For existing fans of Osteria Mozza — the Cal-Italian restaurant that focuses on simplicity and seasonality – the restaurant is finally back after an unfortunate incident four years ago. You might already be familiar with the fare so here are the deets: it’s located at Hilton Singapore Orchard and opens from 5 pm onwards.
For people who are unaware of why this is a big deal, Osteria Mozza is one of the few Italian places in Singapore where you can dine like a true Italian. Start with antipasti, head over to the mozzarella bar, indulge in secondi and vegetable side dishes, and end with a dessert. Here, executive chef Peter Birks takes us through the menu.
Hello Chef, how’s it going?
Hello Bryan, I’m doing very well and so happy to be back with the Osteria Mozza team and seeing so many familiar faces amongst our diners.
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What I usually like to do with first time interviewees is to ask them to pitch their product in 10 words or less. So if you could humour me by describing your menu.
Ingredient-specific, Cal-Italian cuisine that allows impeccably sourced seasonal produce to shine.
How much of the Osteria Mozza menu is Californian and how much of it is Italian?
“Cal-Italian” cuisine is a way we describe Nancy’s love note to her Southern Californian heritage paired with her love for Italy, which she called home for the last 20 years. The menu pairs the flavours of Italy with the seasonality of California, so it’s difficult to place an exact number to how much of it is each.
Garganelli Ragù Bolognese, a heaping mound of grooved pasta tubes coated in a hearty meat sauce.
The menu in Osteria Mozza LA is derived from readily available seasonal produce which is mainly sourced locally and from abundant Californian farmer’s markets. We are blessed living here in Singapore as we are able to source the very best products globally and draw from their individual seasons, making our menu unique to our flagship sister restaurant.
After some internet sleuthing, I’ve found out that you used to work at Meatsmith which is delightful to dine at. What lessons from Meatsmith have you brought to Osteria Mozza?
Both are very different restaurants but what I would consider the most significant lesson I learned, and a very important reminder for me, was the importance of working with an amazing team.
I’ve had the privilege to work with a great team at Meatsmith, and with Osteria Mozza, I’m so happy to see many of the team members I used to work with at the former Osteria Mozza. About 80% of our current kitchen team is the same as before, so it’s essentially almost like a family reunion.
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Is there some kind of pressure to helm a kitchen of a restaurant like Osteria Mozza? Here’s another loaded question: how much wriggle room do you have to experiment with things?
There is always pressure with leading a team. My advantage is having a highly skilled team that shares the same vision and passion for what we do.
After working with Nancy now for over six years, I’d like to say I have full creative freedom and trust, that’s not to say we don’t converse and ensure our visions are aligned.
Whole Branzino alla Piastra (european sea bass) served with a herb salad and charred lemon.
I noticed too that you had experience with banquets so perhaps, quickly but properly preparing dishes shouldn’t be a problem for you?
[laughs] yes, in some instances the experience has helped with large execution and organisation but for the large part, the operations are polar opposites and not comparable. A la carte service is innately very different and requires a different skill set.
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Strangely, for a nation that loves to eat, Singaporeans can be quite scared of cheese. Can you recommend one off the mozzarella bar to someone just starting out enjoying them? What about those who love them, then?
I think the classic go-to would be a caprese or even the condiment. For the real hardcore cheese lovers, go all in with the 300g Puglia Burrata with cruschi peppers and fett’unta. It’s simply divine.
Do you perhaps, have an interesting story behind the R&D of one of the dishes?
Nancy is at heart a composer of food. Everything she chooses to put on the menu is carefully orchestrated with careful consideration to taste, texture, and appearance. I don’t recall a single item we have put on the menu that hasn’t required 20+ tastings to make the final cut. it’s truly a labour of love.
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I interviewed a chef before about how he customised his wood grill and he was pretty extreme about it. I’m talking #major renovations. How special is Osteria Mozza’s grill then? And most importantly, what does it do?
We have four major components to Osteria Mozza Singapore’s kitchen:
1. The Mozzarella Bar, the heart and soul of Osteria Mozza. It is a completely open bar where all your favourite cheeses and salads are prepared directly in front of you.
2. The pasta station is one of the fundamental key elements of Osteria Mozza, where handmade pastad are cooked to order. This may sound an easy feat but I assure you it’s the hardest station to master in any kitchen I’ve ever worked in.
3. The Josper Oven is a piece of equipment most chefs dream to have in their line, with practice and mastery this piece of equipment cooks and imparts flavour like no other.
4. Our wood-fire pizza oven may be humble in its appearance, but it takes true skill to master the equipment and I’m fortunate to have the team to do so.
How stringent are you with the ingredients then? I was also wondering while there’s been a rise of food up cycling recently (maybe restaurants are just reporting it more now), what are some sustainability measures Osteria Mozza has implemented?
Osteria Mozza is extremely ingredient focused, and with Italian food, it really comes down to two simple fundamentals – the quality of ingredients and respect in their preparation. It’s really that simple and while we do always try to find the very best, our true focus is to achieve balance both in product and suitability. Just one example we are proud to be part of is using and bringing into Singapore PUJADO SOLANO anchovies, which are MSC-certified and a truly amazing product.
We believe in cooking with only the best ingredients, using them across the menu in a number of different styles. Our team goes to great lengths to source and curate simple Italian ingredients of exceptional quality – for instance, our Bianca Modenese, 36-month ‘White Cow’ Parmigiano Reggiano that is aged triple the time required for normal Parmiggiano Reggiano.
Nancy’s Caesar — egg, leek, and anchovy crostini.
Osteria Mozza in Los Angeles has been an advocate for sustainability for more than a decade now. The restaurant has implemented over two dozen sustainability best practices, as certified by the Green Restaurant Association (GRA), into its daily operations to reduce its carbon footprint, with various initiatives like sourcing organic and local ingredients and sustainable seafood as much as possible, using returnable or biodegradable packaging, amongst other food recycling and waste management efforts.
As a testament to this, Nancy is among the first class of restaurateurs awarded by the Michelin Guide with Green Star distinctions in America recognised for their dedication to sustainable gastronomy.
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Our commitment to sustainability is unwavering and we remain determined to implement similar measures in our Singapore restaurant. We have our own herb garden that surrounds the parameter of the restaurant which we rely on for several of the herbs and vegetables that we incorporate on our menu. We will also explore composting with coffee grounds for use as fertilisers for our herb garden and use only biodegradable packaging and reusable glass bottles in our restaurant.
We are also heartened that Hilton Singapore Orchard already has in place several sustainability initiatives across the hotel and F&B operations. In that regard, our values are aligned and there are existing resources that we are able to leverage.
Lastly, out of curiosity and another question I love asking: do you know the #1 song you listened to the most last year?
[Laughs] Geez, difficult question! I’m definitely not someone who is up to date with music trends but the last song I found myself listening to quite often was DANCE MONKEY by Tones And I.
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