Mirko Febbrile’s bar Somma Throws a chic New Bahru soiree, guided by sumptuous pasta & cocktails
Capaciously high-ceilinged, with a svelte, extended counter sculpted from glossy florid marble, and a mid-century-chic lounge nestled in an alcove at the back — this is the mise-en-scene at Somma, New Bahru‘s hottest Italian restaurant.
A tasteful flourish of muted warmth, dainty earth tones, and effortless minimalism fills the space with a certain magnetism. Within it, you find echoes of chef-owner Mirko Febrile’s maiden establishment, Fico.
While Somma’s ambience boasts a quaint chicness similar to its sibling, it’s further imbued with an air of maturity and sophistication.
Conceptually, it differs greatly from the idyllic seaside haunt.
Somma is a dichotomy of concepts: A casual pasta bar immediately greets its guests on the fourth floor while, past a short flight of stairs, a more ambitious haute-cuisine concept awaits.
Settling into the fifth floor, Somma Restaurant is differently set up. It hearkens to the setting of The Menu, redolent of a modern Scandinavian living room, set to a wide open kitchen.
Any event more boisterous, though, would suit the lounge towards Bar Somma rear, where debonair sofas stand on plush carpets, and a sky of cuboid lamps jut out the ceiling for a hint of Bauhaus allure.
The life of the party sits behind the stately counter, where artisan cocktails are crafted by veteran barman Mel John Chavez, who cites Tippling Club and Smoke & Mirrors in his past lives.
It’s a destination for memorable soirees of pasta twirls, creative tipples, and great ambience. That was the story back at its genesis, and persists to ring true with its refreshed sophomore menu.
The simple and the exquisite
So. If pasta twirls were the imperative, Bar Somma’s Golden Hour is an inescapable ritual. Free Carbonara from 6pm to 7.30pm when you place your first pasta order is placed — a tantalising bargain.
Portions are understandably controlled for the pasta provided gratis, but the Somma’s Golden Hour Rigatoni Carbonara is a pasta dish built on the soundest execution.
Simplicity remains the crux of a timeless classic. Its brand of sharp, potent sapidity and eggy comfort comes rushing at you, with each flue of pasta plastered in a thick, creamy sheen of sauce, guanciale crackles interspersed between each mouthful.
Even through all the lyrical waxing about pasta, there’s a dumbfounding showstopper here devoid of pasta dough: Somma’s Oyster Mushrooms with Beetroot Ketchup ($17).
As a dish, the assembly of deep-fried oyster mushrooms with a saucer of sangria-hued dip appears absurdly simple.
Yet, the unadulterated satisfaction of an airy batter, scandalously succulent mushrooms, and a tangy ketchup begets visceral reaction, spurring ugly moments of gluttony. A dish thorough in both simplicity and gratification.
In many ways, Somma elevates humility with grace, and the vegetarian Bucatini alla Nerano ($26)? A showstopping performance by the humble, oft-disregarded zucchini.
Through a simple zucchini-cheese-olive-oil foundation, this dish descends on your palate with a heft near comparable to any meat-based pasta.
Its profile is green, fresh, delicately sweet, with lashings of butteriness. Its texture is blissfully velvety emulsification, almost on par with a cacio e pepe. It’s everything in its right place.
At this point, sharp eyes and keen palates will note Somma’s affinity with extracting the best results from simplicity.
And that hypothesis will once again be proven with a single bite into the Pesto Mortadella Sandwich ($18).
Immensely airy focaccia halves bookend a triad of snappy cured meat, silky leaking burrata, and verdant pesto — it’s as glamorously flavourful as appearances inform, with bewitching textural interplay underscoring.
Cocktails with style
Running through food reveals the gamut of classic hearty victuals, but the menu that bar manager Mel designed for Bar Somma is a whirlwind of eclecticism, especially with occasional unconventional tipples.
One shining example is the Amatriciana ($24), sharing its handle with a quintessential Roman red sauce. Evidently, it derives its core from there, but it is a masterful distillation of savoury flavours into liquid.
Calling Somma’s Amatriciana a bloody mary twist would be remiss: Stylistically, comparisons would land on “cold soup”, rich and twangy, brimming with tomato acidity and shallot aromatics.
Still, balancing is sagacious, reeling back the experimental aspects of it, negotiating the savouriness, citrus, and spirit potency to keep it rooted in the realm of a veritably sippable umami tipple.
Playing with food is a — very welcomed — recurring motif throughout Bar Somma’s drinks programme, and the EVOOtini ($26) continues to demonstrate Mel’s astute judgment within the confines of food-cocktail alchemy.
What’s unique is its salient reliance on context, vis-a-viz the garnish. Slurp up the luscious sea grapes, then take a sip of the limoncello-laced gin martini base. What ensues is a confluence of fruity piquancy, sharp brine, and a dry spirit-forward pinch.
While the aforementioned two food-inspired concoctions came fresh onto Bar Somma’s second annviersary menu, some favourites from the first edition merit attention too, particularly the Rum Happiness ($22).
As a drink that leans less into the Italian culinary lexicon, this blend of rum, watermelon, lemon, honey and Ancho Reyes has a lot of ground to make up to become a classic.
Well, it aces all tests, as the culminating vibrance, funk, and herbaceous slant makes it a deeply complex yet terrifyingly refreshing affair.
Does Bar Somma stand tall with the other top bars — including 50 Best Bars — in Singapore?
The enthralling bevvy ideas, the sound technical backbone behind its Italian food, and the chicness that permeates its earth-toned compound gave an exceptional account.
Make a reservation online before visiting Somma at New Bahru.
Bar Somma
- Address: Block 46 Kim Yam Rd, #04-02A New Bahru, Singapore 239351
- Hours: (Tues–Wed) 6pm to 11pm, (Thurs–Sat) 6pm to 12am