Black pepper chicken wrap and red lentil salald (picture courtesy of Guy Hoh)

It’s all about eating local to chef and owner Christina Crane (below left). The Vancouver native and Singapore PR left her brand consulting job to set up her own eatery which opened its doors just three months ago.

Dapao is her baby, a takeaway shop that serves wholesome breakfasts and lunches to the office crowd. The two unit shop which seats 16 on tables along the covered mall is bright, clean and a pleasant place to meet the ebullient chef for a chat about the ideas and philosophies that allow her to create her “fresh everyday” menus.

Christina was brought up cooking as her parents believed in making most things from scratch.

“My mom never bought anything in a package and I love cookies, so I learnt to bake from an early age”, says the 39 year-old chef who currently runs the business with just two assistants. What she seeks to create with her food is a bond with the customer, “our watch word is trust. My customers know that I'm making everything from scratch, they can see us cooking (we have an open concept kitchen) so that there is transparency. This is going to become more and more important in Singapore.” It has obviously worked as they serve 70-80 meals a day and about half of her customers are regulars.

Their menu is happily diverse with vegetarian options (ovo-lacto) as well as chicken. Everything is made fresh every day and has a lovely handmade artisan feel to it. Items that caught our eye were the excellent carrot cake (pictured below), a sinful chocolate and custard creation called a Nanaimo Slice and of course the numerous filled wraps.

Dapao's carrot cake (picture courtesy of Wil Kolen)

Another important part of their food concept is eating locally. She sources 80% of her produce from sources no further than 300km away. This betters the USDA recommendation on the term “local source” which suggests that produce should be sourced from a 450km radius.  She even packs the food in compostable wax paper and buys her coffee from a local supplier. Needless to say saving on the food’s carbon footprint and composting to minimise our impact on the earth featured in our conversation too. “Eating local is just tastier and fresher. I also don't strive for healthy or low fat or low GI (Glycemic Index). I'm not pushing healthy on people, the food just turns out that way”, she also insists with a smile.

Tasting a black pepper chicken wrap and a red lentil salad, one could tell that it was freshly made sans processed ingredients. The one thing that stood out the most besides the generous portions of meat and raw vegetables was the lack of any nasty aftertaste that meals with too much processed sauces often have.

Nasi lemak wrap (picture courtesy of Wil Kolen)

Try their nasi lemak wrap (pictured above), it is oddly comforting, like eating nasi lemak packet and all. The taste is to put it in a word “clean”, nothing is hidden, not the tangy yoghurt dressing nor the sharp spicy black pepper or sambal enhancing the lean chicken chunks. The food was anything but plain, so give “local eating” a try and do your bit for the environment while crunching through a tasty lunch.

Dapao

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Far East Square (Water Gate)
No. 3&4 Amoy Street
#01-01 Far East Square
Singapore 049946/7
Tel: 6557 0686

www.dapao-takeaway.com