Within the past few years, food trucks have become simultaneously more upscale and prosaic in major cities. The Singapore Takeout food truck is an unconventional, traveling pop-up kitchen designed from a repurposed shipping container. Sponsored by Singapore Eats, part of the Singapore International Culinary Exchange (SPICE), Singapore Takeout is on a world tour to 9 cities to showcase Singapore’s exciting and dynamic food culture. Untapped New York sponsored the truck’s recent stop in New York City at Gansevoort Square (as well as a 5-course dinner in Paris with Chef Andre Chiang). Through an exclusive contest, Untapped readers were invited to a tasting session with Chefs Dominique Ansel and Malcolm Lee.
Chef Dominique Ansel
For the Untapped New York session, the two featured chefs represented the high caliber of talent traveling with the kitchen. Dominique Ansel was the executive pastry chef at Daniel, Daniel Boulud’s flagship French restaurant and previously at the venerable French bakery, Fauchon. He is the chef and owner of Dominque Ansel Bakery in New York, scheduled to open in mid-October. Malcolm Lee is the chef and owner of the critically acclaimed Candlenut Kitchen in Singapore. At the two-day event, he also cooked alongside Anthony Ricco, chef de cuisine at Spice Market and Ed Cotton, finalist on Top Chef Season 7.
Candlenut’s Pork Bun: Pan seared slow braised pork, blue ginger lemongrass soy pork reduction in aromatic Peranakan spices.
48 Hour Short Rib Buah Keluak: Sambal (chili radish) haricot vert, shimp sayur lodeeh (coconut curry vegetable stew), buah keluak, white coconut curry and sayur lodeh curry rice
Chef Ansel making his Lemongrass Coconut Soup with peached pineapple, kaya cream, lychee gelée and coconut sorbet
The event blended in with the public environment of New York City and fused together food, culture and entertainment into a small plaza on a Saturday afternoon. Untapped New York enthusiasts were also given a complementary bag of tea boxes from Le Palais des Thés, a French luxury brand tea store, an exclusive gift only available to contest winners. The Singapore Takeout team adapts its events depending on the city. In Paris, the nature of the city lended itself to a private outdoor 5-course dinner on the grounds of the Hippodrome d’Auteuil racetrack, but in cities like New York and London, the reappropriation of public space for pop-up uses along with a vibrant food truck culture was a natural fit.
The remaining stops of the tour will be in Hong Kong (November 10 – 12), Shanghai (December 1 – 3), Delhi (January 13 – 15), Dubai (February 18 – 20) and Sydney (March 30 – April 1). If you are going to be near a city when the the kitchen is scheduled to visit, reserve a spot at Singapore Eats‘ Facebook page.
Special thanks to our Untapped photographers, Jessica Leibowitz from My Camera Eats Food and Michael Zuvich. Here are some more images behind the scenes from the event:
