CULINARY ARTS

Two celebrated chefs in Singapore speak of how they blend their twin passions for art and food in their restaurants.

The gastronomy scene is one locals are familiar with. We have the Michelin guide, food apps on our phones and our conversations inevitably revolve around our next meal. But just how much do we know about the chefs? Do they have other creative passions?

We speak to two chefs who each share a similar love for art. We’re not referring to the dishes they create during working hours, but instead, what they do outside of work. While Gabriel Fratini, owner and chef of Domvs by Gabriel Fratini at Sheraton Towers Singapore could well be a recognised painter in his own right, Leong Chee Yeng, executive chef at Jade, The Fullerton Hotel Singapore, continues to hone his craft as a ceramic artist and dough sculptor.

IExecutive chef at Jade, The Fullerton Hotel Singapore

grew up in a family of artists. My brothers are all artists, and being the youngest, I always looked up to them and followed what they did. Having studied in a Chinese school, we learnt Chinese calligraphy and used ink, brushes and paper.

Somehow, I always knew I would be a chef one day. I used my calligraphy skills to ‘paint’ on plates. By then, I had learnt to make sugar, butter, ice and dough sculptures.

I also picked up pottery. It started when I represented Pan Pacific hotel at the Food & Hotel Asia exhibition in 1990. In 1993, I decided to make my own plate to showcase my petit four dish. One of my brothers who went to pottery school then taught me how to make my own plate. It turned out looking like the sole of a rubber shoe, and I didn’t use it for the competition.

But that got me hooked and once I started, I couldn’t stop. I even bought a kiln for my home. I made teacups, bowls, everything. I did want to go for pottery classes and I found one in Kampong Glam Community Club. I’m now a member there. I go around twice a week, it’s part of my life. I enjoy making pottery that has texture. I discovered an interesting method for doing this – I run the clay under water for a second, and it cracks. Some methods of painting are difficult as some types of paint don’t stick on the clay. I’ve painted on paper, plates, and now, I paint my ceramic work. I’ve made over 1,000 pieces and my most treasured piece is one I made for my daughter. It has Chinese words, which mean ‘ double happiness’, and I designed the characters to represent a boy and a girl. The mountains in the background mean ‘ I have the mountain, and the mountain has me’. I want my daughter to know that she will always have me. I am the mountain she can lean and rely on. This will be her wedding gift. She is still young, though, and doesn’t know I’ve made this for her.

LEONG CHEE YENG

IOwner and chef of Domvs by Gabriel Fratini at Sheraton Towers Singapore

started painting when I was about 12. My father wanted me to be a bricklayer or mechanic, and my art teacher encouraged me to go to an art school, but that meant I had to study other subjects too. I wasn’t skilled in the academic department, instead excelling only in sports and painting. My family was also too poor to send me to college. I thought to myself, ‘I won’t have problems feeding myself if I learn how to cook’. And so I went to culinary school when I was 14.

After graduation, I worked in Switzerland, France, UK, Italy and Hong Kong. I made the move to Singapore in 1988 to open Domvs. I did a collection of six paintings for the restaurant and we made prints of them as a ‘thank you’ gift for diners. A year later, when Sheraton renovated the rooms, they took 20 of my original paintings, reprinted them and placed them in the 400odd rooms. The prints are now gone, but they kept two paintings, which are still hanging in the lobby.

When I first started painting, I wanted to mimic Van Gogh’s work. He was my favourite artist. But as time went by, I painted whatever I felt like. Today, I paint everything, from faces and houses to scenery. I don’t use brushes. I take the acrylic paint with my fingers and paint. Sometimes, I use plaster to add texture. I guess I’m allowed to explore all forms of painting because it’s not my occupation. If I had to do it for a living, then perhaps I would specialise in something. Funnily enough, while I treat my plates as canvases, I don’t paint food and dishes I’ve created.

I’ve probably painted over 1,000 paintings, and I don’t know where most of them are as I’ve given many away. But it doesn’t matter to me. I keep the ones I love. My favourite painting to date is kept at my house in Italy. It’s a painting of my grandfather when he was still alive, I did it in 1991. He has passed on, and the painting is how I remember him. ¬

GABRIEL FRATINI “I don’t use brushes. I take the acrylic paint with my fingers and paint.”