La Hambar Modern Romanian Cusine

The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

A Manor, a Forest, and a Philosophy

La Hambar sits inside Singureni Manor — an equestrian retreat set in the forests of Singureni, Giurgiu County — where the restaurant shares its grounds with horses' stables and a large kitchen garden cultivated entirely by the team. The setting is deliberate: minimalist, cozy, and understated, designed, as the restaurant puts it, to avoid disturbing the horses nearby. It is a place where time, in their own words, is "relative."

The concept was brought to life by Cristina, who describes it as a welcome for "people of good taste and good manners, people who love nature and understand food as a form of art." Her vision is less a restaurant in the conventional sense and more a framework for self-discovery — one that earned La Hambar a Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence in 2023, a recognition that speaks to the seriousness of both the cellar and the overall dining proposition.

Chef Alexandru Dumitru

At the stove is Chef Alexandru Dumitru, whose culinary philosophy is rooted in the countryside upbringing he spent at his grandparents' farm — seasonal, honest, slow. He has since cooked in kitchens around the world, but the guiding principle has remained constant: "Make the best of what you have."

His approach to modern Romanian cuisine is one of revival rather than reinvention. Traditions and rituals are brought into a contemporary frame, shaped by the season, the landscape, and whatever the forest and garden are offering at that moment. Foraging plays a significant role. Every season carries its own story, and the menu shifts accordingly — meaning no two visits are quite the same.

Chef Dumitru describes his cooking as a personal form of spirituality. "I have a dialogue with each dish," he says, "and I want dishes to speak to people as well and tell them interesting or comforting stories." He does not follow rules so much as break them, guided by creativity and instinct, and a belief in simplicity and authenticity.

What to Expect at the Table

The menu at La Hambar is designed as a layered cultural discovery — dishes that may trigger a sense of recognition, a half-remembered taste from childhood, before revealing an unexpected contrast or bouquet of flavors underneath a deceptively simple surface. The kitchen draws from herbs, spices, and vegetables grown in the manor's own garden, with the broader landscape of Romania informing what appears on the plate from one season to the next.

This is modern Romanian cuisine practiced with genuine conviction: farm-to-table not as a marketing label but as a lived reality, in a setting where the forest, the horses, and the soil are as much a part of the experience as anything on the plate.