Most rooftop restaurants serve scenery and swindle you on substance — but at 1-Alfaro by MONTI, perched 34 floors above Labrador Park, the food finally earns its place among the clouds.
Let us, for a moment, discuss the matter of rooftops. Specifically, rooftop restaurants. Most are the gastronomic equivalent of a postcard — all scenery, no soul. You go for the view, stay for the view, and suffer whatever food and drink (usually at obscenely marked-up prices) as punishment for some desperate need to look down on things.
Or, as locals among us might say in Hokkien, ‘nice to see, not good to eat’.
And yet we now have 1-Alfaro by MONTI, perched on the 34th floor of newly-opened Labrador Tower, that manages to be that rarest of rooftop breeds: one where the food, against all expectations, holds its own against the skyline.
It’s a lofty perch, both literally and metaphorically. 1-Alfaro stares out over Singapore’s southern coast, a stunning view of the teeming maritime trade that’s the lifeline of this country. The name Alfaro translates as lighthouse in Italian, and this one also promises guidance and refuge.
Except here it comes in the form of a Negroni and some fried lasagne.
The space is carved into two complementary concepts like so many of 1-Group’s other venues: La Torre, the restaurant proper, and La Luna, an outdoor bar that shifts, come evening, from beautiful people watching the sun set while serene spritz-sipping to a soundtrack of bass lines and beautiful people ogling the night view… and each other.
But let’s not get distracted by the aesthetics, which are admittedly pleasing. What’s more important is that someone in the kitchen has a very deep and earnest love affair with Emilia-Romagna and wants to share that with the world. Or at least, the rest of Singapore.
We suspect that someone is Chef Felix Chong of MONTI fame. We could be wrong, but we doubt it.
Emilia-Romagna is often considered Italy’s pantry and its gastronomic heartland. This is, after all, the region of Parmigiano Reggiano and Proscuitto di Parma, of balsamic vinegar so rich and slick you’d be tempted to slide right on its Tinder profile. From small plates and antipasti to communal platters, dishes here heartily embrace the region.
Like the La Torre Fried Lasagna. Imagine a slab of lasagne turned into golden-crusted croquettes: crisp on the outside, lava-soft within, with the sticky, cheesy, tomato-rich payoff you’re hoping for. It’s the house’s most Instagrammable dish, assuming you pull out your phone and take a snapshot fast enough.
Other highlights include an Adriatic Red Prawn Tartare that’s all briny sweetness slathered on crisp buttered brioche, and a Stracciatella Cheese singing a heavenly chorus of dreamily creamy cheese, Parma ham and crispy polenta. There’s some honey involved in there too.
Pasta is where La Torre leans in hardest. And rightfully so; it is after all Chef Felix’s calling card. Ignore his baby face and Asian descent — he cooks Italian like the best of nonnas.
House-Made Tagliatelle is all restrained elegance, a Bolognese in an evening gown with a gossamer veil of airy béchamel espuma. There’s the La Torre’s Pan Roasted Lasagne too, because there’s never enough lasagne. And the Cannelloni Della Nonna? Filled with ricotta, spinach and Squacquerone cheese, it manages the holy trinity of pasta cookery: bite, balance, and generosity.
If you still need convincing (or proper protein) go for the USDA Prime Heritage Linz Ribeye ‘Costata’, a fire-licked slab of meat blessed with a smoky crust and juicy core that sighs at the touch of your knife.
Or the Queensland Baby Barramundi — sustainably sourced, if you must know — that’s charred over fire and served whole. It comes with three different sauces because, presumably, one isn’t enough.
Dessert? You could, but honestly by this point we were being lured by the siren song of La Luna with its nighttime views. The cocktails are largely designed for aperitivo hour, such as the basil-scented, smoky-sweet Enzo Robutti or the Antonio Canova, an amaro-peach-tonic blend that’s one of the more nuanced drinks on offer.
There are sharing jugs too, like the Qualcosa Di Rinfrescante (gin, prosecco, elderflower), because this is the kind of place where one drink is never enough. And three is just getting started.
Just be warned; 1-Alfaro isn’t a place for quiet contemplation. Nor should it be. This is a place to eat too well, drink too much, and stare out of Singapore like you own the city. Whether you’re here for an express weekday lunch, a long brunch, sunset aperitivo, or a full-blown dinner that morphs into a romantic evening under the stars, this rooftop escape delivers.
Labrador Park may lack the romance of Emilia-Romagna, but 1-Alfaro? That’s amore.
[Photo credits: 1-Alfaro]
1-Alfaro
Address 1 Pasir Panjang Rd, #34-00 Labrador Tower, Singapore 118479 (Google Maps link)
Opening Hours 11am to 1am Mondays to Saturdays; 11am to 12am on Sundays
Web www.1-alfaro.sg
Instagram @1alfaro.sg
Reservations Call +65 8093 5683 or book here
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