All Fields LuXxury- Chef Ace Tan opens new restaurant Asu at Labrador Villa with dishes inspired by TCM principles

Tan, well known in the Singapore dining scene after 16 years of cooking and counting, wanted to situate his progressive modern Asian dining concept “close to nature”. “In Singapore, it’s hard to imagine there being a space like this,” he told us.

Located at Labrador Villa Road within Labrador Nature Reserve, Asu, an intimate 28-seater with a small private dining room, shares the building, known as Labrador House, with a bar and a Chinese restaurant, Shan, also overseen by Tan.

Asu serves a tasting menu priced at S$168 (US$128) per person, with add-on options.

Central to Asu’s dining room is a large, organically shaped dining counter wrapping itself around an open kitchen. Rather than having a straight or L-shaped counter, “we wanted to have connectivity as well as the ability to get up close with all the guests”, Tan said, adding that Apple store layouts served loosely as inspiration for the concept.

Meanwhile, Asu’s design is “based on a monastery in nature, almost… a space that has natural elements like wood and stone”, the 43-year-old shared.

That’s because his cuisine, which he’s been developing for the last eight years, is all about diving deep into “the history of Asian cultures” and understanding the origins of what and how we eat, “instead of following what is trendy today or tomorrow”, Tan said.