hard-won efforts of each chef, working in unison to juggle hundreds of moving parts effortlessly. Of course, at Odette, if you choose a menu with a wine pairing, every course is accompanied by an elegant glass, each bottle carefully curated by their sommelier and presented with unerring grace.
To start, a grignotage trio, appetisers just light enough to prep the palette while hinting at the delights to come. The rest of the night’s introduction include slices of organic heritage rye sourdough from a century-old, family-run mill and a creamy Hokkaido Botan Ebi, infused with brown butter ponzu and topped with succulent caviar. The path to paradise is officially open—all you have to do is sit back and enjoy the ride.
Royer has been in Singapore for many years now and, apparently, never misses an opportunity to pay homage to the island’s rich culinary heritage. The Crab ‘Contrast’ is one such example. A jaw-droppingly tender slice of Norwegian king crab masquerades successfully as the age-old classic chili crab, cocooned within a shapely pool of rémoulade and béarnaise sauce.
The coming plates build on this uncanny knack for hybridity, the team capably channelling decades of geography and history into bold, daring ways to electrify your tastebuds. Despite only being halfway through the meal, the Langoustine ‘Comme un Dumpling’ is, quite possibly, the star of the night. Leek fondue shimmers and surrounds a delicate puck of Brittany langoustine, cooked in Vin Jaune to enhance its natural savouriness and showered with flakes of Périgord black truffle. You would be hard-pressed to find more flavour packed into a single plate.
The Limousin Veal Sweetbread is a gratifying follow-up, offering a hearty bite of saccharine throat meat. Its flavour is ever-so-slightly gamey, but in all good ways, especially when taken with the accompanying sweet corn-infused jus gras. Likewise, the Shimane Amadai piques curiosity with equal parts brine and crisp—this seafood trifecta includes tilefish (both skin and scales fried to ensure maximum crunch), squid and prawn.
The crowning experiential moment at Odette arrives with the Kampot Pepper Crusted Pigeon. Here, in many ways, the establishment’s work ethic is laid bare. Form and function operating in wondrous lockstep, with spectacular results. Cooked to the platonic ideal of medium-rare (no grey bands here), the fowl’s breast is split in two, placed above a single leg and surrounded by arcing outlines of black garlic puree, which are then filled with fig leaf oil. The cherry on top—re-affirming Odette’s incredible attention to detail—is a charming message describing the lengthy process it took to prepare the bird, rolled up and tied to its ankle.
At this point, you would be forgiven for not wanting to look at either the dessert and douceurs, or the cheese trolley, but they’re all well worth your time and effort. The former, dubbed ‘Loulou Lemon’ after the chef who crafted it, is a more-than-welcome injection of refreshing citrus. The latter comes in the form of dozens of artisan cheeses, sourced from niche locations, ranging from creamy to chunky, fragrant to funky.
There’s not much more that can be said about the dining experience at Odette. No centimetre of space and no gram of food is wasted. Every gesture is executed with confidence. As a French fine dining restaurant, it comes unnervingly close to being the literal embodiment of mise en place in action—everything in its place, carried out in good time and with great detail.
