SINGAPORE: Gilles Marx of Jakarta, the first guest chef at Scotts 27, serves up a crowd-pleaser.

Edith Lai-Bompard greets you at the door like an old friend.

Her style hasn’t changed, from her striking ash-blonde highlights to her chic Mandarin jacket.

Neither has her tremendous talent for breaking the ice.

She ushers you into Scotts 27 with the same bonhomie she used to greet guests at Le Saint Julien, the much-lauded French restaurant she ran with her husband, chef Julien Bompard, for almost 10 years.

It feels like you have just stepped into her home.

Except this is a stately, sprawling black-and-white colonial house on bustling Scotts Road, with private dining rooms and a 3,000 sq ft garden that can host cocktail receptions for 120 people.

It is one of Singapore’s few reservations-only private dining establishments and the Bompards’ resurgence on the restaurant scene after they shuttered Le Saint Julien in January 2013.

The classical French menu is crafted by Bompard and features several of his signature dishes, such as lobster bisque and roasted quail stuffed with mushrooms.

Tonight, however, the kitchen is being helmed by Gilles Marx, the first of a series of international guest chefs being brought in by Scotts 27.

Marx owns AMUZ Gourmet, a restaurant in Jakarta that has garnered countless accolades for its French haute cuisine.

Bompard met Marx when they cooked at a charity event in the Indonesian capital some years back and found that they had much in common.

Marx has prepared a crowd-pleaser of a spread with quintessential French accents.

The sold-out dinner starts with an amuse-bouche of wild mushroom consommé infused with tea, sautéed porcini mushrooms and a potato espuma scented with white truffle.

The soup, ceps and foam unite in a medley that is a testimony to lightness and flavour.

This is followed by a serving of chilled Canadian lobster.

It is nicely balanced out by a tangy salad of fennel and orange, the latter cooked to a point where the rind can be eaten.

“I love working with seafood because there are a lot of choices and it gives one so much liberty to create unique dishes,” says Marx, when asked what his ingredient of choice is.

Meanwhile, wines are being poured to match the dishes, of which the standout of the night is the Domaine François Carillon Chassagne-Montrachet Clos Saint- Jean 1er Cru 2010.

The white wine from Burgundy bursts with aroma even before you can swirl the glass and is the silkiest Chardonnay I have tasted in a long time.

The wines have been chosen by Lai-Bompard, who also oversees Scotts 27’s stockpile of over 300 bottles.

The François Carillon almost overshadows the next course, which is trundled out on a trolley.

A large barramundi sits on top, covered head to tail in a chunky layer of sea salt.

Chef Marx then proceeds to remove the crust and fillet the fish, in a throwback to the guéridon or tableside service of the past, when dishes were finished and plated in front of diners.

Barramundi, also known as Asian sea bass, is a fish that scores well for those who like their seafood mild in taste and soft in texture.

But for those who like a bit more heft to their fish, the baked barramundi with a white butter sauce would have been uneventful, even in the experienced hands of Marx, who has been in the culinary line for some 30 years.

Interestingly, the barramundi — which is native to Australia — came from a farm in Singapore.

Lai-Bompard, who has been flitting around the dining room chatting and laughing with guests, has now donned white gloves, in preparation for the next dish.

She goes from table to table, personally and generously shaving black Périgord truffles onto angel hair pasta.

It’s a combination that can only be described as moreish, even for those diligently watching their carbs.

Topping off the dinner is the oven- roasted Wagyu beef.

With a high marbling grade of nine, the expertly cooked tenderloin is fork-tender.

Smeared with a dollop of the herbed bone marrow served on the side, the Wagyu is even more decadent.

Washing it down perfectly is the Château Les Ormes Sorbet 2000, a plummy wine from a year that was notably good for Bordeaux.

Bompard hopes to have guest chefs at Scotts 27 on a monthly basis and is currently in talks with a chef from Thailand.

On a regular basis, diners can expect gourmet French food in an old-world setting, replete with personal touches, such as 100-year-old cabinetry from Lai-Bompard’s family and an antique mahjong set that used to belong to Bompard’s grandaunt.

The couple met when they were working at The Peninsula in Hong Kong.

They tied the knot in 1997 and moved to Singapore in 2001, after Bompard took up a job with the Raffles Hotel.

Two years later, the affable Frenchman opened his own restaurant at The Fullerton Waterboat House, which quickly won fans for its gastronomy, warm service and waterfront views.

Bompard, who trained for almost a decade under Michelin-starred chefs Alain Dutournier in Paris and Jacques Lameloise in Burgundy, had previously helmed Le Normandie at The Oriental in Bangkok and Gaddi’s at The Peninsula in Hong Kong, and was executive chef at The Pierre in New York.

After honing his skills around the world, local devotees of French cuisine must surely be glad he and his ebullient wife have put down roots in Singapore.

Sunita Sue Leng, formerly an associate editor at The Edge Singapore, usually finds inspiration after a glass of wine.

This article appeared in the Options of Issue 676 (May 11) of The Edge Singapore.