Aniba's Nuova Scena: A New Chapter in Southern Italian Dining
Aniba enters a softer, warmer season — one rooted in contemporary Italian dining, Southern Italian generosity, and the same transportive spirit that has always shaped the room.
The Story Behind Aniba's Nuova Scena
After four years, Aniba enters a new chapter.
Nuova Scena marks the restaurant's evolution into a Southern Italian kitchen led by Chef Alessandro Frau. Inspired by the flavours of Southern Italy and Sardinia, the menu embraces a lighter, fish- and produce-forward approach while staying true to the warmth, generosity, and spirit of gathering that have always defined Aniba.
This is not a reinvention. It is a natural evolution. The same spirit, expressed through a new culinary lens.
From Aniba to Aniba, Nuova Scena
Aniba hasn't changed who it is. It has simply found a clearer expression. Nuova Scena marks the next chapter—where the spirit remains, and the expression takes on a new culinary form.
The original Aniba invited guests into another world. It built its identity around atmosphere, movement, and a sense of discovery.
That has not disappeared.
The restaurant still wants guests to step away from the rush of the city and into a room where time slows, conversation opens, and the night unfolds naturally.
What has changed is the language of the kitchen.
Aniba has always been shaped by the Mediterranean.
Today, that story continues through a more focused Southern Italian identity, where the traditions of Sardinia and the wider South inspire a menu rooted in generosity, simplicity, and vibrant flavour.
That is why the change feels natural.
Italian dining has always been about gathering, lingering, passing plates, and letting the table carry the evening. Those values already belong to Aniba. The new chapter simply gives them a more focused expression.
The Table Comes First
Italian food works beautifully for Aniba because it understands something the restaurant has always cared about: feeling.
A great Italian meal is rarely just about technique.
It is about warmth, balance, and the pleasure of being at the table. It can be elegant without feeling distant. It can be generous without becoming excessive. It can be simple but still deeply memorable when the ingredients are handled with care.
That is exactly where Aniba’s new identity sits.
Italian dining has always been about more than what is served on the plate. It is about gathering, lingering over conversation, and returning to the table again and again.
That philosophy now feels at home at Aniba.
Led by Chef Alessandro Frau, the menu embraces the vibrant traditions of Southern Italy through handmade pastas, wood-fired pizzas, fresh fish, seasonal vegetables, and ingredients that define the Mediterranean pantry—from olive oil, capers, and anchovies to bottarga, citrus, and fragrant herbs.
While the cuisine has evolved, the spirit of Aniba remains unchanged: warm hospitality, generous cooking, and a place where people come together over great food in the heart of Boat Quay.
Chef Alessandro Frau and the Sardinian Heart of the Menu
The new menu is led by Chef Alessandro Frau, whose culinary foundation is rooted in Sardinia, Italy. That matters because Sardinia gives this new chapter more than inspiration. It gives it identity.
Sardinian cooking has a strong relationship with the sea, with artisanal produce, and with ingredients that do not need to be overworked to feel complete.
That influence is clear in the new Aniba menu.
There is tuna carpaccio with wild rocket, Parmigiano Reggiano, capers, and Stracciatella.
There is hamachi crudo with lemon and mozzarella sauce, salicornia oil, and tomato oil.
There is spaghetti with Sardinian bottarga.
There is roasted Mediterranean seabass with white wine, olives, capers, and artichokes.
A little salt from the sea. A little bitterness from the artichoke. A little creaminess from cheese. A little sharpness from capers or lemon.
Nothing feels overworked or overcomplicated. Just thoughtful cooking that lets each ingredient shine.
The menu feels lighter and more focused, embracing a contemporary Southern Italian point of view while retaining the refinement that has always been part of Aniba.
A Coastal Italian Menu with Lightness and Depth
One of the clearest signatures of Aniba’s new Italian chapter is its relationship with the sea.
The menu draws its character from Southern Italy, where fish, olive oil, and seasonal produce define a style of cooking that is generous, vibrant, yet light.
The menu opens with a selection of starters that set the tone for what's to come
Tuna carpaccio, trio of fish tartare, and grandmother's seabass meatballs reflect a menu shaped by the freshness and generosity of Southern Italian cooking.
These dishes awaken the palate with brightness and freshness. Refined enough to feel special, yet generous enough to be shared at the centre of the table.
The main courses carry that coastal mood further.
Tuna Cotoletta alla Milanese gives a familiar Italian form a lighter, sea-salted expression, served with green tomato salmoriglio and spinach.
Roasted black cod with Castelluccio lentils and smoked asparagus sauce brings depth without heaviness.
Dover sole celebrates the beauty of simplicity, paired with lemon, capers, Swiss chard, and broccolini in a dish that lets the fish take centre stage.
This is Italian dining that feels especially right for Singapore—flavourful, but not overwhelming. Light enough to return to often, with a menu broad enough to discover something new each time. It is a style of dining made for gathering, lingering, and returning.
Pasta, Risotto, and the Comfort of Italian Craft
Of course, Italian comfort still has its place. The difference is that at Aniba, comfort is handled with refinement.
The pasta section shows the kitchen’s personality clearly.
Spaghetti Carbonara is reimagined with smoked tuna pancetta, offering a fish-forward interpretation of the Italian classic. Homemade tagliatelle is paired with slow-cooked grouper Bolognese, bringing a coastal perspective to one of Italy's most beloved sauces.
The potato gnocchi brings together the smoky richness of Scamorza and the gentle bite of spicy Swiss chard in a dish that feels deeply satisfying without being heavy.
There is also pleasure in the risottos. Wild mushroom risotto with asparagus and black truffle is earthy and elegant.
