Nestled on the 17th floor of CBD skyscraper CapitaSpring is a sprawling, 43,000 sq ft, four-storey garden called Green Oasis.
Within this lush sanctuary is Sol & Luna, a Latin-European bistro opened just last month by the 1-Group, who owns 1-Altitude, Stellar, Flnt, UNA and more.
Sol & Luna is interesting in that the bistro, like today’s workplaces, appears to be hybrid. It seats 30 pax indoors and some 30 pax alfresco – considerably smaller than most of 1-Group’s F&B establishments. But Sol & Luna isn’t confined to that capacity. Diners can order remotely from various spots within the Green Oasis via a unique QR code and have their takeaway grub delivered to them, so there’s no need to wait for a table, press pause on work or adjourn a meeting.
What Sol & Luna lacks in size, it makes up for it in its vast and sustainability-conscious menu. Open for breakfast, weekend brunch, afternoon tea, lunch and dinner, the chic all-day bistro serves a dizzying array of contemporary Latin-European recipes from Italy, France, Portugal and Spain. Dishes are made with responsibly sourced and traceable ingredients from the 1-Arden Food Forest on level 51, as well as local producers wherever possible. The kitchen also makes it a point to use ugly vegetables and maximise each ingredient to minimise waste.
Ambitious is the menu, but head chef Felix Chong (formerly at Montti, Senso, 63 Celsius Tapas Bar and Forlino) and his team pull it off with aplomb. The Prawn & Octopus Niçoise Salad is a hearty, beautiful seascape of grilled local prawns and octopus chunks, complete with perfect baby potatoes that have been cooked overnight over hot embers, quail eggs, cherry tomatoes, olives, Haricot beans and Spanish anchovies. Warm days call for a creamy but refreshing white gazpacho; here, the Spanish cold soup is made with juiced grapes and cucumber, blanched Marcona almond, garlic and avocado.
A decadent truffle risotto arrives next, cooked to a perfect consistency with Acquerello rice, truffle, mushroom paste and white truffle, then littered with shavings of fresh truffle. The Grilled Australian Shark Bay Tiger Prawns with White Corn and Tomato Salsa is sweet, smoke-tinged and box-fresh. More substantial is the 12-hour Slow Cooked Welsh Lamb Shoulder on the Bone with Broccolini, which is gloriously fork-tender, fragrant and meaty. The most impressive of our lunch is the wood-fired Parma ham-wrapped sardine stuffed with mussels, herbs, pine nuts and butternut puree, which tastes like a sausage, but cleaner and lighter in flavour.
Desserts are delightful, too, with a handful of tarts and classic bakes including a mean tiramisu, Tarte Tatin with Crème Anglaise Sauce, a matcha strawberry éclair and Portuguese egg tarts. Sure, these, along with the savouries, aren’t particularly groundbreaking, but there is a sense of cosiness in its quiet culinary finesse. The reasonably priced wines and cocktails also add to the draw. If I was working in the CBD, Sol & Luna would be one of my new go-to dining spots.
(All images: Sol & Luna)
