Dining At A Chef’s Home

The Wood Ear’s Jesper Chia sets the table in his home diner. The Wood Ear, known for its exquisite plating of fusion food, requires bookings four months in advance

A clutch of culinary enthusiasts and professionals is giving Singapore food lovers a creative alternative to dining out – in their homes. This allows them to offer traditional family recipes handed down to them through different generations without cutting corners.

Often at their tables are also modern creations of popular dishes. Technology has made this growth possible because there is now an app for almost anything. Food, especially home delivery, is the rage at the moment and home dining is just an evolution of this step forward.

With prices usually reasonable and with overseas travel still restricted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, home dining options that offer a range of cuisines in intimate settings are thriving – and providing novel experiences. 

Making a reservation with a home chef is easy: Simply visit their websites or Dine Inn, an online platform, to book a date with these culinary experts. Remember to book early and keep to the COVID-19 safety management measures of group limits.

All filming and photography was done before COVID-19 circuit breaker period.
Video by Yip Siew Fei.

Eunice Ong, Manager (Branding and Content) at the Public Service Division, tried home dining on the recommendation of a friend. She made the reservation through Dine Inn and says: “As first-timers, we were offered an introductory price and it came with an attractive menu. So my husband and I gathered some friends who are into good food to join us for the experience.

“We enjoyed a four-course Thai dinner at the chef’s home in Punggol, along with two of the host’s friends and their very cute pet chow chow. After dinner, the family was kind enough to treat us to some wine and cheese they bought in Europe and even shared their travel tales.”

The Wood Ear

Jesper Chia may not be culinary trained, but he definitely puts his passion in the food he prepares. He holds a full-time job and only serves a handful of guests every Saturday at his Choa Chu Kang HDB flat.

Known for his beautifully plated dishes, the eight-course menu Chia offers includes fusion food such as bread and spiced butter, sea asparagus and potato tart, and fish with soubise, burnt cabbage and brown butter.

During the circuit breaker, all home dining businesses were paused for two months. When home-based businesses were given the green light to continue, Jesper switched to doing food delivery, offering ready-to-eat food like miso cod fish, Spanish-style garlic prawns, beef and pork bolognese sauce with homemade pasta, squid ink rice, tiramisu, and more.

Jesper resumed hosting from Phase 2 of the circuit breaker, with safety measures such as SafeEntry, hand sanitising and temperature taking in place. He also introduced a crab-inspired menu: think crab cocktails, crab croquette, various stir-fried crab dishes, and a salted egg yolk dessert.

Take note: The Wood Ear requires a booking four months in advance. June 2021 bookings open on February 1, 2021. As June is The Wood Ear’s anniversary month, Jesper will also unveil a new menu.

Website: www.fb.com/thewoodear
Price: $57.60/pax for an eight-course meal

Casa Kumi

Chef Kurt and an assortment of Eurasian dishes such as shepherd’s pie, devil’s curry chicken and chilli garam prawn. 

At Casa Kumi, which means “Home of Food” in the Eurasian language Kristang, self-taught baker and chef Kurt Drysdale serves Halal Eurasian food.

At a reasonably priced menu of $45 per person for a six-course meal (that’s about $7.50 a dish), guests are offered dishes such as shepherd’s pie, chilli garam prawns and chicken devil curry. The pork- and lard-free menu stands out from many other Eurasian dining experiences that feature pork-heavy offerings.

His home dining experiences, which used to be in his Ang Mo Kio flat, have received rave reviews for the generous portions and lip-smacking flavours. As a keen chef, he shops for ingredients at wet markets and speciality groceries and studies the cuisines and cultures of people around the world.

During the circuit breaker, Kurt paused home dining operations and also moved to a new home in Upper Thomson Road. Follow Casa Kumi on Facebook for updates on his home dining endeavours.

Website: www.fb.com/casakumi
Price: $45/pax for a six-course meal

Meals at Casa Kumi include the sweet treat of homemade chocolate brownie with ice cream.

The Taste Therapy

At Shaaleni S.’s home, diners get Indian food with a modern, healthy twist – all at affordable prices. A culinary graduate of the former French Culinary Institute in New York, Shaaleni has been doing home-based catering for the past three years, focusing on meal preparation and healthy alternatives to desserts.

“I pay very close attention to the different herbs and spices (and their benefits) that I use. I consciously tailor all my recipes to be healthy,” she says.

After Shaaleni discovered Dine Inn, the avid traveller opened up her home to host small intimate meal settings where travel stories can be shared over three-course meals (about $30/pax).

A home dining experience at Shaaleni’s includes meeting her friendly dog, Katsu, who loves to beg for food.

With COVID-19 safety measures still in place, she has put a pause on home dining and is focusing on meal preparation services. Shaaleni prepares four meals for the week ahead according to clients’ dietary needs and delivers them on Sundays.

Her healthy Indian meals might just be the break you need from richer food during the Chinese New Year festive period, and a big time-saver when it is crunch time at work.

Website: www.fb.com/thetastetherapy and @thetastetherapy on Instagram
Meal preparation price: $36 for four meals/week

"Let thy food be thy medicine" is Shaaleni’s motto. Her favourite savoury dish to make is spicy baked chicken, infused with Indian spices.

Text by Clara Ann Clara, Siti Maziah Masramli

Photos by John Heng