Summer in Italy is as gorgeous as you’d imagine it to be — beautiful beaches, scenic landscapes, bright sunshine, and of course, light, refreshing dishes with an abundance of vegetables and homemade seasonal recipes.
No flight tickets needed to enjoy Italian summer cuisine though — Italian restaurant Zafferano has a new menu that aims to celebrate summer ingredients at (literally) great heights. Under the signature culinary style of Head Chef Marco Guccio, the newly launched summer menu at Zafferano marries innovative recipes with traditional fare, all while utilizing fresh summer produce.
Start off with Italian sardines beccafico style ($26), served on a bed of Sicilian salad and the ultra delicate Mazara raw red prawn ceviche ($32) that’s seasoned simply with salt, pepper and lemon dressing, on top of crispy sourdough bread and black figs. Or you could go for the pan-seared Hokkaido scallops ($34/$52) served with purple cauliflowers, shallot petals, cherry tomatoes confit. Oh, and an absolutely sublime green pea purée, which you can order by itself.
More seafood bounties await with Zafferano’s squid ink superfino carnaroli Acquerello risotto ($32) thats chock-full of flavor, while the quintessential southern favourite Calamarata pasta Sicilian pesto ($36) serves up some pretty monumental jumbo prawn.
Dive deeper into the waters of Italy with their highly recommended oven-baked Atlantic cod ($58) that’s paired with seasonal white asparagus, heirloom vegetables, sun-dried tomatoes and green asparagus sauce. Lovers of cooked cephalopod should enjoy the tender polpo sardo ($44) — poached and pan-seared Sardinian octopus, roasted vegetables and pearl onion.
End the meal with some cooling desserts to beat that summer heat (but its summer in Singapore all year long, soz). There’s the modern syphon tiramisu ($16) with mascarpone foam cream, the honey mousse ($16) with Iranian saffron cremuex, raspberry jelly and almond sponge base, as well as the chocolate mousse ($16) that’s 70 percent premium Valrhona chocolate with cherry yogurt cremeux, sous-vide green apple compote, cherry chantilly cream and gold flakes, because why not.
More details on the ongoings of Zafferano on their Facebook page.
Zafferano is at 10 Collyer Quay, Ocean Financial Centre, level 43, 6509-1488. Open Monday to Friday 11:30AM-3PM, 5:30PM-11PM; Saturday 5:30PM-11PM; closed Sunday
