SINGAPORE — It was an almost curious sight. Amidst the crowds of aunties in the wet market at Bedok South Blk 16 stands a stylishly cut figure in black, with sunglasses perched on his head. That figure is the owner-chef of DOMVS by Gabriel Fratini restaurant — yes, the man himself.

The 58-year-old moved around the market briskly with easy familiarity, speaking to stall-owners sometimes in Mandarin and Cantonese, or simply using hand gestures to signal his orders.

At Lau’s Seafood stall, he even went behind the counter to help himself to the fish, put in the money and got his own change. “I’m friends with Mr Lau — he knows me well and trusts me,” shared the Italian chef, adding that sometimes it gets so busy at the stall that he would assist for a while. “I have aunties asking, ‘Ang moh! You sell fish here?’ and they would then tell me their orders!”

Fratini has been going to this wet market every day for the past three years, since he set up Fratini La Trattoria at Greenwood Avenue when he returned to Singapore with his Singaporean Chinese wife, after working overseas for 20 years, as his son was preparing to enlist for National Service.

If you’re thinking that Greenwood is a long way from Bedok South, he explained a friend told him about this market and the quality of the produce here. “I came to check it out, I really like it — I can get everything from fish to fruit; the food is really fresh and I get along with the stall-owners so I do not mind the distance. I’ve tried other markets but they are not as good.”

Fratini La Trattoria became popular for its no-menu concept, where Fratini simply serves a tasting menu based on his market haul every morning. But Fratini sold his Greenwood restaurant earlier this year as he was looking to do something “bigger”. In a fortuitous turn of events, he was approached by Sheraton Tower’s general manager to take on DOMVS — the very Italian restaurant he first started out as a head chef when he arrived in Singapore in 1988. “Yes, full circle,” he chuckled. “I will probably retire here, I think.”

Even though he has moved to a bigger and more upmarket space with DOMVS, he continues his tradition visiting the wet market every morning and presenting his food omakase-style, where diners let him decide the menu. His dishes are decided by what he gets from the markets — you could be getting grilled crayfish one day or stuffed squid the next.

“The biggest difference in my food now is I have a more spacious kitchen to experiment and a larger fridge to store more veggies so I don’t need to buy vegetables every day!” said Fratini.

But he obtains his seafood — a variety of fish from sole to flounder as well as squid, crabs prawns — from the market. He also gets pork, chicken and lamb here, and pops over to the next block to He Sheng Vegetable Supplier for most of his greens and other vegetables before heading to the fruit stall a few doors down.

“In Italy, we cook with whatever local and fresh ingredients we have, and where better than going to the wet market here?” replied Fratini when asked about his habit. “Even in Italy, you will only use Parma ham if you’re in Parma. If you are in other parts, you’d just use whatever good ham there is from the butchers.”

Fratini does get his other ingredients from suppliers, such as beef from Australia and fresh tuna from Japan. He also uses Rustichella d’Abruzzo premium pasta and cheeses from Italy.

“But I enjoy this, you know,” Fratini said as he loaded his colourful striped Vespa with oversized cooler bags filled with his buys. “I like the energy from the market and seeing what is available. And while scooting back, I will think about what I can cook with what I bought.”