MARILYN LUM

Chinoiserie

Mother of two young boys, Marilyn Lum is Director of Lum Wen Kay Holdings, an investment company that manages F&B, hospitality and education assets. She also serves as Vice- President of Singapore Island Country Club’s main committee and Chairman of its F&B committee. For lunch, we have the seasonal menu from Chinoiserie by celebrity chef Justin Quek, located at The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands.

We begin with the seasonal Chef Platter, comprising smoked mackerel parfait with caviar, scallop cerviche with black truffles, uni with shrimp dumplings, and an oyster drizzled with ginger flower dressing. “This is so prettily plated that I don’t want to eat it! The mix of flavours meld nicely without one overpowering the other,” she gushes.

The main dish is a medley of seafood — sea bream, Hokkaido scallops and langoustine — in clam and herb fondue, with edible flowers, daikon and a dollop of pureed potatoes. “The different flavours complement one another and I like the unexpected addition of the daikon, and that the scallops are juicy and not overcooked,” says Marilyn, who later sops up the delicious fondue with her bread.

Rounding off the beautiful meal with a hearty finish are the seasonal white asparagus cooked with Spanish ham in a beurre blanc sauce and Justin’s signature lobster Hokkien noodles with generous helpings of pork lard. “I love white asparagus and the sauce is, again, perfect for soaking up its goodness with bread. The noodles are delicious, but the portion is too large for me!” Marilyn says with a laugh, adding that she sees “a Western influence in every dish, from the presentation to the pairing of sauces”.

Our wine pairing with the crustacean, fish and dim sum is a refreshing Weingut Schloss Vollrads Riesling 2017 from Rheingau, Germany. This particular bottle was specially created with Justin Quek’s initials “JQ” on the label.

BOLD DISH

“The tagliolini with butter and white truffles over at Nello in New York is off the menu and typically costs just under US$300 a plate! It is basically a fresh bowl of egg pasta in a simple butter-based sauce with shavings of white truffle. The dish represents everything that I find exciting about food, culture and business. To have the audacity to charge such a premium, while using such a simplistic approach to showcase one of the finest ingredients available, is just bold, and shows absolute confidence of skill.”

FAVE WINE

“Giuseppe Quintarelli Valpolicella Classico Riserva 1990.”

FINE DINING

“The dishes that stood out for me at the Al Muntaha, located at the Burj Al Arab Jumeirah hotel in Dubai, were the Imperial Beluga caviar and the blue lobster.”

“To combat the richness of the food, I will usually order some chilli padi with black vinegar”