The strangely comforting and familiar seafood with pasta sheets, ala seafood horfun. (makansutra)

by KF Seetoh, makansutra

Like many in the food appreciating world, I too mourn the loss of a great culinary master like Santi Santamaria. This revered multi awarded three Michelin star chef died of a heart attack right here at our doorstep in the midst of the opening celebrations of the star studded celebrity chef restaurants in the Marina Bay Sands (MBS)earlier this year. He collapsed in his Santi restaurant while attending to his guest. "It's not unusual that a big man like Santi falls down" says his protégé and executive chef Daniel Chavez, " it happens often, this time, as I watched him collapse through our glass walled kitchen, I thought it was another one of those slips.". Santi passed away on February 16th. Daniel has worked with Santi in his Dubai branch and previously had gigs with Les Amis and Saint Pierre Restaurant in Singapore before Santi pestered him to help helm the current MBS set up. "I was shocked that that fall was fatal."

Now that the dust over the news has

By Min Yan

For all the claims that we make about being the culinary epicentre of Asia, it isn't all that easy to find Thai food in Singapore that's not of the manufactured, over-commercialised or Thai Express variety.

Good, authentic Thai food that isn't served in some sleazy corner of Orchard Towers has eluded us thus far. That is, until we unearthed these four locales that have excited our tongues more than a bowl of tom yum goong ever could.

Kha, Martin 38

Kha @ Martin 38

If you would rather your Thai food be more high-end than street fare, Kha, designed by award-winning designer Hecker Guthrie, satisfies your gastronomic cravings.

Far from being an upmarket eatery that butchers the authenticity of a cuisine in the name of creativity, Kha gives Thai food a modern spin, whilst retaining all the goodness that we all know and love about Thai fare.

The yam tang, poached chicken and pomegranate salad with cucumber, herbs, greens and cashews is an unusual take on the ubiquitous Thai salad, crunchy and

By Min Yan

Peace and quite can be difficult to come by here, but for the times when you need a bit of Zen, these Singapore high tea oases offer up sanity amidst the urban chaos.

Here are the best places to sit, grab a scone and forget about things, if only for a little while.

Chihuly Lounge, Ritz Carlton

Chihuly Lounge

For the ultimate decadent afternoon tea session with your girlfriends, Chihuly Lounge at Ritz Carlton serves a luxurious spread of delicate sandwiches, teas and finger food that would satisfy even the pickiest eater, all set against plush furnishings and impeccable service.

The theme of the afternoon tea sessions changes ever few month, with a recent one commemorating the launch of Jo Malone's Limited Edition Tea Fragrance Blends, offering sandwiches and other nibbles infused with the essence of tea.

Think of each new theme as a great excuse to schedule another tea date — or two.

Chihuly Lounge
Ritz Carlton Millenia
Price: S$42++ (includes coffee and a selection of teas)

L'Espresso,

Singapore now offers many choices for pizza lovers. (Getty Images)

By Min Yan, LifestyleAsia

Remember the time when a craving for pizza meant choosing between mass-market chains like Pizza Hut and California Pizza Kitchen or, well, nothing?

Fortunately for us, the days of trying to swallow cheese-covered cardboard are over thanks to the rise in the number of authentic Italian joints all over town.

We find the five Singapore pizza venues that know how to serve up the perfect pie.

Etna Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria

Once the home to many dubious establishments, Duxton Hill has cleaned up its act, attracting a number of European eateries that offer everything from Russian and Spanish cuisine to Italian fare.

Etna, one of the area's inhabitants, is a cosy yet elegant pizzeria that specialises in Sicilian cuisine.

Decked out in Sicilian artefacts and furniture, Etna is every bit the quintessential charming Italian eatery we all imagine, and its pizzas are no less authentic.

The in-house favourite is the eponymous Etna's Pizza, a mozzarella base

A carefully-designed glass-walled kitchen in the middle of the cafe. (makansutra)

By KF Seetoh, makansutra

I have always failed to put my finger and palate on defining or deconstructing the Thai street food culture in Bangkok. It's all Chinese-style noodles, soups and rice dishes in the streets, Italian, Japanese and other western food in fancy places like Thonglor and for more traditional renditions of Thai dishes, you head to those old school, lemongrass and fermented-smelling something no-frills restaurants.

Try as hard as you want, you'll at best wind up at Thonglor, with street stalls or little eateries offering kao soy, Thai beef noodles, stewed pork rice or grilled chicken with som tam. Save for that last dish, those aren't really Thai -- kao soy is like curry noodles or laksa and beef noodles and stewed trotter rice is south Chinese in many ways. Then someone suggested White Café for a Thai lunch. With a name like that, and worse, sited in a quieter corner Thonglor, I was not expecting much, except perhaps a pandan crme brulee for dessert to calm the

A dish to fondly remember -- fish ball noodle. (Makansutra)

by KF Seetoh, makansutra

I always get asked, and it's getting a bit irritating having to make up answers just to entertain them, "What is the dish I miss most whenever I am away from Singapore?" I come up with Lor Mee, as the similar-looking Malaysian Mee Java, while nice, does not quite do the trick, or the Hill Street Cha Kway Teow as Pad Thai in Bangkok is not the same. Occasionally, I spew poetry about Nonya Hainanese style pork satay with pineapple sauce dip because Indonesia does not offer that version.

I was recently washed back to shore after a long bout of travel to the region and to North America where I was asked to lead a few foodie journalists on a Singapore food crawl in Manhattan, New York. There are of course no true blue Singapore restaurants or kopitiam there so we settled for three Malaysian eateries which offered a section in their menu of our chow.

The menu was impressive, but one dish never showed up at all three restaurants. It was then that I realised what I