Monti Festino @ Monti: Longest Sunday Brunch by the Bay

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Mundane and serene our lives had been, Monday to Saturday that is, every hour garlanded with chain emails and accompanying politics. Sundays don't have to be about that. Just saying.

Cocoon yourself within Monti's cool, natural light draped interiors without the interruption from the bustle of the city outside (apart from the occasional sampan that wanders a little too close for comfort near the glass walls). Monti Festino is a spruced up version of the usual champagne brunch varietal, this bad boy continuing from the brunch table to the roof top for spun-beats till sundown then persevering to Sunday soiree mode with the jazz crew taking you all the way til the stroke of midnight.

If you're worse for wear and tear, make sure to don shades, the savage sun streams and extravagant accessories don by the fashionably gaunt crowds, who look like they came straight out of Coachella festival's lookbook, can be a bit intimidating at times. Still, amidst the slack service, closely guarded by inexperienced staff that I would refer to as ponies with blinders, you will have flashes of culinary epiphany: The Cacio e Pepe e Tartufo! Don't forget, there's the endless deluge of bubbles and Chianti, drink and dig into the cold cuts, until you are tired and blissful, ready to be poured into an uber.

Sundays are made of these.


Champagne tastes best with Cold Seafood. And Monti's kitchen is particularly nimble with the Fine de Claire Oysters. Tuna Takai (with sesame and yuzu) and Tiger Prawns. 

If you're getting restless at your spot of the restaurant, traverse across the parquet floor to the D-I-Y Bloody Mary Station where the wonderful spectrum of creating something spiked, flavoursome and with a subtle punch of heat, to fill in the eternities between the arrival of your scrambled eggs will nudge you into a cocktail fever. I like mine extra spicy with dashes of black pepper; no celery - no worries, celery bitters do the trick.


The best thing I tasted last month may have been the Cacio Pepe e Tartufo - risotto served up table side in a parmesan cheese wheel set ablaze beforehand to loosen up the liquid gold to adhere to the cooked grains later. The second best may have been the Ribeye Steak topped, crowned with anchovy butter and red wine jus. The nondescript chargrilled beauty read as a statement of principles: Good ingredients, faultless flavors, careful execution and subtle touch of the sea. The third best is a tie between the Eggs Benedict and the Omelette stuffed with Bacon, Field Mushrooms and Spinach. In the former, bacon strips form cradle for the coddled eggs, snug between the seared walls of porcine goodness. Folds of dreamy hollandaise sauce exuding a creamier tone to the rich amalgamation. Poor choice of bread plagues the dish as a better vessel could have been employed to sop up the handsome mess, but that's forgivable when faced with the fortitude of amazing eggs. The Omelette follows in quick succession, Jacques Pepin would have been so proud.

Put your thinking caps on with Monti Festino's D-I-Y pasta station where you'll get to make a selection or pasta from 4 assortments, sauces from 6, and 4 ingredients from a list of 20 including some queer ones such as Anchovy, Haricot Vert, Octopus, Salted Ricotta and Kurobuta Sausage. My Tagliatelle with Braised Wagyu Ragout, Asparagus, Sausage and Buffalo Mozzarella made for several delicious sapid mouthfuls.


Do not overlook the Cold Cuts and Cheese selection. These disappear with ease along with the intoxicating swigs of your flute. Proscuitto, Salame, Cotechino, Chorizo, Italian Cured Meat, Capocollo (pork muscle, cured), Pork Rillette and Duck Rilette cements the Italian breeding of Monti. Then there's the cheese, Pecorino, funky Gorgonzola, Truffle Pecorino, Provolone, Taleggio and stretchy Strachietella di bufala shepherding it's victims into a state of food comatose.

There are many temptations in this life, but cake is probably one of the biggest of them. There's Chocolate Torte and strangely attractive Peanut Cream Cheese Tartlets; but make sure you save tummy space for the alcohol fuelled Tiramisu, irrefutable indulgence.


Monti is brilliant at setting a nice table,construct a bright and fun environment that encourages lingering. Need we mention bay views?

Monti
82 Collyer Quay
The Fullerton Pavilion
t: 6535 0724

Monti Festino
Brunch: 12 - 3pm
Price:
$90++ for brunch buffet only
$120++ for brunch and non-alcoholic drinks
$140++ for brunch and free flow wine
$160++ for brunch and free flow champagne

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