“The only thing that does any good is to jump in a cab and go to Tiffany’s.” That’s how Holly Golightly famously described the jewellery house in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Now, the jewellery house is giving Singapore one more reason to believe her, with its first-ever Blue Box Café in the city.
Opening on 15 July at Tiffany & Co’s flagship in Ion Orchard, the Blue Box Café occupies an intimate space on the third floor of the boutique. Done up in the maison’s signature robin’s egg blue, its interiors mirror that of a jewellery box. hang overhead and polished silverware gleam with the brilliance of gemstones. If you’re curious to know what the Blue Box Café is serving up, a peek at the window display outside offers a few clues. A miniature dining table features quintessential French pastries next to plates of dragonfruit, pandan chiffon cake, and ang ku kueh (although we’re sad to report the glimmering pair of Tiffany HardWear earrings laid out among the desserts are not on the menu).
Indeed, the café’s cuisine gives Tiffany’s a decidedly Singaporean accent. Chef Julien Royer, the mind behind three Michelin-starred restaurant Odette and neo-brasserie Claudine, has developed a menu that blends classic American comforts with the sophistication of French cooking and familiar flavours of Singapore—across breakfast, tea, and all-day offerings. It’s easy to imagine the menu finding favour with the characters of Truman Capote’s novella, but even more so with Singapore’s local crowd.
What To Expect
Breakfast at Tiffany’s is really the only place to begin. Holly may have been satisfied with only a coffee and Danish to keep her fuelled, but Singapore’s version is certainly a more indulgent affair. The café’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s set is a two-tier platter laden with buttery croissants and baguettes, homemade granola, and smoked trout. The standout is Chef Royer’s Oeuf à la Coque, an elevated take on the humble soft-boiled egg, crowned with Oscietra caviar.
Tea at Tiffany’s is a three-tier experience, stacked with delicate savouries including Croque Madame wrapped in crisp filo pastry, potato millefeuille topped with caviar and crème fraîche, and wagyu cecina rolls scented with black truffle. On the sweeter end, French pâtisserie picks up familiar local notes through pandan chouquettes and calamansi tartelettes.
An à la carte menu is also available, in which Royer strives to create contemporary renditions of famous Singaporean dishes. Chicken rice becomes the Confit Yellow Chicken, cooked in a claypot-style fashion and finished with a sake-seaweed buerre blanc sauce. In contrast, the Alaskan Spot Prawn Dumplings takes the concept of a ravioli dish and infuses it with the savoury-sweet taste of local prawn noodle broths. Tiffany’s New York heritage comes through in its signature burger. A Wagyu and Angus beef patty blend is topped with French tomatoes and lettuce, then drizzled with a secret burger sauce before being nestled between two soft potato brioche buns.
Save room for dessert because Royer offers up playful interpretations of American and French sweet treats. SniX is an ode to two beloved American chocolate bars—Snickers and Twix—marrying the decadent quality of chocolate with a salted caramel ice cream. The Tiffany Island, meanwhile, takes its cues from a traditional French île flottante, featuring a vanilla cream encased in an airy meringue, lightly scented by orange blossom water. It’ll be enough to scare the “mean reds” away any day.
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