A New Year, a New Eat List

Calling all globetrotting gourmands, save space for these anticipated restaurant openings this year. 

- ALVIN LIM

01 AIR, SINGAPORE

Acclaimed American chef duo Matthew Orlando and Will Goldfarb are set to open Air, a farm-to-table restaurant, cooking school, and research lab, all rolled into one sprawling 40,000 sq ft space in the verdant hills of Dempsey in January. Its name, which stands for Awareness, Impact and Responsibility, points to the restaurant’s sustainabilityforward ethos without being too preachy.

Orlando, wielding close to a decade of experience in ethical gastronomy at his now-defunct Copenhagen restaurant Amass, takes the culinary lead at Air. He partners with Goldfarb, the founder of the dessert-tasting restaurant Room4Dessert in Bali and Ronald Akili, co-founder of hospitality brand Potato Head.

Expect hearty dishes anchored on local ingredients like jackfruit, starfruit, and lantern chillies, all sustainably sourced from the restaurant’s on-site garden.

Menu highlights include charcoal-grilled duck breast lacquered with a sticky roselle glaze, paired with cashew cream and smoky chilli oil, and a whole coral grouper, which comprises a fish head rillette served with empeng crisps and a fillet that is confited and drizzled with green onion and black garlic vinaigrette and served alongside a bowl of noodles made from fish bones tossed with mushroom butter. aircccc.com