SINGAPORE - It is autumn at Somma, and under the meditative swell of its arched ceilings, it is easy to imagine that you have been transported somewhere more sylvan, more serene. There is a reverence here, swirled on soothing instrumentals that coax diners into a more relaxed frame of mind, woven into the naturalistic displays that bedeck the walls.

Then again, Somma has always excelled at storytelling. The Straits Times selected it as the best high-end restaurant of 2024, noting that the "dishes stay true to (chef partner Mirko) Febbrile's zeal to present his homeland's finest, and show his ability to elevate everyday produce without being ostentatious".

One year on, that still holds true. The Italy-born chef's touch remains deft as ever, his creations as lively and honest.

Following an appetite-whetting prelude of mushroom broth and nasturtium flowers stuffed with goat's cheese and dehydrated golden apple, guests are ushered to a table and the main procession begins.

Mushrooms return in spectacular fashion, sourced from local fungi farm Bewilder, selected by the guest, and served on a plate made from a dehydrated reishi. It is paired with an impeccably seasoned scallop, glazed with saffron and orange emulsion, as well as a tart plum and pomegranate broth. A dehydrated plum filled with golden oyster mushroom and balanced on a coral-like ganoderma multipileum rounds off this opener.

Next comes a slow-cooked eggplant, presented first at the table in its clay shell like a Mesopotamian artefact. Thrillingly, it is then cracked before your eyes. It returns as a pasta - ditali, a short tubular shape often found in broths or family stews in southern Italy, perfumed with burnt honey, swirled with eggplant puree and crowned with a buttery sliver of lardo.

Here, diners can add another pasta course: the crowd-favourite spaghettone ($68++) that has, on pain of riot, become a Somma staple. Made with mantis shrimp, reduced red carrot, sea snails and Ossetra caviar, it is still the restaurant's richest, most luxuriant - and correspondingly steeply priced - dish.

Otherwise, the base menu continues with mussels and razor clams slow-cooked with koji milk and studded with quadretti pasta. The kiwi sorbet that follows gives diners a refreshing break between courses, which they can choose to extend with a cheese and beverage tasting experience ($52++) in Somma's wine cellar.

It is a fun exercise in sophistication before the main course makes you want to abandon all etiquette. The best way to enjoy this lamb rack is to pick it up with both hands and suck every last morsel of meat - so irresistibly tender and perfectly seasoned - off the bone. This, the restaurant understands and provides towels to assist you in this endeavour, as well as a side salad of flower kimchi and pears to counteract all that caramelised fat.

Dinner winds down with two desserts: a cheese souffle that delivers the appropriate dose of cosy comfort and a pumpkin seed sorbet under which is tucked a nugget of quince, dense and jammy. The latter is also paired with a drop - a literal dot on a wooden spoon - of 100-year-old balsamic vinegar, which could feel faintly ridiculous, if not for Somma's infectious charm.

The six-course Vendemmia menu costs $268++ a person for dinner and runs until mid-December.