Supper Club Refined

It's no secret that private home dining is having its moment in the sun, with many of these intimate dinner experiences booked out for months or even years.

- ALVIN LIM

It is a Saturday evening. A group of eight guests stream into the dining room, making casual conversation as they seat themselves around the table. Water is poured, napkins are unfolded and placed on laps, and service begins.

Except the scene we're describing isn't happening in a fine-dining restaurant - or even a commercial food establishment, for that matter. The guests are drinking wine from bottles they brought themselves, and the eight-course degustation they just devoured was prepared with cooking equipment you'd find in any home kitchen.

Welcome to the world of private home dining, where Singapore's discerning epicures deign to pay no small amount of money to eat a home-cooked meal in someone's living room - and that's after having placed a reservation for the entire table months, or even years, ago.

NOT YOUR GRANDMA'S COOKING

Chef Will Chng, the brains behind Umami Table Private Dining (@umamitable.sg), is one such operator. The 30-year-old is professionally trained, cutting his teeth at one-Michelin-starred Meta and the now shuttered Roketto Izakaya, Kimme and Wild Rocket before striking out alone when the pandemic hit.

He now creates progressive Chinese bites with Japanese and European cooking techniques from the comfort of his home kitchen, having first spent slightly more than a year running a home-based sauce business inspired by his travels in Taiwan and China. Over four dinners a week, diners can savour an eight-course tasting menu, which changes regularly.