Caffe Fernet is a new mod-Italian restaurant bar located at the historic Customs House Singapore that offers a game-changing waterfront dining experience.
The 130-seat restaurant-bar is the Jigger & Pony group’s largest, most ambitious venue to date, and is helmed by Executive Chef David Tang, previously of the Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group in the United States. Caffe Fernet’s mod-Italian concept was the brainchild of Indra Kantono, Co-Founder of the Jigger & Pony Group, and is developed with Group Executive Chef Polo Seah and Chef David, as well as Aki Eguchi, Group Bar Programme Director.
The Awesome Porchetta
The award-winning Jigger & Pony Group is known for its Midas touch in crafting trend-leading concepts - three of its bars, Jigger & Pony, Sugarhall and Gibson, are winners of multiple awards, including spots on the Asia’s 50 Best Bars list.
Caffe Fernet presents a beverage menu that offers inventive renditions on classic Italian cocktails like spritzes and negronis; spinning a fresh take on Italian fare, favouring a sophisticated, cosmopolitan touch over the homelier “grandma” style of cooking.
Housemade Ricotta Toast
“We’re excited to launch our biggest venue to date in the CBD and we hope to introduce more guests to our hallmark small-venue conviviality with a beautiful waterfront backdrop,” shares Indra. Besides a power-packed mod-Italian menu, its strategic location at Customs House allows all guests to revel in the amazing picturesque view of Marina Bay.
Within, the square fluted columns and vaulted ceiling, which are a part of the original structure, are kept as homage to the architecture’s history. They present an artful juxtaposition against the modern-trattoria-meets-Roman-Holiday interior design theme in the rest of the restaurant-bar.
Housemade Ricotta Toast
“I wanted to create a space which has an Italian trattoria vibe with modern lines, in a contemporary setting, juxtaposed with some classic elements like the Leiter Thonet chair and European-style table bases,” shares interior designer-owner of Hui Designs, Lim Siew Hui, who comes with 18 years of international experience in high profile restaurant, hospitality, and residential projects.
With equal emphasis on both the dining and drinking experience, Caffe Fernet offers a fresh spin on Italian cuisine and cocktails to appeal to any gourmand and drink aficionado. For now, the restaurant offers dinner and weekend brunch service. The menu is designed to showcase reinvented Italian classics. “While we’re focusing on flavours that lean towards lighter and brighter profiles, they still have to pack a punch,” adds Executive Chef David Tang, the Le Cordon Bleu College Los Angeles graduate who cut his teeth in multiple kitchens under the illustrious chef Wolfgang Puck’s tutelage.
Eschewing the standard greasy fare, the Toast items include light options like Housemade Ricotta ($15++) on toast, featuring creamy ricotta cheese accompanied by delicate chestnut honey and thyme, alongside slices of lightly toasted sourdough bread.
For small plates, highlights include Crispy Golden Beetroot ($21++), served with red beetroot mole, golden Holland beetroot, rocket, almond and feta cheese; and Smoked Leek ($19++), an elegant starter with smoked leeks provide a sweet tenderness, toasted pecans for crunch, and gorgonzola for additional depth of flavour.
Reinvented Italian classics are offered as large plates meant for sharing: Chicken Piccata ($36++), featuring a brined then oven-roasted chicken breast cutlet ingeniously flavoured with saffron, capers and lemon, will not disappoint.
For an elevated classic, go for the Mafaldine ‘Cacio e Pepe’ ($25++), made with ribbonshaped mafaldine pasta instead of the typical spaghetti, cooked to perfection with its al dente texture, and tossed with pecorino and four types of peppercorns.
Round off the meal with comforting Italian desserts such as the Olive Oil Cake ($14++), a simple-looking staple that belies with its rich flavour and smooth texture, accompanied by creamy mascarpone. Inventive
As the newest establishment of the Jigger & Pony Group, the craft cocktails at Caffe Fernet hold their own against the stellar food menu. “Every seat in Caffe Fernet provides a bar view to highlight the craftsmanship and narrative behind every cocktail, which we have taken pride to create,” says Aki.
Nothing completes a bay-front dining and drinking experience like a spritz in hand – and there are several to choose from, in addition to the photogenic, sunset-hued Classic Aperol Spritz ($17++). Enjoy the refreshing Amalfi Spritz ($17++), concocted with Beefeater gin, Nardini Acqua de Cedro, wormwood, lemon, mint and prosecco.
Negroni aficionados will be excited to savour notable creations like the glamorous Caffe Boulevardier ($21++), a caffeinated negroni cousin featuring Bulleit bourbon instead of gin, ascribed to its creator, Parisian man-about-town Erskine Gwynne who published Boulevardier magazine in the late 20s.
In addition to spritzes and negronis, guests can choose from a wide variety of other cocktails such as the playful Watermelon Frose ($15++), a vermouth-fueled slushie of rose wine and watermelon, or communal punch bowls like the splendidly pink Flamingo Bowl ($230++), a sparkling combination of prosecco, vodka, and aperol with fresh passionfruit, grapefruit and lemon, perfect for chic parties and gatherings by the bay.
The go-to place for both food and cocktail aficionados, Caffe Fernet’s convivial, restaurant-bar concept ups the ante for a whole new way of dining in Singapore’s CBD district. Bolstered by the group’s experience in helming a stable of popular, award-winning establishments and proving itself as a highly anticipated project within the industry, Caffe Fernet is the Jigger & Pony Group’s influential mover and shaker to look out for.