Smoked mozzarella risotto with anchovies, capers, and sun-dried tomatoes brings a deeper, savoury intensity. The spiced broccolini risotto with Stracciatella and seabass bocconcini is lighter in character, yet equally satisfying.
The food reflects the rhythm of an Italian social house—made for sharing, generous by nature, and varied enough that every visit offers something new.
A Menu Built for Sharing, Staying, and Returning
More than a collection of dishes, the menu is designed to bring people together. It reflects the rhythm of an Italian social house—made for sharing, lingering, and returning.
That philosophy shapes the menu from beginning to end. Rather than encouraging guests to order in courses and move quickly through a meal, it invites the table to open slowly.
Guests can begin with Stracciatella and marinated roasted peppers with Sicilian anchovies, crostini of Cetara anchovies and Stracciatella, pizzaiola-style arancini, fried zucchini flowers with ricotta and anchovies, or tomato bruschetta with mozzarella.
These opening dishes create an easy rhythm for sharing. Flavourful, generous, and unmistakably Italian, they encourage conversation as much as they awaken the appetite.
From there, the table moves naturally into pasta, risotto, mains, or pizza.
The pizza selection brings another dimension to the experience, making Aniba even easier to return to. From the simplicity of a Margherita to Napoli with Sicilian anchovies and capers, mushrooms with Sardinian Pecorino, artichokes with bottarga, four cheese with caramelised Tropea red onions, and roasted potatoes with rosemary, mushrooms, and smoked Scamorza, there is always something different to discover.
The breadth of the menu is what gives Aniba its rhythm. It allows the restaurant to be many things without losing its identity: a business lunch, a date-night destination, a relaxed group dinner, or simply a place to return to when the city feels too fast and the evening deserves to slow down.
Desserts That Close the meal with Italian Warmth
A good Italian meal deserves a proper ending. Aniba's dessert direction keeps the new chapter warm, familiar, and quietly indulgent.
Tiramisu brings the comfort of a classic. Pannacotta with fresh figs and Sicilian pistachio offers a gentle balance of fruit and nuttiness. Rum Babà with mixed berries and Chantilly cream feels generous and celebratory, while Millefoglie layers raspberry, vanilla cream, and custard into a dessert that is both crisp and delicate. Amalfi lemon sorbet closes the meal on a brighter note, with lemon, grappa, prosecco, limoncello, and zest creating a refreshing finish.
The same thoughtful approach continues through dessert. These are not desserts designed to surprise for the sake of it, but to satisfy, to bring the meal to a natural close, and to leave guests with a sense of warmth that lingers long after the last bite.
For a restaurant built around gathering and lingering, dessert is never an afterthought. It is simply another invitation to stay a little longer.
More Than a Menu
For diners looking for a premium Italian restaurant in Singapore's CBD, Aniba offers something distinctive. Contemporary Southern Italian cooking, a menu designed for sharing, and a space that moves effortlessly from business lunches to long dinners with friends.
It is a restaurant that feels equally suited to client meetings, celebrations, date nights, and spontaneous evenings that stretch a little longer than planned. The food is generous without being heavy, the atmosphere lively without feeling hurried, and every visit offers something new to discover.
That is the strength of Nuova Scena. Not a reinvention, but a clearer expression of what Aniba has always been—a place where good food brings people together.
The Table Awaits
Aniba's Italian direction feels like a natural evolution because it grows from what the restaurant has always been about: connection, generosity, atmosphere, and the pleasure of letting a night unfold.
Led by Chef Alessandro Frau, Nuova Scena brings Southern Italian and Sardinian influences into the heart of the experience through seasonal ingredients, thoughtful cooking, and a menu designed for sharing.
This is not Aniba becoming something else. It is Aniba finding a clearer expression of who it has always been.
If you're looking for a Southern Italian restaurant in Singapore where good food, conversation, and hospitality come together, we invite you to experience Nuova Scena.
Explore the menu, reserve your table, and join us at Aniba—where every meal is made for gathering, lingering, and returning.
FAQs
Is Aniba now an Italian restaurant?
Yes. Aniba has entered a new chapter as a contemporary Southern Italian restaurant in Singapore. Led by Chef Alessandro Frau, the menu draws inspiration from Southern Italy and Sardinia while staying true to Aniba's spirit of gathering, sharing, and hospitality.
Why did Aniba move towards Southern Italian cuisine?
The shift is a natural evolution of Aniba's identity. The restaurant has always been built around atmosphere, connection, and shared dining. Southern Italian cooking gives that spirit a clearer culinary expression through seasonality, generosity, fish, produce, and honest ingredients.
Who is Chef Alessandro Frau?
Born in Sardinia, Italy, Chef Alessandro Frau brings decades of experience from leading kitchens across Europe and Asia. Founder of the acclaimed ACQUA restaurants in Phuket and Bangkok, and recognised with 2 Knives by The Best Chef Awards 2025/2026, his cooking is rooted in Southern Italian traditions, guided by seasonality, and defined by a deep respect for exceptional ingredients.
What kind of Italian food can guests expect at Aniba?
Guests can expect contemporary Southern Italian cuisine with strong Sardinian influences. The menu features dishes centred around seasonal produce, fish, handmade pastas, risottos, pizzas, and classic Italian desserts, all designed for sharing around the table.
Is Aniba suitable for business lunches, date nights, and celebrations?
Yes. Aniba remains a destination for business lunches, client dinners, date nights, celebrations, and relaxed evenings with friends in Singapore's CBD. The menu has evolved, but the experience is still centred on gathering, lingering, and sharing good food together.