10 Scotts

Just two weeks old, the old Scotts Lounge has been entirely revamped by Japanese design firm Super Potato to be 10 Scotts. Built on a home concept, you’ll find a collection of different rooms each with its own character including The Library, The Living Room and our fave, The Dining Room, overlooks a waterfall (what can we say, we’re suckers like that). If you fancy a nibble, pop by for a spot of afternoon tea (from $38, from $68 with free-flow Perrier-Jouët champers) of homemade scones with clotted cream and cucumber sandwiches with your tai tai friends. It’s also well-suited for a meet with business associates, as you chow down on items such as duck rillettes ($22) and, if you dare, fried Padrón peppers ($18).

The Dempsey Brasserie

Despite the fact that they’ve only been open for six weeks, this newcomer has quickly established a firm following (so much so that they boast a full house on the weekends). We like the raw concrete flooring, exposed brick finish and high ceiling, but mostly it’s the laidback vibe that make this a winner. The menu echoes that sentiment with eats like the sausage board ($17), as well as mussels and fries—get it done in the tomato-based rouge sauce, which is a real winner (from $20). Casual enough for a first date or just a catch-up session with friends, there’s also a good selection of booze to help ease any jitters (from $10); we suggest the Dempsey Pimms and blackberry Champagne mojito (don’t be fooled by its name, it’s one hell of a strong drink).

Group Therapy

You’ve got to love the assortment of eclectic offerings in Duxton, save those of a more seedy nature, and one of its newest babies is Group Therapy. Don’t let the name throw you off; just venture up the stairs of this non-descript two-storey shophouse and you’ll find yourself in a “collective lifestyle space” that has a lot going for it. Courtesy of owners Deborah Oh and Phyllis Yeo, aside from the aesthetic aspect of it, the venue also plays host to events such as TEDx’s The Stuff of Life. Plus, it’s home to a café with a trim food and drinks menu. Expect to find bites like homemade wholemeal bagel with cream cheese ($4.50) and turkey breast panini stuffed with spicy guacamole and red cabbage, accompanied by salad and crisps ($15), as well as beverages including macchiato ($4.50), and Trappistes Rochefort and Coedo beers (from $12).

jimmy monkey

Before you accuse us of subjecting you to our unhealthy obsession with cawfee, we feel inclined to state for the record that it really is because our local brew scene is enjoying an explosion of third wave coffee and we’re just doing our journalistic duty by telling you about it. The latest addition to an ever-growing stable of cafés about town, this month-old spot is the brainchild of Melburnian Michael Ryan. He’s kitted it out with the city’s first Slayer espresso machine (there are only 80 worldwide), feeds it with their house blend of Central American Rain Forest Alliance beans or single origin Guatemalan Antigua Finca Medina seeds (rotating weekly) for truly addictive cuppas (from $4). Step into this cool, chic venue and you’d be forgiven for thinking that you’ve been transported Down Under. Ryan’s stayed true to his roots with offerings like thick-cut French toast with golden syrup and berry compote ($12) and toast soldiers slathered with Vegemite and melted cheese, served with a poached egg ($8). Be warned, portions are generous.

Punjab Grill by Jiggs Kalra

This award-winning restaurant from India threw open its doors a month ago, and proudly presents Punjabi food in a sleek and modern setting. Ditch any preconceived notions of what to expect décor-wise; think muted grey-toned furnishings, and metal and glass finishes. While the interior is a departure from the usual, the menu is fairly extensive with items such as golgappa platter—whole wheat shells filled with a vegetable medley and served alongside coriander-infused water, and spicy tamarind water ($15), Norwegian salmon tikka ($35) and tandoori foie gras with mango chutney ($45). They also offer five-course degustation menus with both vegetarians ($75) and carnivores ($95) in mind.

