Burpple Blog Inside Scoop SG: redpan

Hi! Please tell us more about the people behind redpan.redpan was a dining concept created in partnership with two local companies: DP Architects, an architectural company behind many iconic buildings in Singapore and around the world, and The Food Explorer Group, a young company behind restaurants like Grub at Bishan Park and cooking events company Cookyn Inc. DPA wanted a dining space to showcase their creativity in design, and felt that the food style and creations of TFE group was an ideal match. That's how our partnership was born!What was the inspiration behind setting up redpan?Being two local companies, we thought it would be great if we recreated local food with some fun twists. We term this local fun dining, taking local flavours and infusing them into international dishes. Hae Bi Hiam Pasta and Steak with Chinchalok are some examples.You describe redpan to be a champion of fun local dining. How do you inject fun into already familiar local flavours?To us, fun simply means casual fare. We try not to make things too complicated in execution. We want people to find familiarity yet not be too disjointed from what we were trying to do, which tends to be the case sometimes in fusion food. If you look carefully, you will find similarities in most of the food you get at redpan. The Lup Cheong/Chorizo Paella is our take on claypot rice. The Steak with Chinchalok combination is not that far-off from a familiar taste profile in Hainanese beef noodles. Our Banana Donuts Milo Dinosaur was inspired by the Malay kueh kodok.What do you think is Singapore's most iconic dish, and why?I personally feel that the most unique local dish we have is Bak Chor Mee (minced pork noodles). Although most will mention dishes like chicken rice and chilli, the humble bak chor mee is easily the dish I miss most when I'm overseas. Our version is unique in that we replace both pork lard and liver with foie gras; we also use high quality pork shabu slices and a mushroom minced pork stew for topping.And.. what is the one dish on your menu that best represents what redpan is?I would say our Steak with Chinchalok. It's pretty bold (like chinchalok and steak seriously??), yet comfortable enough for people to have a go and try it.We sure you've had lots of fun experimenting in the kitchen. Any funny kitchen disaster stories to share?Lots. We went through rigorous thought-processes and experimentation to perfect our creations, but of course it does not always come out right. We once tried a scallop three-ways that was just over the top - we weren't very sure what we actually tasted in the end!Is there a creation you would love to put on the menu, but are afraid it might be just a little too wacky?Our take on the local Kway Chap, with an assortment of pigs' innards and all. I'm not sure how diners would take to it, especially foreign travellers.What do you want diners to feel dining here?Comfortable, yet at the same time like they are trying something different that they are unlikely to get to try anywhere else in the world.From where or what do you continually get your inspiration?A lot of our inspiration has been from my personal childhood food experiences, which pretty much revolves around local Chinese fare. Another direction we are interested in exploring is experimenting with more Indian and Malay flavours.What's next for redpan?If all goes well, maybe another outlet either in Singapore, or somewhere else in the world?