Dearborn is no more a home-based business hosting guests for private home dining or putting up for sale the most awesome small-batch granola on social media (gone in a breath). Professionally trained chef Chris Kong has open a full-fledged commercial outlet at hipster neighborhood, Everton Park. It's at least 1,200 square feet of space taken up by a huge kitchen, drying & storage room and foyer with some merchandise on sale. Do you know what this means? You can get your hands on the super famous granola (almost) whenever you want! There are now two sizes for the weekly granola mixes - $28/500 grams & $16/260 grams in bags instead of jars.
But let's have the chef-owner himself introduce the three-month baby to us which officially opened on 20 November 2021, Saturday (which was when the video’s below were taken).
Here are some things you’d want to know about Dearborn:
1. It’s at a fab location in Tanjong Pagar, doors away from Ji Xiang Confectionery famous for ang ku kueh, and opposite The Pinnacle. Take the bus, train, cab or park at the hdb carpark.
2. Since opening month, the hours have extended and doors are open earlier from 9am everyday except for Sundays (closed). Find opening times and other details at the end of this blog post.
3. There is no sit-in area indoors. However there are sturdy crate benches outdoors to hang out at. There are fans too but I’d highly recommend to wear light.
4. They don’t serve hot coffee here, but get your cuppa from any of the neighborhood cafe’s and bring it over! I do like the seasonal black cold brew ($6) and pastel-hued soda’s made in-house - both cucumber & lemon ($6) as well as yuzu & citrus ($7).
5. What else is on the menu? I’m getting to your favourite part - basic bowls! Choose from a selection of Dearborn granola, then pair it with raglan coconut yoghurt which Dearborn has whipped with vanilla beans ($9) - YASSSSSS. I really like this brand of yoghurt from New Zealand that uses organic coconuts only and is dairy-free, gluten-free, non-GMO and vegan. The other alternatives are Chobani Greek yoghurt ($8) and more recently, Oatside oat milk ($7) - seriously delicious dairy-free, nut-free, plant-based, malty oat milk founded by Singaporeans.
6. *ONLY AVAILABLE ON SATURDAYS* This is one course no one could ever skip at Chef Chris’ meatless and sustainable past private home dinners. Dearborn’s signature sourdough loaf! In early 2019, we were there when Larry turned one. Who again? ”So we have Larry. This is our starter. Larry is what makes these amazing loaves of bread. Larry is water, flour and the natural air, bacteria that innoculates this starter. Basically we take a little bit of this, put it into the bread, mix it and we get some bread. So Larry is 100% Singaporean, born and raised here.”
Chef also added, “After working so hard with trying to make Larry and this bread, it deserves a course on its own.” I say amen to that. He will turn four this year. We visited him recently (video below). I’m also happy to announce that this bread, which we were missing for the whole of the pandemic, is back.
Expect to get slices of this coveted bread which are only available on Saturdays. The next best thing is Dearborn’s butter. Get both at $5! Or cart the whole loaf home - country loaf ($15), and smoked cheddar and chili cheese loaf ($25). These are super limited and on sale from 9am on Saturdays, whilst they last. I was at the shop at 10-ish one morning only to find out the loaves were completely sold out. Just last week, Dearborn launched their irresistible butter. O M G S!!!
7. It’s the Dearborn spice mix that makes this butter so darn delicious. Shiitake mushroom powder, sushi vinegar, onion powder, cayenne pepper and nutritional yeast make up the umami boost that’s added to butter, and then there’s citrussy lemon oil. Imagine the aromatics and tongue-smacking when smelling and tasting this very-limited-production bottle. My husband and myself cleaned half the bottle on the chili cheese loaf. It’s standing at $15 for 160 grams. You will realise that the freshly-baked loaves and butter are made in small batches. The reason is because the 35-year-old professional chef doesn’t want wastage. So come early to nab them.
8. Don’t leave without having Dearborn’s granola bowls. Usually after polishing the basic bowls (granola + yoghurt), I crave for this ’sundae’ treat at $14 each! Milk & coffee has Dearborn granola at the bottom, layered on top with espresso granita, a big ball of milk ice-cream, coffee espuma and lastly, crumbles. It’s not that easy to make the different components come together for the ideal flavors and textures. The ice-cold granita for example uses a different type of coffee bean than the cold brew because once sugar is added, that changes the flavour combination overall. Even though this bowl looks unassuming, some r&d was dedicated to create this dessert that can be inhaled in a minute.
I’ll admit it right now. I’m one of those people who orders one of everything on Dearborn’s menu, just because. So here’s strawberries & cream that has that crunchy Dearborn granola, cranberry granita, shaved sable ribbons (yes they shaved the sable so thinly) and fresh strawberries, and a big scoop of creme fraiche ice-cream with a nice drizzle of lemon oil. All of this in a glass bowl.
9. You can bring home some granola bags and merch too. I got my husband a Dearborn Topiku cap ($30). Topiku considers themselves the world’s most sustainable hat which is made in Indonesia. There’s also drawstring pouches ($5) to fit the granola bags for gifting or if you forgot to bring a bag. Because Dearborn is doing their best to make our planet a better one, customers are advised to bring their own bags when collecting granola. Reusing cleaned glass jars and personal airtight containers are also highly encouraged. Being eco-friendly comes with a discount!
10. Oh, and it’s best to pay via PayNow or Paylah!.
Dearborn
Blk 1 Everton Park, #01-29, Singapore 081001
Open daily (except Sunday), walk-in’s only.
Monday - Friday : 9am - 5pm
Saturday : 9am - 3pm
Email : info@dearborn.sg
Seating Capacity : NA
Dress code : NA
Payment Mode : PayNow, Paylah!
Parking : HDB carpark at the back
Instagram : @dearborn_sg
Facebook : Dearborn Singapore