A meal at Santi in MBS….post Santi Santamaria
Like many in the food appreciating world, I too mourn the loss of a great culinary master like Santi Santamaria. This revered multi awarded three Michelin star chef died of a heart attack right here at our doorstep in the midst of the opening celebrations of the star studded celebrity chef restaurants in the Marina Bay Sands (MBS)earlier this year. He collapsed in his Santi restaurant while attending to his guest. “It’s not unusual that a big man like Santi falls down” says his protégé and executive chef Daniel Chavez, “ it happens often, this time, as I watched him collapse through our glass walled kitchen, I thought it was another one of those slips.”. Santi passed away on February 16th. Daniel has worked with Santi in his Dubai branch and previously had gigs with Les Amis and Saint Pierre Restaurant in Singapore before Santi pestered him to help helm the current MBS set up. “I was shocked that that fall was fatal.”
Now that the dust over the news has somewhat subsided, I ventured with clarity into the restaurant with a piercing question-what’s Santi restaurant like, post Santi Santamaria. His daughter Regina, now runs the place with the help of Daniel in the kitchen.
Santi 2nd floor, Casino Bldg, Marina Bay Sands Tel: 66888501 6.30pm to 11pm daily (lunch available only on Sundays 12pm-2pm)
I had not the pleasure of meeting Santi nor his daughter but an evening spent with Daniel chasing down some of the better iconic dishes on a casual food safari, made me revere the that late big chef even more. “It is Santi’s philosophy that we all use and adapt what is natural and abundant in the lands we work in.” So he subjected himself to a night of whimsical makan fancy out in the streets, just so he can get a better idea of the flavours and culinary concepts Singaporeans are surrounded with. This is like a standard order that Santi always instilled in his chefs wherever the work and Daniel was just exercising that clause dutifully out of respect for his admiration of that great chef. We cruised him through a night of Indian Rojak and Mee Goreng “I never knew mee goreng was Indian.” ,he realises, and fresh hand made dim sum and kaya toast with kopi tarek. I won’t be surprised if a lobster fritter with sweet potato sauce blended with vinegar, chilli, crushed nuts, sugar and sesame seeds, ala Indian rojak dip, could be introduced to his menu. He kept questioning how the mee sua cake fritter was made at a back lane dim sum stall in Jalan Besar – stir fry, stack, pack, freeze, thaw, cut and deep fry, was my offer of an answer.
Back to my curiosity of a post Santi meal. I had the pleasure of subjecting myself to Daniel’s creations earlier on, over a 6 course degustation meal sampler (it felt like more). A meal at Santi’s , a Spainish culinary legend, is no just about a great Catalan meal. It’s more about the creations and beliefs of a great Spainish chef. The first palate awakener of a bowl of simple tuber chips, made so thin, fine and bake to delicate crisp, set the tone of what was ahead.
The strangely comforting and familiar seafood with pasta sheets, ala seafood horfun.
They offer wine but I chose a bubbly and then six different types of hand-made bread was offered- ham, sun dried tomatoes and pumpkin was my favourite, among others. When the brought out the perfectly medium done foie gras, it just beckoned to be smeared over the pumpkin bread. Sinfully joyous. Then a plate of what I immediately thought was something very familiar- pastas sheets ala horfun, with a savoury sauce with seafood topping- ala seafood horfun, except Daniel’s had lobster tail and fresh garden peas and came in neat sampler portion. Comforting, exquisite yet familiar. I wondered if their menu is ever changing and “yes, except for two dishes which Santi says should always stay as it’s a signature.” Daniel tells me. One was the Catalan fish stew, with mussels, squid and white fish done in a sauce so reminiscent of a taucheo or miso base.
The one dish that never left the menu - Santi’s sucking pig with sweet sauce and greens
Again, refined, familiar yet different. His other, and how could it not be a signature, was a cut of suckling pig trotter. They suvee (or sous-vide, vacuum packed it and placed in 67% warm water bath) it for 4 hours to seal the juices and melt the fats, then slow baked it for 45 minutes. It came wafer crispy, with nary a hint of fat and very juicy. That, is so Santi, by persona.
