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After 17 years in the business, home-grown meat haven Huber’s Butchery continues to up its meat game.  Not only has it expanded its range of sausages, house-cured meats, beef and lamb, as well as its game meat selection of kangaroo, rabbit and venison, but it is also the first globally to retail cell-cultured chicken Good Meat. Good Meat’s parent company is US-based food tech company Eat Just, known for its plant-based egg substitute Just Egg.  On May 16, the firm launched Good Meat 3, a “lower-cost formulation” that uses just 3 per cent of cultivated chicken, along with wheat and soya proteins and a marinade containing salt, herbs, spices and yeast extract.  Priced at $7.20 for a 120g packet, it is available at the freezer section of Huber’s Butchery.  I am not sure who will intentionally go to the 14,000 sq ft butchery and bistro for an alternative protein, but at least it is made accessible to the public.  After all, Huber’s Butchery is also a one-stop shop for fresh produce, dry goods, more than 200 cheeses and over 500 wine labels.  Besides offering next-day delivery service, there are now 24-hour temperature-controlled self-collection lockers that allow for in-person pick-ups of online orders; as well as a vending machine selling grocery items such as charcuterie, daily essentials and drinks.  The refurbished outdoor area now has a herb garden, as well as a new waterfall garden feature – good for outdoor picnics or enjoying the bistro’s takeaways.  For the kids, the playground has been upgraded with a mini zip line and a Swiss Alps-themed climbing wall.  There are more big plans ahead. In 2026, Huber’s Butchery will relocate its headquarters and current production facility in Pandan Loop to a new one in Chin Bee Avenue, four times its current size. 22 Dempsey Road Napier Butchery: 9.30am to 7pm daily; bistro: 11am to 10pm (Tuesdays to Fridays), 9.30am to 10pm (weekends and public holidays), closed on Mondays 6737-1588 (butchery); 6737-1488 (bistro) Four years after it opened in Robertson Quay, Japanese kappo-style restaurant Ichigo Ichie has a new home at Claymore Connect in Orchard Road. It is now within the vicinity of its sister restaurants – one-Michelin-starred Sushi Kimura at Palais Renaissance and The Gyu Bar in Stevens Road.  The new Ichigo Ichie, helmed by chef Akane Eno, carries the same minimalist aesthetic accentuated with the chef’s hand-picked art pieces and crafts.   Witness her culinary art at the 12-seat counter or, for a more intimate meal, dine at the six-seat private dining room. Prices start at $138++ for a five-course lunch and go up to $350++ for a nine-course dinner. A special $428++ menu is available on request.  The nine-course dinner is the best showcase of chef Eno’s tea-centric menu, where various teas are incorporated into different dishes. Ingredients are subject to change based on the season.  The starter, for example, is lotus root with shin-gobo (burdock root), okahijiki (land seaweed) and tairagai (pen shell), paired with roselle tea jelly and pickled roselle; while tuna (maguro) sashimi is marinated in a housemade soya sauce that has been boiled with lapsang souchong tea leaves.  I love that the rice used for the unagi donabe is cooked with Japanese white corn, dashi and dong ding oolong tea, which gently perfumes the grains.   The tea-infused dishes are well-balanced, with other highlights including the plump hotaru ika (firefly squid) handroll, and the signature miwa somen with prawn broth, botan ebi, bafun uni and tonburi (a type of seed that is likened to caviar). Choose from five teas to pair with the dessert of genmaicha ice cream, mango and shoyu jelly.  The use of teas is an introduction to chef Eno’s tea bar, another part of the restaurant which will eventually be used for tea appreciation sessions.  01-16/17 Claymore Connect, 442 Orchard Road Orchard Noon to 2.30pm, 7 to 10.30pm (Tuesdays to Saturdays), closed on Sundays and Mondays 9018-2897 E-mail Contemporary Japanese restaurant Toku Nori is the new place to head to for handrolls.  The 40-seat handroll bar – helmed by 28-year-old Singaporean chef-owner Aeldra Leo – offers a set of five rolls ($38, add $18 for sake pairing), which starts with Hokkaido hotate with yuzu kosho and hamachi.  I like the addition of crispy shallots to the next roll – maguro with smoked onion cream. The other two rolls are salmon and fatty engawa, or flounder fin, with Japanese garlic miso glaze.  Those who order the set will get a serving of soft and chewy housemade warabi mochi, which I am hoping will be a permanent fixture on the menu.  The rolls are also on the a la carte menu ($8 to $9.50 for one), along with premium options – foie gras ($16), wagyu and uni ($16) or uni stack ($32).  The menu has izakaya-style dishes, such as the aburi salmon crispy sushi ($16 for three) with flash-fried sushi rice, and maguro poppers ($12 for three) with pani puri-esque nori shells filled with tuna tartare, edamame and tobiko.  Pair the dishes with cocktails ($16) or matcha latte (from $5.50) made with ceremonial grade tsuki matcha.  There are 29 seats on the second level and 11 seats on the third. Both are a good size for corporate functions or small parties and are available for private event bookings. 200A Telok Ayer Street Telok Ayer/Tanjong Pagar 11.45am to 2.30pm, 5.30 to 11.30pm (Mondays to Saturdays), closed on Sundays 8082-6536