Review: Potato Head’s Studio 1939 & 2am:dessertbar Create A Dessert-Cocktail Pairing Menu
PUBLISHED November 4th, 2020 05:45 am | UPDATED November 8th, 2020 01:37 pm
Enter Potato Head on Keong Saik Road, climb up all the stairs, and you’ll find yourself in Studio 1939, Potato Head’s speakeasy bar. This is where Head Bartender Gavin Teravasan and multi-award-winning chef Janice Wong of 2am:dessertbar will be presenting their new dessert-cocktail pairing collaborative menu.
An unlikely match in heaven? Perhaps, at first glance.
But Potato Head, particularly its Bali beach club flagship, is known for its theatrical and innovative cocktails, like the Bali Island Iced Tea served in a smoking teapot. Janice Wong takes much of this same approach with her handcrafted desserts at 2am:dessertbar . That is, after all, how she won all those awards. And when you see these pairings in front of you, all the words on the menu suddenly click.
Take, for example, this Jasmine Oasis pairing (S$40). This dessert is interesting in a hundred different ways. There are textural delights in the jasmine tea mousse foam and the lychee rose pearls, and ingredients in surprising forms, like the pink peppercorn crumble. What accentuates it (like in any pairing worth their salt) is the Make Her Feel Good cocktail. Served in a wider and flatter vessel, a slice of dried fruit floating in the drink evokes true zen-ness. This concoction of gin, melon liqueur, Moscato blanc tea syrup, and fresh juice tastes just like tea. It’s probably the closest you can get to being in Japan at the moment.
The Cassis Plum pairing (S$40) uses textures in a similar way, pairing yoghurt elderflower foam with springy plum liqueur jelly, but is armed with a stronger and more tart flavour profile. The cassis bombe’s shell is an excellent touch, giving it not just visual interest and crunchiness but the opportunity to feel true child-like bliss as you bite into it. The Red Velvet cocktail it comes with is significantly sweeter than the others, made with fruity liqueurs and syrups. The sweet and sour combination is classic.
Chocolate lovers can’t go wrong with a Janice Wong classic, the Chocolate H2O pairing (S$42). With a texture somewhere between ice cream and ice-kachang in its airiness and water content, it goes perfectly with the yuzu sorbet on the side and the twin drizzles of salted caramel and yuzu calamansi sauce. The Bartender cocktail in this pairing was the strongest of the lot. This heady sherry, mezcal, vermouth, cherry liqueur and grapefruit brine combination will make your mouth (and maybe your eyes) water.
This might just become your favourite late-night dessert spot from now on. Of course, the cocktails stop being served past 10.30pm, but your can get these gorgeous desserts till midnight, every night.
Potato Head is located at 36 Keong Saik Road., Singapore 089143, p. +65 6327 1939. Potato Head is open Mon – Sun, 11am – 12am. Studio 1939 is open Mon – Thu, 5pm – 12am and Fri-Sun, 4pm – 12am.
