Restaurant review: Casa Restaurant by Remy Lefebvre brings contemporary woodfired gastronomy to Chijmes

If the name Remy Lefebvre rings a bell, you might remember him from Butcher’s Block at Raffles Hotel Singapore, which opened shortly after the iconic hotel’s upgrading works in 2019. This June, the affable chef struck out on his own with Casa Restaurant at Chijmes.

Taking over the interior portion of El Mero Mero (the Mexican restaurant has gone fully al fresco instead), the 35-seater fine casual restaurant exudes homely vibes, like its name suggests. Easy on the senses, the interiors sport a soothing palette of blue and green alongside natural textures of light teakwood, terrazzo, and a smattering of strategically placed greenery.

All seats boast a view of the bustling kitchen, from which the Casa team serves up plates inspired by Chef Remy’s French heritage, his childhood in Ivory Coast, and 20-year career spanning Mexico, Spain, the Middle East, and Hong Kong.

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Instead of European-style bread, for one, we start our six-course Experience Menu ($198++) with toasted tortillas smeared with avocado butter made with plankton powder and sea salt. This dairy-free beginning is an introduction to Chef Remy’s culinary philosophy of serving delicious food that caters to most dietary restrictions.

The two bite-sized amuse bouche – twice-smoked Tasmanian trout with a dash of Cambodian kampot pepper and tahini seasoned charred eggplant puree topped with fennel pollen – also hint at the international eclecticism to come.

Our first course pays tribute to two seafood meccas, the Mediterranean coast and Japan. In Gambas, brined red prawns are cold-smoked over French hay and fruit tree woodchips before a drizzle of prawn head oil infused with yuzu and wasabi kosho.

Topped with bafun uni and chickpea tuile, the addition of verbena oil lends a refreshing herbacity to the sweet shellfish flavours. The final touch of pine nut milk rounds out the dish with a complementary soft nuttiness.

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We pay a visit to the Middle East next with the charcoal-roasted Palermo Pepper. The organic sweet peppers from Sicily are paired with muhamara, an Armenian condiment that blends red peppers, walnuts, and pomegranate. Garnished with a sprinkling of lemon thyme leaves and gluten-free croutons for texture, it’s one vegetarian dish we’d happily repeat.

The same, however, can’t be said for the Blue Mussels chawanmushi. Despite the lovely showcase of seasonal diced French peaches and smoked eel atop, I wasn’t a fan of the coconut cream in the mussel dashi egg custard, nor of the Madras curry powder infused broth.

Things got back on track with the Perfect Egg featuring a beautifully earthy Madagascar pepper sauce inspired by the black pepper crab from this part of the world. The crustacean is replaced with grilled Scottish razor clams for contrasting bite while sweet corn stew and salsa verde balanced out the flavours.

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We head to Africa for our main – a quintessential pairing of seafood and rice in the Rock Bass. Aged seven days and brushed for shio koji before hitting the grill, the fish is served with kampot rice sautéed with sofrito.

Along with sauce vierge (made with ingredients like diced tomatoes, and sherry vinegar), it was thoroughly enjoyable. For those who can’t do without red meat, Casa sources its beef from farmers raise grass-fed cattle on open lands in the Australian states of Tasmania and Victoria.

As with the fish, our cut of Wagyu Dry-Aged was aged (40 days) on-site and the accompaniments kept simple. Our cut was presented with barbecued heirloom carrots from the Loire Valley and Café De Paris. The latter typically refers to a butter flavoured with herbs and spices, but butter is switched out for excess Wagyu beef fat here for a condiment that’s sustainable and easier to digest.

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For dessert, Apricot is a throwback to Chef Remy’s childhood summers with his grandfather in Normandy, where he enjoyed apricot tarts. A de-constructed take on the patisserie classic, roasted apricots are paired with an umami miso frangipane and almond sorbet. The aroma of tarragon oil bridges the sweet and savoury elements of the dessert.

The wine list at Casa is no less diverse than the flavours in our meal. With seafood making the majority of our courses, we imbibed a Domaine Ciringa Fosilni Breg Sauvignon Blanc 2017 ($108) from Slovenia; an interesting discovery that possesses the cool minerality and structure of Loire Valley, yet bearing some fruity notes and the crispness of a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.

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The Casa experience doesn’t end with the petite fours. Located off the dining room is Casa’s living room, where guests can lounge post-meal (or pre-dinner) over drinks. There’s a separate menu for bar snacks to stave off the munchies. Furnished with comfy couches and armchairs, you’ll notice childhood and family photos of Casa’s team on the mantle, which adds to the intimacy of the space.

Casa Restaurant is located at #01-20 Chijmes, Singapore, 30 Victoria Street, Singapore 187996, p. +65 9722 8171. Open Wed-Sat 12pm-2pm, 6pm-10.30pm, Sun 12pm-3pm, 6pm-10.30pm. Closed Mon-Tue.

This article was first published in City Nomads.