It is usually the case that financial development alerts a parallel ascension in the native eating panorama. And nowhere has this been extra evident than in the Singaporean fine-dining scene, which has picked up significantly in the final decade, particularly with the addition of the Michelin Guide, which has forged a starry sheen on the metropolis state’s culinary portfolio.
The quantity of eating places in the nation has additionally swelled in tandem with the elevated urge for food for brand spanking new epicurean experiences. Between 2010 to 2020, the quantity of eating places in Singapore rose from 8,000 to round 13,700 F&B institutions, marking an almost 50% improve.
This makes attaining the No 1 restaurant spot in a market that’s extremely aggressive and massively crowded an enormous accomplishment, to say the least. And no restaurant has achieved this fairly as efficiently as French fine-dining hang-out Odette, positioned at the National Gallery Singapore.
Odette has persistently been named one of the world’s greatest eating places and is now definitively thought-about the top restaurant in Singapore.
Launched in 2015 by acclaimed French chef-owner Julien Royer, Odette has gone from power to power since its inception, topping the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants listing in 2019 and 2020 and hitting the No 8 spot in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants listing in 2021, the highest ranked restaurant in Singapore. The restaurant can be a three-Michelin starred eatery, placing it in an enviable, vaunted place with a choose few eating places round the world.
What is maybe extra attention-grabbing about Odette – for a lot of Malaysians at least – is that Royer’s top two personnel in the kitchen are each Malaysians!
Meet Odette’s government chef Levin Lau and head chef Adam Wan, each Malaysians from humble backgrounds who’ve labored their technique to the top of one of the world’s greatest eating places.
Who they’re
Lau is the government chef at Odette and traces his roots to a small Chinese village in Kampung Batu 5 in Dungun, Terengganu the place he grew up.
“In that area, we were known to embody a relatively Malay culture, which is why I can speak Malay very well,” says Lau.
Executive chef Lau manages the kitchen stock and works with suppliers from throughout the world to get the greatest produce.Lau began cooking from main faculty, and would typically assist his mom prepare dinner Chinese or Malay meals for the household’s each day meals. Gradually, he grew to turn into extraordinarily aware of the spices and different components used for each cuisines.
“My mother showed me how food can taste so different with different cooking methods. And so from a very young age, it brought me great joy to cook for everyone,” he says.
Odette’s head chef Wan in the meantime grew up in a really down-to-earth dwelling; his father was a carpenter and his mom a tailor.
“My parents were both extremely humble and hard-working. I was mostly taken care of by my grandmother, and I spent my days following her to the market, helping her to start the wood fire at home and watching her whip up my favourite dishes like dumplings and wonton soup,” says Wan.
It was Wan’s formidable grandmother who deeply impressed upon him the significance of meals – not simply as a type of sustenance, however as a manner of unifying folks.
“My grandmother was always the one who would single-handedly cook for the whole family so that everybody’s stomachs would be filled when they came home.
“She showed me that food can be the binding force that brings everybody together to enjoy each other’s company,” says Wan.
When they grew up, each Lau and Wan determined to pursue culinary arts in Singapore and thru a fortuitous chain of occasions, ended up assembly the redoubtable Royer.
“After my last job, I decided to join one of the most luxurious hotels in Singapore called St Regis. From there, I met chef Julien and we worked side by side for almost 3.5 years before moving on together to Jaan Singapore. Our journey in the hotel line came to an end when chef Julien decided to open Odette in 2015 and opened the door for me to work with him there,” explains Lau.
As the head chef, Wan ensures that each single meal that comes out of the kitchen is ideal.Wan in the meantime labored with Royer in Jaan as a commis chef and so impressed Royer that when he opened Odette in 2015, he provided him a place as a sous chef.
Both say Royer’s affect on their profession and even the manner they give thought to meals has been extra essential than they may presumably have imagined.
“Working alongside chef Julien since the day I met him in 2007, I have learned what it means to lead by example, to stay open-minded, and to always learn from others, regardless of our positions.
“It is a very different culture here at Odette, where we are always free to share our experiences with one another, where we are always heard,” says Lau.
Wan in the meantime says: “Chef Julien has played a pivotal role in shaping me to become a better chef, teaching me to cook with my heart and to bring authenticity to the table.”
What they do
So what do Lau and Wan truly do all day at one of the world’s greatest eating places? Surely, there are expectations at play and a complete host of duties on their shoulders?
Yes, there are. But having labored with Royer for thus a few years and hitting their stride at Odette, each are finely attuned to the calls for of the job and have perfected their ability units in the previous seven years.
Royer has been a robust affect on each the Malaysian chefs.“I start the day by discussing with chef Julien the finer details of the menu, briefing both the kitchen and service team and making sure the entire team is on top of all special requests from the guests of the day. I am also in charge of making sure every detail on the plate is accurate and of the utmost quality.
“My role is to prioritise the satisfaction of every single one of our guests’ experience. To do this well, I also have a team who work tirelessly in the kitchen to ensure that we deliver only the best to our guests.
