Acqua e Farina Singapore: Two Italian Chefs, Two Regions, One Restaurant
Acqua e Farina brings together the cooking of Milan-born Chef Roberto Galbiati and Naples-born Chef Antonio Manetto, creating an Italian restaurant where fresh pasta, pizza and regional dishes reflect both northern and southern Italy.
The name Acqua e Farina means water and flour.
It is difficult to find a more appropriate name for a restaurant built around pasta and pizza.
At its original Rail Mall location on Upper Bukit Timah Road, Acqua e Farina has spent years developing a style of Italian cooking shaped by two chefs from very different parts of the country.
Roberto Galbiati comes from Milan in northern Italy.
Antonio Manetto comes from Naples in the south.
Together, they bring more than five decades of combined cooking experience to Acqua e Farina, using those different regional backgrounds as one of the restaurant's defining characteristics.
The partnership means a meal can move from fresh egg pasta to pizza, seafood, risotto, meat dishes and Italian desserts without attempting to represent only one part of Italy.
North Meets South
Italian cuisine is often discussed as though it were one unified cooking tradition.
In reality, regional differences can be substantial.
Northern Italy traditionally uses more butter, rice, stuffed pasta and richer sauces.
Southern Italy is much more closely associated with tomatoes, olive oil, durum-wheat pasta and, in Naples especially, pizza.
Acqua e Farina has both traditions sitting in the same kitchen.
Roberto's cooking brings the northern perspective.
Antonio brings Naples.
For more on the two chefs individually, read Roberto Galbiati: The Milanese Chef Who Finally Dropped Anchor in Singapore and Antonio Manetto: The Neapolitan Chef Who Made Singapore Home.
Their differences do not divide the menu.
They expand it.
Fresh Pasta Every Day
One of the clearest expressions of Roberto Galbiati's role is the pasta programme.
Acqua e Farina says its fresh pasta begins with just flour and eggs, with Roberto preparing pasta daily for both of the restaurant's locations.
That includes dishes such as handmade ravioli filled with ricotta and spinach, tagliatelle, seafood pastas and rotating specials.
The Rail Mall lunch menu, for example, currently includes Tagliatelle alla Bolognese, handmade Ravioli with Ricotta and Spinach, Cacio e Pepe, Puttanesca and other regional preparations.
Recent diners supplied to The Cuisine Journal also repeatedly mention squid ink pasta, ravioli, vongole, carbonara and seasonal pasta dishes among the restaurant's recurring orders.
The important distinction is that pasta is not treated simply as dried noodles with sauce.
For many dishes, making the pasta itself remains part of the kitchen's daily work.
Antonio Manetto and the Pizza Side
The other half of the restaurant's name is just as important.
Flour and water also become pizza dough.
That side of Acqua e Farina connects naturally to Antonio Manetto and his Neapolitan background.
Naples is inseparable from pizza culture, and Antonio's career has been built around the food of southern Italy before and after arriving in Singapore.
The restaurant's pizza selection ranges from relatively familiar tomato- and cheese-based combinations to white pizzas, folded pizzas and seasonal creations.
Recent diners frequently mention the folded pizza, or calzone-style preparation, alongside more conventional pizzas.
Pizza and pasta are therefore not competing identities here.
They represent the two sides of the partnership.
Carbonara Without Cream
Some of the restaurant's dishes are intentionally traditional.
The carbonara is a useful example.
Recent diners describe Acqua e Farina's version as relying on egg yolk, cheese and guanciale, rather than cream.
That distinction matters in Italian cooking.
Carbonara's texture comes from emulsifying egg, cheese, rendered pork fat and pasta water.
Adding cream is common internationally, but it changes the structure and flavour of the dish considerably.
Acqua e Farina's approach is therefore less about reinventing Italian classics and more about keeping the fundamentals recognisable.
The Specials Board Keeps Moving
The permanent menu is only part of the restaurant.
Acqua e Farina regularly runs seasonal specials and regional tasting nights, giving Roberto and Antonio room to cook beyond the usual pizza-and-pasta expectations.
A recent Roman tasting menu included dishes such as:
Gnocco alla Romana
Carciofi alla Romana
Paccheri alla Vaccinara
Saltimbocca alla Romana
Crostata di Visciole
A seafood tasting menu later moved through shrimp with nduja, scallops with saffron, linguine with sea urchin and an orata all'acqua pazza main course.
These events reveal something important about Acqua e Farina.
The restaurant may be known primarily for pizza and pasta, but the chefs are not restricted by them.
More Than Pizza and Pasta
The wider menu includes burrata, seafood, meat dishes, salads, vegetables and desserts alongside the two obvious staples.
Recent diners mention Burratina with Parma Ham, calamari, scallops, pork dishes and steak, as well as dessert platters containing tiramisu, panna cotta, crème brûlée and chocolate lava cake.
This makes Acqua e Farina closer to an Italian neighbourhood restaurant than a specialist pizzeria.
Pizza can be the meal.
Or it can simply be one part of it.
Rail Mall Came First
The original Acqua e Farina is located at:
400 Upper Bukit Timah Road, The Rail Mall, Singapore 678050.
It occupies a fairly unassuming stretch of shops beside the old railway corridor.
