At Ma Cuisine, time seems to slow down just a little. It’s the kind of place where you can linger, glass in hand, as you listen to the conversation.
Located on Craig Road, this charming French gastro wine bar boasts deep red leather banquettes, walls lined with abstract art, and magnum bottles beneath Michelin plaques. Besides the convivial ambience, its cellar offers a staggering 1,000-plus labels, including one of the best Burgundy collections.
Ma Cuisine achieved its first milestone rather early. Founded by French restaurateurs Anthony Charmetant and Mathieu Escoffier, it made history as the first gastro wine bar in Singapore to be awarded a Michelin star in 2018—just seven months after it opened!
Michelin’s recognition did more than confer prestige; it helped define Ma Cuisine’s identity. As Charmetant points out, gastro wine bars can command the same respect as traditional fine-dining restaurants. “We have never let the star define us. However, it did push us to continually refine every detail, while staying true to our original vision.”
Eight years on, Ma Cuisine continues to thrive in our city’s ever-shifting F&B landscape. While its menu has evolved, classic French dishes like Le Pate en Croute and La Pissaladiere, a much-loved caramelised onion tart, are its foundation, says Escoffier.
Sommelier Charmetant and Chef Escoffier first met at the La Paulée de Meursault (an annual Burgundy event) in 2015, where they shared a bottle of 2006 Domaine Armand Rousseau Pere et Fils Clos Saint-Jacques. They formed a partnership after reconnecting in Singapore in 2016.
At Ma Cuisine, wine takes centre stage, but food never goes unnoticed. Its Spring menu, served during our visit, reflected this ethos by celebrating the season’s freshest bounty with traditional culinary techniques. Topping the ingredient list were baby lamb rack, asparagus, young carrots, and fava beans.
To emphasise these lighter textures and brighter flavours, Escoffier and his team adopted a pared-back approach. Take Navarin d’Ormeau Printanier, for instance. “Traditionally, a navarin features lamb, but we’ve chosen to use confit abalone instead. It lends the dish a softer, more delicate touch,” says Escoffier.
In keeping with its French roots, Ma Cuisine also emphasises staples such as aspic and terrine. L’Oeuf en Gelee Vichyssoise combined fresh herbs, edible flowers, and ham in a delicate jelly containing an organic Japanese egg. It was served with a silky, chilled leek-and-potato vichyssoise (soup) perfect for quelling the day’s heat.
For a main that married earthiness with finesse, there was the L’Agneau de Lait Vichy. Served alongside French organic carrots glazed with orange and cumin, as well as a silky carrot puree infused with ginger, the baby lamb lollipops from the Pyrenees mountains were lightly coated with smoked paprika.
Until 1 October, the Summer menu features vegetables, aromatic herbs, and other seasonal French produce. Perfect for the new season, the baby lamb lollipops that starred in L’Agneau de Lait Vichy will be crusted in mustard and parsley, and served with a salad of fresh herbs and a clarified bone broth aromatised with galangal instead. The dish also goes by a new name: L’Agneau de Lait & Salade D’herbes.
Another must-try from the Summer line-up, Escoffier says, is Le Homard au Poivre Noir. It showcases the Breton blue lobster from the Îles de Chausey, prized for its vivid indigo shell and firm, delicately briny flesh.
“Native to the waters off Normandy and considered a local delicacy in the port town of Granville, the lobster is wrapped in a thin slice of pork belly, grilled over charcoal, and served with lemon agnolotti, along with a black pepper sauce elevated by green Chartreuse, which adds a herbal lift,” he teases.
As with its Spring menu, Ma Cuisine continues to spotlight rising talent in Burgundy. The new menu features the 2023 vintages from Camille and Guillaume Boillot: a Chassagne-Montrachet En Pimont and a Volnay 1er Cru Champans, both notable for their finesse and freshness—ideal companions to the season’s dishes.
Also returning this year is Benjamin Guilbert Guillet, whose coveted small-production wines are once again on the list. Based in Savigny-lès-Beaune, Guillet’s Bourgogne Aligoté shows precision and minerality, while his Savigny-lès-Beaune reds charm with bright, expressive fruit.
