Waterfall Ristorante Italiano at Shangri-La Singapore refreshes its Italian offerings for a taste of Puglia under new head chef Simone Loisi.
Shangri-La Singapore’s Italian eatery Waterfall Ristorante Italiano recently appointed a new head chef in Simone Loisi. Loisi, previously of iO Italian Osteria, joined as Chef de Cuisine in January this year. Last month he unveiled a refreshed menu for Waterfall that drew inspiration from his hometown Puglia.
For those not too familiar with Puglia (also known as Apulia), the southern Italian region forms the heel of Italy’s boot and – surrounded on most sides by water – is best known for its seafood-dominant cuisine. As such, expect Loisi’s new menu at Waterfall to be quite the seafood showcase, along with familiar favourites from the rest of Italy.
There’s the Caprese di Mare, a robust salad comprising of buffalo cheese, marinated salmon and shreds of fennel that can be a full meal for those with more petite appetites. For something even heartier, there’s the Piedmont classic of Vitello Tonnato, a jumble of thinly-sliced veal tossed along with tuna and capers in a moreish anchovy cream.
Puglia is also known for its pasta. In particular, the ear-shaped orecchiette. Here Loisi serves it with broccoli and pork sausage, accented with some chilli and a liquorice hit from fennel seeds in his Orecchiette Broccoli e Salsiccia. But his Gnocchi Mare e Monti is worth ordering too. He takes the potato-based dumplings – which originally hails from the north of Italy – and gives it a southern seafood spin with prawns, along with porcini mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, and slivers of Parmigiano. Then there’s an absolutely delicious Ravioli e Salvia, featuring ricotta and spinach ravioli tossed through a butter sage sauce. Not Pugliese, but we were glad to see it on the menu.
We eschewed pizzas and went directly for Tagliata di Manzo. This is, of course, a simple yet luxurious Florentine dish of sliced grilled beef atop rocket leaves and sliced parmesan. It’s good for sharing, especially coming after those heavy starters.
Speaking of sharing, in true Italian – and Pugliese – style Waterfall Ristorante Italiano has an entire menu section dedicated to sharing. We didn’t order those, but the Zuppa di Pesce seafood stew and the Linguine ai Crostacei in Crosta di Pane – a pasta loaded with mussels, clams, prawns and even a half lobster – sounded really good.
Oh, and be sure to avail yourself to the wine list. Because the cuisine here is more seafood-focused, it’s a good opportunity to try pairing the dishes with wines from Puglia, but also other southern, seaward winemaking regions like Campania and Sicily.
Our table loved the Rosa del Golfo Rosato del Salento 2020, a Pugliese rosé vinified from Negroamaro that happened to work very well with the many dishes we had. Likewise the Carlo Pellegrino Finimondo 2019, a Nero d’Avola from Sicily that was a surprising joy to drink with the ravioli.
Now we’ve never been to Puglia, so we can’t vouch for the authenticity of Waterfall’s new Pugliese dishes. But they are certainly hearty and tasty, and that’s good enough for us.
Waterfall Ristorante Italiano (Shangri-La Singapore)
Address 22 Orange Grove Rd, Level One, Garden Wing, Shangri-La Singapore, Singapore 258350 (Google Maps link)
Opening Hours 12pm to 2.30pm and 6pm to 10pm daily
Tel (65) 6213 4398
Web www.shangri-la.com/singapore/shangrila/dining/restaurants/waterfall/
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Instagram @shangrilasg
