'I think he would be proud': Damian D’Silva’s new restaurant sits where his grandfather lived, worked and cooked

While Damian D’Silva is widely known as Singapore’s “grandfather of heritage cuisine”, it was his own grandfather who guided him towards the path of preserving heritage dishes, reviving forgotten recipes and guarding against the loss of a unique culinary identity.

The 68-year-old chef and MasterChef Singapore judge has often shared about his “Pop” and the Eurasian dishes he would whip up for family and friends, unknowingly inspiring Damian’s culinary journey many years down the road.

So, it felt rather magically serendipitous how his newest restaurant came about.

When the idea of serving his cuisine in the National Gallery – the former Supreme Court – was mooted, Damian couldn’t believe the coincidence. Because his grandfather, Gilmore D’Silva, had served as the Supreme Court’s first and only custodian, from 1939 to 1960. In those years, Gilmore had lived and worked in the building, carrying every key on his belt and even, from time to time, cooking for the judges.

During the second World War, the building was occupied by Japanese soldiers, and in 1945 when they retreated, Gilmore, being the only person who knew which key fit in which door, was called back to open the cells and free the British prisoners of war within.

Damian himself has a strong attachment to the building, having briefly lived there himself as an infant, and later visiting his grandfather regularly.

Gilmore and his family lived in his own quarters on the top floor – apartments furnished with treasured teak pieces and filled with canary cages, with the kitchen and living room opening onto a long balcony, Damian shared. He remembers playing as a child on the balcony, which overlooks the Padang, the Singapore Cricket Club and the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall, with the waterfront just beyond. Here, he could watch cricket games and enjoy music from the live band at the Raffles Hotel. Who needed a TV back then?

Perhaps the most poignant memory is of his grandfather cooking in the kitchen. Here, Gilmore would roll up his sleeves and whip up everything ranging from the simplest comfort food to traditional celebratory dishes requiring days of preparation and labour. From time to time, he’d even climb up a narrow spiral staircase into the heights of the dome, where hundreds of swifts made their nests, to collect the empty ones for birds’ nest soup.

He would also put young Damian to work in the kitchen, which wasn’t much appreciated by a boy who had games to play and bonbon dispensers to feed coins into. Granddad was very particular about Damian’s work. If he was dicing, for instance, the dice had to be uniformly small.

Much later in life, “when I started cooking and embracing all the things I learned from him, I realised that if I hadn’t worked with him when I was younger, I wouldn’t be able to replicate any of his recipes now,” Damian mused.

Granddad had a notebook of handwritten recipes, but “not ‘300g of shallots, 500g of chillies’. No. His recipes were, ‘Ginger, garlic. More garlic.’ What is more garlic? ‘Plenty of sliced onions’. How much is that? You wouldn’t know. But, because I cooked with him, I know exactly what he was talking about. And, more importantly, I’m blessed that I’ve got that taste memory.”

Because of that, “I would go to someone's house, and there would be the same dishes on the table, and I would put the food into my mouth and think, ‘This is not like Granddad’s’. Up until today, I am like that. And, I’d say, I am glad that he made me do the work, because if he had not, I wouldn't be where I am today.”

Opening a restaurant in the same building, where his understanding of food first began to blossom, was clearly a no-brainer – as was naming it in tribute to his grandfather.

Gilmore & Damian D’Silva is an homage to the man who shaped his life in far more ways than one, said Damian.

As a nod to Gilmore’s signature style, panache and insistence on upholding the rules of being a consummate gentleman, the dining room leans into old-world charm, with elegant wood panelling, porcelain plateware from Portugal, displays of antique silverware from Damian’s personal collection and old family photographs adorning the walls.

The menu consists predominantly of heirloom Eurasian recipes, some dating back more than 200 years, with a sprinkling of Chinese dishes inspired by Granddad, who loved to cook meals from multiple cuisines including Indian and Sri Lankan.

Popular Eurasian signatures like the Christmas staple of Debal curry (S$48) and sugee cake baked “with plenty of brandy” and served with Chantilly cream (S$18) are a given – done in Damian’s careful and refined style, of course.

But, alongside, you’ll find lesser-known traditional dishes like Ambiler Kacang (S$18) – long beans with salted fish in a spicy and sour gravy – and Cowdang (S$22), a near-forgotten dish of prawns topped with onion and shallot and simmered in coconut milk: Food Damian remembers savouring in his grandfather’s company.

Next door, his other restaurant, Michelin-selected Rempapa, is reopening as a more casual and fuss-free all-day cafe, with signature rice bowls starting from S$9.90++.

What does he think his grandfather would say if he saw Damian’s work in the building today?

“If grandad saw this restaurant and his name outside – I think it would make him proud,” said Damian, his eyes growing misty. “More than anything else, I hope I’ve done something right for him.”

In fact, Granddad hadn’t wanted him to become a chef, Damian shared. “He said, ‘Men should not be in the kitchen.’ I turned to him and said, ‘But you are, Pop.’ He said, ‘I’m different’. I said, ‘I think, so am I!’”

He continued: “I realised how important it was for me to preserve the dishes he made. Initially, I didn’t want to do it.” But, he then realised: “‘If this man dies, everything is lost.’ I felt it was so important to preserve the food, the dishes, the heritage that I grew up with, and share it with everybody.”

If Gilmore D’Silva were to visit the restaurant, “He would eat. And, let's say I would walk out of the kitchen. I think he would have been surprised. He would probably say, ‘Not bad, Damian. You did well.’ 

"He wouldn’t say it out loud, but I know he would have been proud.”

Gilmore & Damian D’Silva opens Nov 26 at 1 St Andrew's Road, National Gallery #01-02/03.