Roadhouse

The latest offering from The Privé Group comes in the form of a modern American diner, which opened less than a month ago, right across from sister venue Café Hacienda in Demspey. If you’re in the mood for grub like burgers (from $24) and pizzas (from $16), this should do the trick. You manly folk might be tempted to take on the challenge of The Roadhouse Rager ($68). All you have to do is scarf down a monster truck-sized burger with three 200 grams Wagyu patties (that’s 600 grams of meat), streaky bacon, cheddar, jalepenos, caramelized onions and aioli to get your mug on their Wall of Fame. Oh wait, we forgot to mention there’s a six-minute time limit. Alternatively, you could excite your taste buds with their spicy “call 995” buffalo wings ($12).

LiveStudios

Run by CEO of LiveStudios, Willy Foo, classes start from $300 for a two day beginner’s weekend intensive course of two six-hour sessions (excluding one-hour lunch break). 52 Niven Rd., 6250-0791. willyfoo.com

Objectifs

Having been around for seven years, Objectifs offers basic and specialized courses which start from $350 for eight 2.5-hour sessions. 56A Arab Street, 6293-9782. www.objectifs.com.sg

Phocus

Head here for one-on-one customizable courses, such as food styling and photography. Expect to shell out $120 per two-hour session. 32 South Bridge Rd., 9765-4224. www.phocus.com.sg

The Photographic Society of Singapore

As the national body for photography on the island, they offer an extensive range of courses all taught by professional photographers. Courses start at $140 (members) and $240 (non-members), for six two-hour sessions. Selegie Arts Centre, 30 Selegie Rd., 6334-3361. www.pss1950.org

School of Photography Singapore

Led by renowned photographer Alan Lim, learn the art of lighting and trade secrets from $250 for three two-hour sessions. 98A Tanjong Pagar Rd., 6226-0388. www.sops.sg

FujiFilm X100

Price: $1699 from Audio House
Specs: 12MP / 720p HD video / 445g / ISO100-12,800 / built-in flash
One of the most sought-after right now due to a production problem in Japan, Fujifilm’s first vintage-designed, Leica-like magnesium alloy camera comes packed with top-notch specs. Highlights, apart from its classy touch, include the hybrid view finder system and the lens. Though not interchangeable, the 23mm single-focus Fujinon len is actually equivalent to 35mm full frame so you still get a pretty wide angle.

Panasonic Lumix GF3

Price: $1099 from Courts Megastore
Specs: 12MP / 1,080 full HD video / 264g / ISO160-6,400 / built-in flash
Only six months after the launch of GF2, Panasonic has put out the GF3 to fight with NEX and PEN. Built on the GF2 platform, GF3 is simply a smaller model with improvements (like better continuous shooting speed and new Intelligence Auto mode) for the amateur photographer.

Sony NEX-C3

Price: $1099 from Harvey Norman
Specs: 16MP / 720p HD video / 225 grams / ISO100-12,800
The second generation of the popular NEX series sees a number of improvements: lighter, more user-friendly interface, swivel LCD screen, and a host of fun effects like pop art looks, retro tones and 3D panoramas. There are three colors to choose from: black, silver and bold pink.

Essentials

Audio House
Courts Megastore
Harvey Norman

iPhone

Leme Cam
Eight lomo and HD cameras, fifteen photo effects and eleven frames are packed altogether in this super cute interface app. Unlike others on iTunes, Leme lets you choose the camera and lens before you shoot then, either save it onto your camera roll, email or share it online through Facebook or their Leme network photo. The fun part is that the image results are hardly predictable, especially when you opt for the random-shooting mode—and it’s free!

Instagram
This is one of the classic free apps every iPhone owner should at least try once. Instagram works almost like Flickr where you can browse thousands of creative photos that other users uploaded. But it also allows you to apply retro Polaroid-like effects to your images. Choose a preferred effect, name the photo and then share with your Instagram buddies (and Facebook). In turn, you can also follow anyone you admire to see their regular updates. Sharing and commenting adds a whole social network dimension to this app, making it a lot of fun.

