An ex-Ottolenghi head chef is behind Petra, now open on Dempsey Hill

The man behind Singapore's highest-ranked pizzeria is opening somewhere with no pizza oven at its centre.

Book Petra for a long weekend lunch with friends who share: it opened on Saturday 24 October at 40C Harding Road, a big, leafy room on Dempsey Hill with wood-fired seafood, mezze and bread from its own oven, and a consultant chef who ran the kitchens at NOPI and Ottolenghi. The compromise is the usual one for a new opening: it is a fortnight old, so a Tuesday lunch is a safer first visit than a Saturday night if the meal is for an occasion. It is a change of direction for Antonio Miscellaneo of La Bottega Enoteca and the Casa Vostra outlets, and the interesting hire is from London. Consultant chef Dawid Nowosadzki has spent more than 17 years in kitchens across London, the Middle East and Japan, including head chef roles at NOPI and Ottolenghi, senior posts at Soho House and an executive chef job in Doha; most recently he ran Koma, a vegetarian deli-restaurant he co-founded in Hakushu, Japan. Day to day, the kitchen belongs to executive chef Anas Shami, who joined the opening team at Aniba Singapore and has cooked in Berlin, Kyiv and Greece.

The name comes from the ancient city in the Levant, a meeting point of cultures and trade routes, and the menu follows suit with touches of Japan, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. It is split three ways: mezze, with house-made dips and flatbreads from the bread oven; fire, for wood-fired seafood and grilled meats; and patisserie. Hummus with flatbread, hamachi tartare and muhallabia, a milk pudding, are among the launch dishes, with a seafood counter for the day's catch and a salad spread that openly nods to Ottolenghi. Order across the mezze and fire sections and share; that is what the menu is built for.

At around 8,000 sq ft and 119 seats it is a big room by Singapore standards, with private dining for long-table celebrations. It lands at a busy moment for the hill, alongside Shirazi, SHAO @ Dempsey and Casa Mori, so the Dempsey lunch you keep putting off now has more options than excuses.

Our advice: book through SevenRooms (the restaurant's own site links to it) for a weekday lunch, order from the mezze and fire sections for the table and leave the main courses to people who don't share. Napier, on the Thomson–East Coast Line, is the nearest MRT, and it is a ten-minute uphill walk in the sun, so take a taxi to the door at 1pm. The restaurant's site publishes no opening hours, so check the booking page for the slots on offer. It is on our new restaurants page this month.

Good to know Petra, 40C Harding Road, Level 1, Dempsey Hill, Singapore 249548. Opened Saturday 24 October 2026. Book through SevenRooms from petrarestaurant.sg, or call +65 8876 5823 (hello@petrarestaurant.sg). Hours are not published on the restaurant's site; the booking page shows available slots. Nearest MRT: Napier (Thomson–East Coast Line).

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Petra, Dempsey Hill (open) | 40C Harding Road, Level 1, Dempsey Hill, Singapore 249548