Deep in Conversation
Craftsmanship served as the centrepiece of Tatler Singapore and Johnnie Walker’s second instalment of the Blue Vault Dinners
Mention the word “craftsmanship” and diverse interpretations come to mind. Some may think of the time-honoured art of sushi-making, or the complications of a timepiece, while others may consider the level of computer-generated imagery, or CGI, in an epic fantasy film like The Lord of the Rings as the peak of digital artisanship. Then there is the masterfully crafted, full-bodied spirit of Johnnie Walker Blue Label, which was the catalyst for in-depth conversations and greater culinary appreciation at the Blue Vault Dinners, a series of exclusive dining experiences curated by Tatler Singapore and Johnnie Walker.
For the second instalment of this roundtable experience,
Tatler’s deputy editor Dana Koh hosted four thought leaders from the worlds of hospitality, luxury goods, art and design at Nobu Singapore to discuss craftsmanship and mastery: Hunn Wai, artist, adjunct assistant professor, and director of industrial and meta design at Lanzavecchia + Wai design studio; Nejla Matam-finn, CEO and co-founder of pre-loved luxury digital platform The Fifth Collection; Olivia Lee, award-winning multidisciplinary industrial designer and founder of her namesake studio; and Peter Draminsky, regional vice-president and general manager of Four Seasons Hotel Singapore.
“When we think about craftsmanship, it’s a lot with the soft touch and high tech,” said Draminsky, when asked about what craftsmanship means to him and the hotel. Well-crafted experiences, well-designed spaces and well-trained staff are just some of the examples that both Draminsky and Four Seasons pride themselves in delivering, as well as the “craftsmanship of a chef”, he added, gesturing towards the first course that arrived at the table—fresh French oysters prepared Nobu style, with each succulent piece deftly marinated and served with sea urchin, caviar, lemon juice and Maui salsa, which we were encouraged to pair with a sip of whisky right after.
Crafted by executive chef, Hideki Maeda, the evening’s menu sought to showcase some of the restaurant’s signature dishes to bring out the depth of flavour with Johnnine Walker Blue Label—from the delectably sweet and charred black cod miso that many travel far and wide for, to the yellowtail sashimi with jalapeño and tuna sashimi salad with Matsuhisa dressing, served alongside a refreshing yuzu-infused Johnnie Walker Blue Label cocktail. Also paired with whisky—both neat and on the rocks—were two off-menu dishes created specially for the Blue Vault Dinners series: a rack of lamb with Johnnie Walker Blue Label-infused vanilla miso sauce, and a deconstructed banana and mango dessert with a plethora of textures, temperatures and smoky, sweet flavours.
“If you think about it, everything is craft,” said Wai. “Your iphone is craft—a supercomputer in your pocket; your car is craft, your watch is craft, food is craft, urban planning is craft. There are many scales [of craft], from a Fabergé egg all the way to the satellites that are floating in space right now; they are all amazing manifestations of human ingenuity and I think that is something to be recognised. And to bring craft over to the so-called metaverse, it’s something that needs almost a new sensitivity to appreciate.”
Speaking of new sensitivities, and the importance of tactility and tangibility in an increasingly virtual world, Lee added: “I think what’s interesting about this new dichotomy between physical and virtual craft is that the aspirations are very different. When we talk about craftsmanship, it’s really the pursuit of excellence, always perfecting and refining service, execution and even material. In the metaverse, however, you’re in this world where anything is possible—it’s almost like the craftsmanship comes from restraint. What makes something virtual exciting and believable are the tiny imperfections that mimic real life, to give it a warmth and humanness.”
With luxury goods, craftsmanship and marks of humanness—like patina on a handbag—at the heart of her business, Matam-finn’s day-to-day job fuses tech and touch seamlessly... and stylishly. Wielding a sharp eye and sharper artificial intelligence (AI) for authenticating vintage and pre-loved fashion, The Fifth Collection has elevated the business of pre-loved fashion and e-commerce with the help of Entrupy. “It takes time for a curator in a museum or an auction house to authenticate a work of art and oftentimes, that person is specialised in one type of art, artist or, in the case of fashion, brand,” said Matam-finn. “When we launched in 2014, it was very important for us that every item that was curated through us got authenticated. You can train human beings, but at the same time, there was AI. We came across a company, Entrupy, that was still in its infancy, met and seed-funded them, and became the first company in Asia to use it. Essentially, what we do is that we take, say, five pictures of the surface of a handbag, and those pictures are magnified 260 times and sent to a database of millions of pictures of the same type of handbag. And thanks to that database, we can tell you if you have a real or a fake. The beauty of that is, the more we scan, the more that database becomes close to perfection.”
To what he called the “beautiful cloud of data”, Wai raised his glass for the final toast of the night.