That setting has helped shape the restaurant's character.
This is not a central-city dining room dependent primarily on tourists or office traffic.
The Rail Mall outlet functions heavily as a neighbourhood restaurant, with families, couples and repeat diners returning over long periods.
Recent customer accounts repeatedly mention family dinners, birthdays and regular visits, with some describing the restaurant as a long-standing favourite in western Singapore.
The official Rail Mall restaurant currently operates Tuesday to Sunday for lunch and dinner, closing on Mondays except when Monday falls on a public holiday.
Then Came Keong Saik
Acqua e Farina eventually expanded with a second restaurant at 35A Keong Saik Road.
The newer space brings the same Roberto-and-Antonio partnership into a more central location near Chinatown and Tanjong Pagar.
The Keong Saik restaurant seats around 46 guests indoors and continues the same combination of handmade pasta, pizza and regional Italian cooking.
The expansion is significant because the restaurant did not respond by separating the chefs into two independent concepts.
The north-south combination remained intact.
Roberto continues preparing fresh pasta for both outlets.
Antonio continues bringing the southern Italian side of the menu.
The partnership scales with the restaurant.
Wine, Corkage and the Longer Italian Dinner
Acqua e Farina also leans into the social side of Italian dining.
Wine plays a visible role, and the restaurant runs complimentary corkage promotions on selected days.
At Keong Saik, the current BYOB programme allows guests to bring wine without corkage charges under the restaurant's stated conditions.
This fits the kind of restaurant Acqua e Farina has become.
Many customer accounts describe longer family dinners, celebrations and meals that progress into dessert and wine rather than quick pizza stops.
The restaurant's recurring birthday rituals — including staff singing and small complimentary sweets — appear particularly frequently in the supplied customer material.
Hospitality is part of the identity, not simply service logistics.
Vegetarian and Gluten-Free Options
The menu has also expanded to accommodate a broader range of diners.
Acqua e Farina offers vegetarian selections across pizza, pasta and other dishes, while gluten-free pizza and pasta options are also available.
The restaurant is careful to note, however, that its gluten-free dishes are prepared in kitchens where gluten is present, so cross-contact remains possible.
This makes the option useful for diners avoiding gluten by preference or certain dietary needs, but the restaurant explicitly distinguishes that from a fully gluten-free environment.
Two Chefs, Rather Than One House Style
Many restaurants built around two chefs eventually develop one shared culinary voice.
Acqua e Farina has done something slightly different.
It has kept the contrast visible.
Milan and Naples.
Fresh egg pasta and pizza.
Northern and southern Italy.
Roberto Galbiati and Antonio Manetto.
For the longer stories behind them, read Roberto Galbiati: The Milanese Chef Who Finally Dropped Anchor in Singapore and Antonio Manetto: The Neapolitan Chef Who Made Singapore Home.
Acqua e Farina works because neither chef has needed to erase where he came from.
The restaurant simply gives both regions a table.
Acqua e Farina Singapore: Quick Information
Restaurant: Acqua e Farina
Chefs: Roberto Galbiati and Antonio Manetto
Cuisine: Italian / Pizza / Fresh Pasta
Rail Mall Address: 400 Upper Bukit Timah Road, The Rail Mall, Singapore 678050
Telephone: +65 8499 7156
Rail Mall Hours: Tuesday–Sunday, 11:30am–2:30pm and 5:30pm–10pm
Website: Acqua e Farina
Keong Saik Address: 35A Keong Saik Road, Singapore 089142
Telephone: +65 9105 2377
Keong Saik: Tuesday–Saturday, 11:30am–2:30pm and 5:30pm–10:30pm; Sunday until 10pm
Meet the Chefs:
Roberto Galbiati — The Cuisine Journal
Antonio Manetto — The Cuisine Journal
Frequently Asked Questions
What kind of food does Acqua e Farina serve?
Acqua e Farina serves Italian food built around pizza, freshly made pasta and regional dishes from both northern and southern Italy.
Who are the chefs behind Acqua e Farina?
The restaurant is led by Roberto Galbiati from Milan and Antonio Manetto from Naples.
Read more about Roberto Galbiati here and Antonio Manetto here.
Does Acqua e Farina make fresh pasta?
Yes. The restaurant states that Chef Roberto prepares fresh pasta daily for both Acqua e Farina locations.
Where is the original Acqua e Farina?
The original restaurant is at 400 Upper Bukit Timah Road in The Rail Mall.
Does Acqua e Farina have another outlet?
Yes. Its second restaurant is at 35A Keong Saik Road near Chinatown and Tanjong Pagar.
What dishes is Acqua e Farina known for?
Recent diners frequently mention pizza, folded pizza, squid ink pasta, ravioli, vongole, burrata, carbonara and the restaurant's dessert platter.
Does Acqua e Farina have vegetarian options?
Yes. The restaurant has vegetarian options across its Italian menu and also offers a dedicated vegetarian selection.
Does Acqua e Farina offer gluten-free pasta or pizza?
Yes. Gluten-free pizza and pasta options are available, although the restaurant notes that its kitchen also handles regular wheat products and therefore cannot eliminate cross-contact.
