Fleurette is a study in contradictions. It’s a fine dining restaurant in gritty suburbia, opened by Lebanese-Japanese-Chinese Tariq Helou, a young, French-trained chef who has done time in Michelin-starred restaurants across Europe and in Tokyo. Kendrick Lamar and Drake spit bars over the speakers while well-trained servers regale you with stories of luxury.
“I preferred an atypical location not in the usual dining belt like Amoy Street. The rent is cheaper here, too. When I was working in Paris and Tokyo, the best restaurants were always off the beaten paths. I wanted to emulate that,” said Tariq, when I asked why he opened at Rangoon Road, beside the rundown and renowned Combat Durian stall.
The result is sublime. Only 28, Tariq shows that youth doesn’t impede taste or creativity. His takes on done-to-death ingredients such as ikura, which he pairs with sudachi, a citrusy Japanese fruit, and scallop, served on a bed of creamy sambal, reveal the depth of his culinary mind.
The crab koshihikari rice was light, floral and savoury. I finished two extra bowls and would have gone for more, if I hadn’t known there would be two desserts.
Dinner comprises nine courses while lunch is a more manageable degustation of six. Unlike other fine dining establishments, which usually tack on two or three additional items onto the lunch menu and call it dinner, Tariq and Fleurette have constructed entirely different dishes for each session.
Guinea fowl and crab koshihikari rice are in stark contrast to the lighter lunch options of iberico pork and oyster rice. Dessert, an excellent serving of Hokkaido milk sorbet drizzled with olive oil and snow salt, remains the same across both menus. It’s Tariq’s signature.
Lunch and dinner also come with a sake pairing option. Fleurette’s assistant manager and resident sake sommelier Cheang Kar Poh has assembled an excellent list, comprising some of the best sake I’ve had the pleasure of trying. I’ve also seen none of them in my life. When I asked him for his distributor, he revealed he sourced them himself from Japan. That’s dedication.
Fleurette welcomes 10 diners every seating and the dark, romantic interior with candles and dried floral arrangements promotes intimacy. I momentarily forgot it was only one in the afternoon; that’s how shut out from the world Fleurette is.
Singapore is replete with fine dining restaurants. You could theoretically visit one every week and not be able to complete the tour. But, Fleurette is seductive. It’s not Japanese, even though the tidy, open-air kitchen is reminiscent of omakase restaurants. Even though many of Tariq’s techniques and ingredients hail from there, it is not French. It’s not even mod-Sin, which is slowly becoming all the rage in the fine dining scene. No, it’s Tariq’s interpretation of the best ingredients he can source and it’s an excellent debut, contradictions and all.
