Prepare to be Amazed
When culinary consultant and cater er Elsa van der Nest presented her version of the Lunar New Year lo hei salad, she had even the most jaded socialites talking for days. The 100 percent organic starter featured herbs and flowers do used with a sweet pomegranate molasses dressing. She served it in an antique blue and white bowl the size of a basin, and handed her guests– already war med up with champagne and canapes – a pair of silver chopsticks for tossing the salad.
For another Lunar New Year dinner, van der Nest served goose with little orange son a bed of noodles tossed with French and Russian mushrooms, and spread out on an antique silver platter. Traditional, yes, but with a dollop of uplifting extravagance.
Of course, one must get invited to one of van der Nest’s parties to experience the full ‘Elsa Effect’, as some members of the party set put it. Those who don’t, however, can enlist in the Elsa van der Nest masterclass, conducted in her home, which initiates a budding hostess – or host – into the art of giving parties. Failing that, one could still visit van der Nest’ s Ins tag ram account where master class schedules are announced and images from her latest events are posted.
She invited me to her amazing house one afternoon, and as we settled down for tea, brought me backstage at the exclusive events she has master minded, walking me through the tricks of the trade, the backbreaking work, and, of course, the triumphs. Here are the highlights.
MarcAlmagro: Elsa, will you take me back to the day you first came to Singapore?
Elsa van der Nest: Well, I sold my restaurants and my cooke ry school in South Africa to move to Singapore. I met my former husband, in an art
gallery at Prince’s Building in Hong Kong. But as I was returning to Cape Town two days later, we decided to meet for lunch, dinner, lunch, dinner. I flew back home to my school and I got a call from Johan on a Tuesday morning. He said ,“What are you doing for the weekend?” I said, “I’m going to see my foodie friends, and we’re going to stay at a friend’s boutique hotel. He said ,“Come to Hong Kong for the weekend instead .” I just got back on a Sunday, opened my school on a Monday, and flew back to Hong Kongo na Thursday. I stayed there until Sunday and flew backMonday.
Almagro: Seewhatlovecando? Van der Nest: I’m very adventurous. It’s not about love, it’s about the adventure. (Laughs.)
And then we traveled backwards and forwards backwards. Johan was with an English law firm in Hong Kong (he’s a qualified barrister in the UK). I moved herein November 2002. Then I was headhunted to be the culinary director of Raffles Hotel’s cookery school. A cookery school director, and thenSARSarrived.
Then at the age of 40, I fell pregnant with twins. They all told me I had to stop work, and I did. Six months after the twins were born, David Yip from Marshall Cavendish approached me. You must know David? He said, “Can you please do an Italian and French book for us?” So, there I was, six months after my children’s birth, writing two books at the same time. We did all the photography in my house–withtwosix-month-old babies around.
After four years, I couldn’t stand being at home. My children had grown; I felt that it was time to move on. In South Africa, I had two restaurants. I did all the cakes. I did the catering for all the top events. I had a cooke ry school where I trained young people to go into the industry. It was full on.
Almagro: What a major change. You must miss being part of the action.
Van der Nest: I did. Some of the students that have come through my school are now the top restaurant professionals in South Africa. They did six months at the academy with me, and then six months in the industry.
We did the state dinner for Nelson Mandela when Bill Clinton came; it was on a wine farm and we worked out of a refrigerator truck. I did the catering for golfer Ernie Els and all those sports people from around the world. We di di ton the Rupert & Rothschild wine farm, starting with a picnic on the lawn followed by a five-course dinner. My kitchen was in the wine cellar among the wine barrels. At two o’clock in the morning, we did a barbecue. Can you imagine it? From a big magnificent picnic out on the lawn, to a spectacular five-course wedding dinner, and a barbecue at two o’clock in the morning? I couldn’t walk three days after that.
Marc: I can imagine. Yeah, that’s tough. So, Singapore is easy compared to what you have done.
Van der Nest: Yes, to a degree. But we’ ve done some challenging things here as well. We did the food for a very interesting event for Au de mars Piguetatt he old railway station. For four days. We had no running water there, so we had to prepare all the food at the Armenian Church and ship it down to the venue. We also did an event at the rooftop of Liat Towers. Before the guests arrived, the heavens opened and it poured. I had no roof, no cover over my food. Thank God it stopped, but we had no water and I had no light.
We did the catering for Crazy Rich Asians (location shoots) with Diego (Chiarini) and Stephane (Colleoni) of OSO Ristorante. (They were my partners in my catering business.) I ran the cold kitchen and worked in the Japanese kitchen on my own, while they did the hot food. We had to do breakfast so I would go to the baker on Killiney Road at midnight and pack breakfast. We would be sitting on the pavement on Killiney Road at four o’clock in the morning, discussing the next morning’s breakfast. Then I would goto O SO, open up the place at 4.30 in the morning, work again until 11 o’clock at night. It took us all a month to recover after that. It was three weeks of solid filming.
The night of the wrap party upon the roof at Fullerton was the first time in my life that I wore slipslops to a party. We couldn’t wear shoes; we couldn’t put anything on our feet. They were sore.
Almagro: And it hasn’t slowed you down one bit, because you’ re still…,
Van der Nest: No.Wejustkeep going. Last week, I had three classes–Monday,Wednesday, Friday–herefrom10inthe morning to about three. So-
Alma gro:Now,g ive me a bit about the course. What does it comprise?
Van der Nest: Idotwotothree masterclasses a week. If you take a look at what I put up every month on my Ins tag ram, I do Mediterranean, Moroccan, French, and Italian – that’s where you get the theme. I have done Cooking with French Birds for the French master class, and A Touch of Spice for the Middle Eastern.
I take seven participants at a time. It’s a culinary lifestyle masterclass. They come here and we spend three hours in the kitchen. But before they come, I decorate the table in the morning and then we do all the food. We make it beautiful, decorated, and put it all on the table.
Then they sit down for lunch with a SoulSister’s gin and tonic, and then they leave at about 2.30 or 3 o’clock. That has set a very interesting turn in Singapore because ladies who were never interested in food, but came to be entertained, now come all the time because they love it. And when they go home, they are in their kitchens. Almagro: Finally.
Van der Nest: Yes, finally, they are in a kitchen. P