Many people either hear or read about New World or Old World wines and wonder what those worldly terms might mean. Are they referring to young or old wines? Expensive or cheap wines? Screw cap wines or cork sealed wines? What is the difference? Does it even matter?

Understanding the differences between the two “Worlds” of wines can be both simple and complex. Simply defined, Old World wines come from European countries that have been producing and consuming wines for centuries. So wines from France, Germany, Italy, etc. are Old World wines whereas wines made in non-European countries like Australia, the United States, Chile, South Africa, etc. are New World wines. Simple enough, right?

Dear Yummers,

My seafood craving is still going strong! And this time, it’s bringing me to Breeze at Scarlet Hotel. This place is really unique. Okay, I guess the whole hotel and its concept is unique in its own way. Very chic, very private, and very secretive. Scarlet has two main restaurants, Desire and Breeze. But I really like Breeze when I want to wind down in the evening.

Breeze is located on the roof of Scarlet Hotel. The restaurant has an open concept with al fresco seating that literally allows the diner to enjoy the breeze. They have al fresco booths where you can draw curtains to make the dining even more private. It’s really a nice place to wind down in the evening to chill out and have a nice dinner. Maybe the name was also chosen as “Breeze” because the restaurant serves up really fresh seafood, invoking the sense of a sea breeze.

Yum.sg is proud to support SHATEC’s initiative to better understand new trends and expectations of a new tourism era in Asia.

The purpose of SHATEC’s study is to determine whether Workplace Incivility is prevalent in Singapore hospitality organisations, viewed from a consumer’s perspective.

To answer a few simple questions YOU might have:

What is Workplace Incivility?

The Oxford Dictionary defines incivility as “rude or discourteous; to act rudely to be discourteous without regard for others”. Examples of rudeness at work include not greeting or acknowledging a colleague at the workplace; interrupting a co-worker who is speaking to someone else; shouting at a co-worker or superior; wearing inappropriate attire for the work environment (Crampton and Hodge).

Have you ever watched someone expertly swirling wine in a glass? It seems so casual…so “the right thing to do”, doesn’t it? Yet to the novice drinker, even attempting such a bold gesture can be daunting. Why swirl anyway? What could possibly be the reason other than pretentious showmanship?

Believe it or not, ‘the swirl’ serves a very important function…it oxygenates the wine and liberates aroma compounds that might otherwise remain locked inside the liquid. So why is this important? Releasing aromas is essential for tasters to fully appreciating the wine’s character. Much like food, the smell of the wine can influence the taste.

The human tongue only perceives five basic tastes: sweet, salty, bitter, sour, and umami (a recently defined savoury flavour) whereas a human nose can detect thousands of more discrete and specific aromas. Not only do wine aromas make an impression on the front of the nose when smelling, but they also make an impression from the back of the nose after the wine is swallowed. This is when the after-aromas fuse with the taste and texture sensations that are revealed on the palate.

Dear Yummers,

If anyone has read Anthony Bourdain’s book Kitchen Confidential, you’ll probably remember his famous quote “never order Fish on a Monday”. I can understand why he said that - 1. Most people don’t eat out on Monday, so the restaurant doesn’t need a shipment on a Monday. 2. Even if there’s a shipment on Monday, chances are they are still clearing leftover stock from the weekend. Hence it is very possible that you might get leftover, stale fish if you order on a Monday.