This restaurateur has traveled the globe in search of culinary resources. Take his lobster bisque, for instance. The bisque is prepared in Aprile's kitchen in separate components and hits your table deconstructed; tableside, the waiter adds the bisque to a bowl of fresh cooked lobster dumplings, mussels, oxalis leaves and tofu; the carefully plotted steps unleash the aroma at that precise moment.

Sound complicated? To prepare for his pork tenderloin, Aprile braises the pork for 36 hours sous vide (a term for vacuum-packing food in airtight plastic bags), then quickly sears it upon order and plates it with hoisen-braised pork belly and a fried risotto cake with a tonka bean emulsion. Is this tenderloin worth all that headache? Indeed, the dish hits every note: salty, sweet, savory, bold and composed.

In typical small-plate fashion, diners are encouraged to order three or four items, and the plates emerge from Aprile's basement kitchen as soon as they’re ready. The potato tart makes a ridiculously dainty, if confident, starter: the flavours of light and fluffy mashed potatoes and sweet poached egg are juxtaposed with spicy swirls of truffle paste and leek purée to resplendent effect.

An innocuous Peking duck breast, arranged with gooseberries on a butternut squash flan, turns lethal with the accompanying flavours of licorice and burnt honey sauce. There is a whiff of restraint in the lobster ceviche, served on a bed of new potatoes and herbs. But the crispy wokked squid under a flurry of green peppercorns and Chinese black vinegar is the type of gee-whiz display that a chef works up and shows off to his line cooks. Ethereal and fresh, the dish comes with crunchy Asian pear sticks; its lightness anchored by a scattering of Chinese Sausage, Thai basil and spiced mango.