FOC is not free of charge but means fire in Catalan, a language spoken in the Barcelona region of Spain. Located on Hong Kong Street opposite Central, FOC is as synonymous with Catalan cuisine in Singapore as it is with hand-crafted cocktails by award-winning mixologist Dario Knox. According to its website, authentic flavours of the best local and seasonal produces are brought together to impeccably present traditional Catalan dishes in a contemporary format with an enthusiastic attitude. The collaboration between chefs Nandu Jubany, who received a Michelin star for his restaurant Can Jubany in Calldetenes, and Jordi Noguera reinvents recipes to the smallest details where the land or sea products find a balance of complexity and subtlety on the plate. This is an overdue visit and I finally dropped by for lunch on a weekday. Among the four of us, we shared six tapas (small plates) and one each of paella, main, dessert and cocktail – Blacked Out in Bangkok.
