Burnt Ends
Singapore
At Burnt Ends, the cooking equipment is part of the attraction. A four-tonne oven and four adjustable grills anchor the open kitchen, bringing wood, smoke and close control of heat to Dave Pynt’s Australian barbecue restaurant in Dempsey Hill. Menus are rewritten daily, allowing the kitchen to respond to ingredients rather than work through an unchanging collection of dishes. The common thread is fire: an approach broad enough to shape an entire meal, with the preparation visible from the dining room. The atmosphere is intended to be relaxed, and the drinks selection centres on boutique wines and spirits. That combination gives a dinner here the informality of barbecue while leaving considerable room for technique and detail. Burnt Ends particularly suits diners interested in how food is cooked. Its Dempsey Road home provides a setting in which the kitchen’s tools and the changing menu do much of the storytelling, making curiosity a useful companion at the table.