“As the head chef, I do my best to create a healthy and happy working environment, with a high standard of discipline as I recognise the importance of a team who truly enjoys working together,” says Wan.
Lau in the meantime is liable for overseeing the restaurant’s logistics every day and managing kitchen operations.
Integral to his position is sourcing components from throughout the world and ensuring the eatery’s stock is in tip-top form.
“One thing I’ve learned is the importance of managing food costs as well as cultivating relationships with suppliers all around the world, to ensure that the produce that we import is of the highest quality,” he says.
In phrases of the precise meals, Wan says the crew features “like a puzzle” the place each particular person holds the clue to forming a complete dish and consequently bands collectively to finish a meal.
Every dish at Odette is sort of a puzzle that’s assembled collectively by everybody in the crew. Pictured right here is the Hokkaido king crab dish that Wan created.
“At Odette, we work together as a team to create most of the menu together. We believe that every staff brings a slice of their beliefs, passion and experience to the table, and comes together to create something special – much like a puzzle, where we need each other’s input to create a bigger canvas,” Wan explains.
Wan and Lau have additionally been liable for creating some of the dishes on Odette’s menu. For Odette’s fifth anniversary, Wan created a dish of Hokkaido king crab with a refreshing cucumber-tarragon sorbet and a skinny layer of Riesling-tosaka jelly.
“Crab trimmings were also wrapped in a traditional dumpling (a favourite food of mine growing up) and served in a clean crab broth made from the shell,” explains Wan.
Lau in the meantime says one of the dishes he has created is the Bafun Uni, a daring reimagination of one of Odette’s iconic signature dishes.
“This dish features a harmonising rich creamy uni offset by smoked iwashi tartare, a delicate crunch of piquant finger lime, and Nashi pear, topped with a cloud of uni-infused mussel foam and Kristal caviar,” says Lau.
The Bafun uni is a dish that Lau created for Odette’s fifth anniversary.
Both Wan and Lau agree that their Malaysian backgrounds have helped them significantly in navigating the intricacies of working in a French fine-dining restaurant positioned in the coronary heart of South-East Asia.
“We utilise many spices, herbs, and citrus flavours native to our geographical location in our cooking. My Malaysian background has definitely helped in terms of identifying flavours, familiarity with spices, and utilising the best Asian cooking techniques, especially in cooking broths,” admits Wan.
As they each come from Malaysia, they share a robust bond fortified by their roots.
“It is nice to have a fellow Malaysian on the team. We update each other on news from Malaysia and take references from the ingredients and cooking styles from Malaysia together,” says Lau.Sense of satisfaction
Ultimately although, each Lau and Wan say there’s a enormous sense of pleasure that they really feel working in one of the greatest eating places in the world, particularly given their humble backgrounds.
Lau has labored with the celebrated Royer for over a decade and says it’s from him that he has learnt learn how to lead by instance.
It is telling of how far they’ve come and the realisation of their potential and goals.
“For me and even for our team in Odette, working together in one of the best restaurants in the world is a dream come true. The journey has not been as easy as many others might think, but we have learned a lot as a team and we are always striving to do better,” says Lau.
While the Singapore eating scene has turn into so cosmopolitan that it’s far simpler for a fine-dining restaurant to thrive in Singapore versus Malaysia, each Lau and Wan say the potential in Malaysia is limitless and so they foresee that issues will solely get higher right here.
“Part of the reason why it is much easier to establish a fine-dining restaurant in Singapore is because of the ease of imports. But in the last few years, the fine-dining scene in Malaysia has grown by leaps and bounds. I believe it will eventually grow to the level that Singapore is at,” says Lau.
Wan says one of the limitations that Singapore has (that Malaysia doesn’t) is house and the indisputable fact that 95% of components need to be imported, one more reason he believes the Malaysian restaurant trade’s potential is manifold.
Both Lau and Wan say they’re extremely fortunate to be working at Odette, however will ponder the risk of coming again to Malaysia, ought to the proper alternative current itself.While Lau and Wan are each content material and grateful for his or her careers and lives in Singapore now, each have by no means forgotten their humble roots and say coming again to Malaysia shouldn’t be out of the query for them.
“If I am presented with an opportunity in Malaysia, I don’t see why not. I will always be grateful for my roots in Malaysia. For now, I still have a long way to go and learn here in Singapore, and we’ll see where this leads me to,” says Wan.
In the future, each have goals of bringing Malaysia to even larger heights.
For Wan, this implies persevering with to do a great job and epitomising the self-discipline and abilities of a brand new technology of Malaysian chefs who’re making the nation proud.
For Lau, in the meantime, his hope is that ultimately he will pay homage to the conventional meals of Malaysia.
“I hope that in the future, I will be able to start my own restaurant together with my culinary buddies and bring back past heritage flavours of Malaysia, so I can preserve and share them with generations to come,” he says.
