“If you are brave enough to say goodbye, life will reward you with a new hello.”

10 years ago in January, I was given a daunting challenge. To launch a new food magazine when there were already several in the market. Together with our then creative director and editorial team, epicure was born in April 2010.

Now, 118 issues later, I can safely say that being the founding editor of epicure has been the most fabulous experience of my career. 10 years ago, we set out with the aim to tell vivid stories through engaging text and arresting pictures. The stories as we now know them are shared through multiple channels apart from print, including video, e-newsletter, website and social media platforms, but the aim remains the same — to deliver high quality content that matters.

Through the steadfast work of our team, we have garnered several awards along the way, including Food Media of the Year by the Media Publishers Association of Singapore. Our readership base has also expanded geographically beyond Singapore, thanks to our distribution through Singapore Airlines. We franchised an Indonesia edition in 2013, started our own office in Indonesia in 2015, and now our presence there, in particular in Bali, is a sign that we are moving in the right direction. epicure has just been launched in Vietnam through a local media partner and I can’t wait to see the publication being made available in other countries.

With mixed emotions, I leave you with this issue as I take on a new challenge. I will miss my team terribly (the withdrawal symptoms have already begun even before I pen this note), but mostly, I leave with lots of gratitude. epicure is, however, much more than just the sum of one editor. Our advertisers and partners have contributed to its success. And it’s for you, our readers, whom we labour and craft our stories for. And I’m sure my successor, Esther Lew, will carry the torch with pride.

Happy reading and till we meet again.