Celebrated American Chef Nancy Silverton’s Osteria Mozza is bringing its unique brand of ingredient-specific, Cal-Italian cuisine to Singapore, showcasing simple cooking that allows impeccably sourced seasonal produce to shine. The new 120-seat restaurant at Hilton Singapore Orchard features classics from the original one-Michelin-starred outpost in Los Angeles as well as a number of new dishes crafted exclusively for Singapore.
“Singapore’s already insatiable appetite for top-notch dining has grown in recent years. I am excited to create a new Osteria Mozza experience in partnership with Hilton Singapore Orchard and OUE, one that highlights our classics yet is designed especially for Singapore,” said Nancy Silverton, Co-Owner of Osteria Mozza.
Hilton Singapore Orchard is the largest Hilton hotel in Asia Pacific and presents a beacon for Hilton’s flagship brand. A true dining destination, Hilton Singapore Orchard is home to a stellar collection of restaurants that offer exceptional culinary experiences complemented by Hilton’s signature hospitality: residential all-day dining restaurant Estate, elegant lobby lounge and bar Ginger.Lily, two-Michelin-starred Shisen Hanten by Chen Kentaro and award-winning all-time favourite Chatterbox. With the addition of the internationally celebrated Osteria Mozza, the hotel’s compelling roster of five culinary concepts is now complete.
General manager of Hilton Singapore Orchard, Cedric Nubul said, “Nancy Silverton’s unparalleled creativity and passion make Osteria Mozza the perfect addition to our array of distinctive culinary concepts. This opening cements Hilton Singapore Orchard’s position as a world-class dining destination, while creating memories that last a lifetime.”
Silverton believes in cooking with only the best ingredients, using them across the menu in a number of different styles. With her decades of experience as a baker who popularised sourdough and sparked the artisan bread movement across the U.S since the nineties, nearly all of Osteria Mozza’s dishes are served atop, complemented by, or made more complete by bread.
The standouts of Osteria Mozza are many – its mozzarella bar and housemade fresh pastas; two wood-burning ovens for Silverton’s show-stopping pizzas, meats, fish and fresh vegetables; and gelato-centric dessert menu; all supported by a stellar beverage programme and attentive warm service.
Design
Conceptualised by award-winning global hospitality design firm EDG Design, Osteria Mozza extends the design narrative of Hilton Singapore Orchard as a modern colonialstyle residence, inspired by the past rustic stables and tannery buildings found along Orchard Road — an area once abundant with fruit orchards, nutmeg plantations, and pepper farms.
Much like a Tuscan farmhouse, with its open kitchen and stacks of firewood, Osteria Mozza’s rich, textural design layers gabion stone walls and flooring, end cut wood, natural brick screening, and exposed nuts, bolts and fixings. Leather features prominently – in supple caramel-coloured leather and wood chairs as well as design elements, like horse buckles, bridles, saddles, belts and tools.
The space is encircled by glass, with both indoor and outdoor plants lending a mossy, natural, slightly overgrown feel. A communal, convivial vibe is evident throughout the restaurant. The mozzarella bar seats up to 14, and the spacious indoor dining room seats 61. The spacious and lush outdoor terrace that overlooks the bustling Orchard Road is covered to accommodate the Singapore weather and seats 59. Osteria Mozza’s private dining room seats 10.
Mozzarella Bar
At the heart of Osteria Mozza is the signature mozzarella bar, a place to start the meal with a selection of five different mozzarellas, burratas and fresh cheeses, and an impressive array of imported Italian cured meats (speck, coppa, salami sardo, mortadella and prosciutto di Parma). Silverton and her team source and curate simple Italian ingredients of exceptional quality to create the remarkable antipasti and salads which have cemented Osteria Mozza’s reputation.
For example, the restaurant goes to great lengths to source Bianca Modenese – 36-month ‘White Cow’ Parmigiano Reggiano, aged triple the time required for normal Parmiggiano Reggiano. Antipasti selections include the signature Affettati Misti. What is different about the dish for the Singapore outpost is the inclusion of butcher’s pate and trotter fritti, as a nod to the popularity of trotter meat locally.
Other highlights not to be missed from the mozzarella bar include Nancy’s Favorite Trio of Mozzarella di Bufala, Cantabrian anchovies, semi-dried tomato and cruschi peppers with fett’unta; Smoked Burrata & Peas; and Nancy’s Caesar.
Handmade Pastas & Wood-Fired Cooking
Almost all of the 10 pastas on the menu at Osteria Mozza are handmade in-house daily. A unique new pasta on the menu and one created specially for Singapore is the Cencioni with Dungeness crab and saffron, inspired by Silverton experiencing the wide array of seafood in Singapore. Every part of the crab is used to create the dish from claws to meat and belly, used either as filling for the pasta or to create stock for pasta-making.
The Josper Oven is the precision workhorse of the kitchen, turning out perfectly cooked Grilled Calamari and Whole Branzino alla piastra. Farmers’ market quality vegetables are also roasted in the Josper to coax out their flavour and natural sweetness, like seasonal selections of Friarelli Peppers and Roasted Carrots.
A selection of secondi for individual enjoyment or sharing includes the Cacciucco, a traditional fish stew from Tuscany brimming with locally sourced grouper and calamari, venus clams, red prawns, mussels and red pepper crostone. The dish is another of Silverton’s love note to Singapore, recognising the city’s fondness of seafood.
Other highlights include whole Grilled Corn-Fed Baby Chicken; and juicy Pork Chop Milanese. Pizza at Osteria Mozza is the art of a master bread baker. After extensive testing and enhancement, the pizzas are a reflection of Silverton’s distinctive style and taste. A selection of nine pizzas are cooked in the restaurant’s custom Wood Stone wood-burning pizza oven and will be served exclusively at lunch.
Silverton has chosen to cook with California almond wood for its fruit wood flavour, high heat, low smoke and balanced sweetness. As a result, Osteria Mozza’s pizzas boast a fine crisp base and ultra-high airy and puffy cornicione, with a deep sourdough flavour.
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