A STAR IS BORN
Singapore will welcome its own Michelin guide in the second half of 2016, the third Asian country to do so after Japan (2008) and China (Hong Kong and Macau, 2009). While the guide’s contents are as mysterious as the anonymous inspectors for now, what is known is that international inspectors (and possibly some local ones) have been and are eating their way through Singapore’s top restaurants.
Michelin Guides international director, Michael Ellis, has also hinted that Singapore’s street and hawker food will have a “major role”.
We put on our food critic caps to gaze into the culinary crystal ball for a few predictions. Japan has the most three-starred Michelin restaurants in the world, with about 30. France has 26. Quoted in Vanity Fair’s November 2015 issue, Ellis notes: “There’s a great symbiosis between France and Japan. Both countries have fantastic ingredients. Both countries have an almost religious appreciation for produce and the seasons’ ingredients. Both have tremendous technique.”
Based on that clue, Shinji by Kanesaka and Hashida Sushi – helmed by their namesakes and much revered by local diners – may be in the running for at least two stars each.
Given that the “personality of the chef ’s cooking” is a criterion, we also predict that chef-owner and independent restaurants will be on
Sky on 57, under the Les Amis alumnus and celebrity chef Justin Quek, delivers fusion cuisine to well-heeled punters.