Since the start of circuit breaker, many of us have turned to becoming home cooks. In order to keep up with business, many food purveyors – who are used to supplying restaurants and other F&B businesses – have now expanded their customer base. That means you can now have restaurant-quality ingredients delivered straight to your doorstep. Some restaurants have also turned to selling ready-to-cook ingredients to their customers when dining-in was not allowed. Thanks to these platforms and restaurants, you can have easy access to restaurant-grade ingredients for a gourmet meal. Scroll down for the list of places to shop from for your next fancy dinner party.
Atout in Harding Road serves some of the best charcuterie in Singapore. Because the pandemic has devastated restaurants, chef Patrick Heuberger has turned part of his into a retail shop, offering produce his team cooks with and the excellent charcuterie he is known for. Click on the Atout’s Deal and Special Highlights tabs for seasonal ingredients and special prices on items such as Bordier butter.
Website: shop.atout.sg
Delivery: Free for orders above $100, otherwise $8 or $15.
What I would buy:
• Pate En Croute ($15 a slice) to have with wine and cheese.
• German White Asparagus Soup ($16 for 400ml) as a starter for a meal.
• Chicken With 40 Cloves Of Garlic ($45, above) for a comforting main course.
• Charentais Melon ($21 each) because at the peak of its season, these babies are sweet.
Started in 2015, this company is affiliated with Angliss Singapore, which is a gourmet food distributor specialising in products from Europe and supplying hotels and restaurants. It started taking orders from retail customers at the start of the circuit breaker period.
Website: mygourmethome.com.sg
Delivery: Minimum order of $50 for delivery; delivery fee of $20 to one location if the order is under $150, free delivery for orders more than $150.
What I would buy:
• Garofalo Bucatini Pasta ($4 for 500g), because this shape is hard to find and the price is excellent.
• Whole Piquillo Peppers ($5 for 390g), because I have never seen them fresh anywhere here and they can be roasted and used for paella or be served alongside charcuterie.
• Fresh oysters from Les Huitres Cadoret (prices change weekly, above), a family-owned company in Brittany, because you would usually have to go to a restaurant to have these oysters.
• Wagyu Beef Shortribs from Futari Full Blood Premium Wagyu in Western Australia ($181 for 3kg), because this rainy weather is perfect for braising short ribs in red wine or with daikon.
This steakhouse chain launched its e-commerce platform on April 5 to stay connected to its diners while dining-in was not allowed in restaurants. Customers can order their meats raw or cooked, and the packages offer value for money. Cocktails, wine and spirits are also available.
Website: Click on the Shop Now tab on facebook.com/wooloosingapore
Delivery: Free delivery with orders of $100 or up.
What I would buy:
• Gourmet Meat Box – five meals for two people ($250), because it is sized perfectly for there not to be wasted food. The box comes with two USDA 250-day grain-fed prime rib-eye steaks weighing 340g each, two Australian grass-fed sirloin steaks weighing 340g each, four 180g wagyu burger patties, two portions of fusilli Bolognese, two onion focaccia and one onion jam.
• Chill & Grill Set A ($228, above), because this set is designed for a weekend barbecue, with one 340g Great Southern Pinnacle Sirloin, one 340g Signature Black Angus Ribeye, 900g of pork ribs, four sausages, and truffle potato salad and Caesar salad for sharing.
• Four-Course Menu for two ($128), with a choice of soup, pasta, steak and dessert, because sometimes there is just no time to cook.
• 1-for-1 Whisky Sour ($18), because shopping makes me thirsty.
This fine-food supplier started in 2000 and its core business has been supplying the F&B industry. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, it pivoted to selling direct to retail customers, launching Classic Deli in just two weeks.
Website: classicdeli.market/sg
Delivery: Minimum order for delivery is $41.73. Delivery is free for orders of more than $100 until Wednesday, otherwise it costs $20.
What I would buy:
• Wild Asparagus ($9 for 200g) when it is back in stock, to steam and dip in butter for brunch.
• Impossible meat substitute ($88.90 for 2.27kg), because it tastes better than frozen supermarket ground beef.
• Burrata Artigiana ($15.20 for 200g, above) to have with tomatoes and olive oil.
• Smoked Arbequina Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Spain ($28.90 for 250ml) to drizzle over the burrata.
The business started in 1939 and launched its e-commerce site and started delivering to homes in 2009. But this part of its business stayed under the radar until the coronavirus pandemic broke out. Its retail customer business has grown a hundred-fold, and it makes 1,500 home deliveries a month now.
Website: foodxervices.com
Delivery: Minimum order for free delivery is $60. For orders below $60, delivery costs $10 a location.
What I would buy:
• King Arthur Special Unbleached Bread Flour ($88 for a 22.7kg sack), because this is primo flour and I can share it with other bread-making friends.
• Callebaut Ruby Chocolate Callets ($50.88 for a 2.5kg bag, above, in pink bag), because I have eaten Ruby Chocolate, the newest form of chocolate after dark, milk and white, and like its lightly tart, berry flavours. These buttons can be used to make frosting and glazes and be added to muffins, cakes and cookies.
• Garrett Cheesecorn Jumbo Bag ($22.62 for a 380g bag), because I could eat this all day.
• J’s Garden Fresh Cultivated Black Termite Mushrooms ($93.71 for a 2kg bag), because I am very, very curious.
This chain of four Mexican restaurants, run by The Loco Group, started selling groceries, meats and prepared food during the circuit breaker period. It also sells bread by Starter Lab, a bakery specialising in sourdough bread.
Website: market-by-super-loco.myshopify.com
Delivery: Minimum order of $20, with islandwide flat rate delivery fee of $15.
What I would buy:
• Miso Baguette from Starter Lab ($6), because I don’t have to fight queues at the bakery.
• BBQ Chipotle Sauce ($5 for 200ml), because I love the flavour of these smoked, dried jalapeno chillies and can slather the sauce on grilled meats and barbecued ribs.
• Corn Tortillas ($5.50 for 10) to wrap the grilled meats in.
• Ancho Marinated Angus Flap Meat ($10 for a 300g steak), because the dry rub would work wonders on the meat in the vacuum seal and I can grill, slice and fold strips of steak into a corn tortilla with avocados and vegetables for an easy dinner.
This website is backed by S Foods Singapore, which supplies Japanese beef and pork from Hokkaido to more than 200 restaurants here, importing the meat from its farms in Japan. It launched an e-commerce site early this year.
Website: yakinikuplaza.com.sg
Delivery: Free for orders of more than $100; otherwise, there is a $20 delivery fee.
What I would buy:
• Wa! Gyu Bundle ($106.80 for 250g of A5 wagyu sirloin steak and 100g of A4 wagyu sliced for yakiniku) for a barbecue.
• Porky Pork Bundle 1 ($27.80 for 200g of Hokkaido pork loin steak and 300g of Hokkaido pork belly sliced for shabu shabu), because the loin will make a good katsu sandwich and the sliced pork belly can be used in hot pots or stir-fries.
• Spanish pork collar for shabu shabu ($8.70 for 300g), because this is good weather for hot pot.
• Smoked duck breast ($4.80 for 200g) for salads.
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Text: Tan Hsueh Yun / The Straits Times