Camera+
The application has an easy-to-use interface where you can choose to develop multiple effects onto your images. There are scenery, cropping, special effects and framing options. There is also HD and auto contrast adjustments to fix sub-par pictures in one touch of the screen. Photos are then added to your private camera roll immediately without pestering you to share them online.

Action Cam
Fun multiple photo shooting is what this app’s about. You can choose from a 2x2, 4x1, 4x2, 3x3 or a tricolor photo booth framing style. Different timing is also available, including a manual mode. There are two color effects to choose from: Romo (lomo) and ocean tide.

Adobe Photoshop Express
This app from Adobe isn’t particularly fun, but it’s the only one to offer actual Photoshop-like controls: saturation, contrast, sharpening, etc. The effects and frame options are really lame, though.

Android

Roidizer
This app helps you create a Polaroid picture with a caption in just one click. You just take a new photo or choose photos from your gallery and it will turn them into Polaroids. Then you simply type the caption in and share it to social networks including Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.

Pudding Camera
This Korean-made application might confuse you at first touch as all menus are in Korean, but with simple icons you’ll get used to it after few trials. The app allows you to take photos with seven choices of toy camera features including fisheye, fantasy color, motion 2x2 lens and motion 4x lens with eight selections of films from vignette to noir. You can swap to the front camera to take photos of yourself too.

Blackberry

PixTrix
PixTrix is one of the best BB photo apps with 13 styles of photos, from Instant Autumn and Half Sepia to RG Contrast and Lomo (our favorite). Its newest version also allows you to adjust brightness, contrast, hue and saturation as well as rotate and share photos to Facebook.

If you are thinking of switching over to the real deal, check out these three new semi-pro cameras.

What used to be a joke about Japanese tourists (don’t ask us to reveal the punch line) is now about as common as “sparkling or still?” and truffle fries. It’s called “food porn.” The stars are, of course, our dinners and lunches and breakfasts; a la carte, degustation, bentos and cocktails, pre-appetizers and post-desserts. The sets are dining rooms around the globe. And who are the men and women behind this burgeoning phenomena? You, us, and everyone we know, actually. Like “other” types of pornography, it’s something everyone has dabbled in at least once, even if they’re not sure why.

Websites dedicated to food porn aside, you can’t have a meal without someone whipping out their smart phone—or DSLR—and taking pictures of their food. And not everyone’s happy about it. We predict it will replace talking on mobile phones as the scourge of serious diners.

“In the past, people would stare if you took out your camera in a restaurant. Nowadays, it’s much more socially acceptable, whether you’re using a DSLR or an iPhone,” says local food blogger Brad Lau of www.ladyironchef.com.

Dr. Leslie Tay, author of The End of Char Kway Teow and Other Hawker Mysteries and popular food blog ieatishootipost.sg, concurs. “I’ve definitely noticed a huge increase in the number of people taking photos focused on food.” Interest is now so great, he says, he now gives occasional talks on the subject to the public.

Why? Why? Must Try?

Here in Singapore we’ve been quick to get hooked on the hobby. Why? First of all, we’re a jaded bunch of city-dwelling folk looking for things to do. Tay agrees, “My sense is that Singaporeans are bored with nothing to do, and this is both easy and accessible.”

That leads us to another fact: We’re a tech-savvy nation. It’s clear that the relative ease of technological access plays a role in the matter. We have high-speed internet and just about everyone has, at the very least, a smart phone equipped with a camera, let alone a DSLR, which keep getting cheaper and cheaper. (So it’s easy. Doing it well, however, is an entirely different matter. Find out how to do it right here.)

Another contributor is clearly the social aspect. Particularly in an Asian country, where the culture of food is communal, sharing pictures of food seems to be an almost natural extension of an age-old tradition.

