intheLIFESTYLE
intheLIFESTYLE
Casa di
Osvaldo
Q: Growing up, how important was food in your family and household?
A: We were thinking all the time of what to eat for lunch and dinner and
planning the Sunday lunch in anticipation: food was very important in
my family.
Q: Do you have an all-time favourite Italian dish?
A: The fresh seafood in the south of Italy as sauce for the pasta. When
you cook it, it becomes one unique thing with the pasta.
Q: What brought you to Singapore?
A:The curiosity of discovering Asia.
Q: When did you realise that you wanted to start a restaurant with
this family-centered concept? What was your inspiration?
A: An Italian family in Singapore who cooks Italian food, in an Italian
atmosphere and interior, with an Italian style service, using Italian products.
Originally from the Piedmont Region in Italy, Osvaldo Forlino and his family have quite
literally brought a piece of their homeland to Singapore. Complete with recipes that
have been passed down for generations, rustic heirlooms and family pictures, a meal
at ‘No Menu’ or any of his other restaurants will have you feeling like you’re over for
a scrumptious home-cooked meal. Located on 21/23 Boon Tat Street, there is also No
Menu Bar which offers scrumptious pizza and tapas that works perfectly to statisfy lunch
time cravings. We spoke to Osvaldo himself to find out more about his food loving family, and how he achieves inimitable Italian authenticity with his food.
Q:Is there a reason why you named the restaurant No Menu?
A: In Italy, usually families manage the restaurants. The chef goes to the
market in the morning and once back, he decides on the spot what to
cook based on the fresh products he found at the market. Hence, it is
named ‘No menu’.
Q: How do your different outlets differ from each other? So for example, how is ‘No Menu Bar’, different from ‘No Menu’.
A: No Menu is how I described it above. No Menu bar is for a very reasonable lunch for the people who work here around the offices. In the
afternoon, it becomes happy hour, cocktails, tapas, fantastic homemade
pizza and also a restaurant menu but different from the one in No Menu.
Q: What’s it like working with family?
A: 50% fantastic 50% very hard.
Q: How do you draw the line between work and family time?
A: Saturday and the whole Sunday is family time; the restaurant is
closed.
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Q: What is your most used ingredient?
A: We import almost 300kg of Burrata, 300kg of Sicilian tomatoes, 300kg
of Parma ham, 300kg of extra virgin olive oil, 300kg of Parmigianino
cheese every month.
Q: Are there any dishes at No Menu that can’t be found in any other restaurant in Singapore? If not, what is your restaurant’s most
unique factor?
A: You can find our dishes in other restaurant in Singapore but the difference is that my wife and i wake up early in the morning to make everything homemade, very fresh and not in large quantities.
Q: What is your favourite way to spend quality time with the family?
A: Sunday night having dinner in restaurants of friends, drinking good
wines.
Q: Is there anything about Italian culture or Italian cuisine that you
wish to share with your non-Italian diners?
A: Many things, I like to teach the non-Italian about the ingredients we
use, where they come from in Italy and how to recognise the quality. I
like in No Menu Bar the fusion in the atmosphere of Italy and Singapore:
There are real antique Peranakan tiles and Italian marbles on the table.
Q: Do you have a favourite Singaporean food dish?
A: The classics: Roti Prata and Chicken Rice.
Q: Are there any other countries where you would love to set up
shop?
Hong Kong. It’s vibrant, rich, fast with many food lovers. Every evening in
No Menu we have 3-4 tables of customers from Hong Kong.
Q: Any future plans for the restaurant or for yourself?
A: Sure, I would like to open a real Italian bakery shop or an Italian steak
house.
No Menu | 21/23 Boon Tat Street | Singapore 069621 | T 6224 0091 | F
6423 1339 | [email protected] | www.osvaldo.sg
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