Let’s not forget that Singaporeans are unabashed, self-declared foodies. So you have the perfect breeding ground for a food-focused trend. As such, you’ll find that food photos run the gamut of those from fine dining establishments to local hawker fare and home-cooked dishes. We’re also very status-conscious, and food, with celebrity chefs and food TV/books/podcasts, has become another source of bragging rights, with photographic evidence as currency.

Blame Facebook

And then there’s the contributor for just about everything these days: social media. Blogger Lau agrees, “It’s a very social thing, a way to get a conversation going. Especially with an iPhone, you can post it immediately on Facebook and share it with friends and family almost instantaneously. In fact, the iPhone takes reasonably good photos, so long as you have good lighting and the right settings.” (Check out some of the best photography apps here.)

Tay says that food porn is more than just one-upsmanship. “You’re bound to get scolded by friends who weren’t invited along—it’s a boast,” he explains. “But also it’s a diary of what you’re eating. The main draw is capturing nice memories so you can look back on them,” says Lau.

According to digital marketing agency 360i, up to 25% of people who take and share photos of food do so to document what they’re eating in their day-to-day life, with other reasons cited such as showing off a self-created product (22%), for a special occasion (16%), social relationships (10%) and of course, food art (12%). The remaining 15% is comprised of restaurant reviews (8%), recipes/tutorials (4%) and extreme food (3%).

Eating, No Shooting

In overseas restaurants, one reaction to what detractors would call less a hobby than a habit, is the banning of cameras. Notable venues to implement a “no photography” rule include Michelin-starred establishments such as Masa, Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare and David Chang’s Momofuku Ko. Note Chang’s thoughts on the whole foodtography business: “It’s just food. Eat it.

Restauranteurs argue that it’s similar to bans on (speaking on) mobile phones, and they’re just ensuring that their customers who are not shutterbugs do not have their experience ruined by flashes and tripods. Others go further and insist that they’re doing it for future diners, whose overall experience includes the element of surprise. The “Oh!” factor is lessened when you’ve already seen images of the dish on the Internet.

Another argument for the no-photo stance is that the pictures—taken by amateurs often in less-than-favorable conditions for photography—might not be good enough. Ryan Clift, chef and owner of Tippling Club (8D Dempsey Rd., 6475-2217), offers some insight. “We used to have a strict no photography policy as certain bloggers would post pictures of food half-eaten, instead of in its true glory when it has just left the kitchen. For a team that slaves 14 hours a day to create the food, this was a little frustrating. But now we just ask the guests not to use a flash. Life’s too short.” On the same note, Clift also grants that “If done properly, it can be amazing and help promote the restaurant. But only if done properly.”

For blogger Tay, this is even more reason to allow diners to set up their shots. “Everyone’s taking photos with their phones, and if you don’t allow people to take proper photos, you’ll end up with a whole bunch of lousy, ugly photos because whether you like it or not, your food’s going to be on Facebook,” he says.

Diners’ Rights

Surely customers have the right to take more than a mental snapshot of the meal that they’re paying for?

Most people in the F&B business here seem to be open to the concept, one of whom is Craig Schantz, executive chef of The Dining Room at Tanjong Beach Club (Tanjong Beach Club, 120 Tanjong Beach Walk, Sentosa, 6270-1355). “I really like the idea and welcome anyone taking photos of my food. The more the merrier. Personally, I think it’s very flattering. After all, it’s no secret that people eat with their eyes first.”

It’s interesting to know that these F&B folk also snap shots while they’re dining on their days off. “I do take photos of food now and again, but I always ask first—manners cost nothing after all—and if I do, it’s all of two seconds to snap,” says Clift. Schantz takes it one step further with Evernote, an application that he uses regularly to tag, record and catalogue his gastronomic adventures after clicking away.

What about the fear that the innocent looking auntie with her iPhone is actually a spy for a rival restaurant?

“Everything’s already been done, so I think it’s silly to worry about people mimicking you,” says Schantz. “I’m open-minded about my craft and am up for sharing techniques with other chefs. At the end of the day, it’s really a matter of palate, that’s what sets you apart.”