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Dîner en Blanc Singapore, a Q&A with Clemen Chiang

The first time I had ever heard of Diner en Blanc was when a friend forwarded me one of the many YouTube videos of the 2010 dinner held in the courtyard of the Louvre. Watching it, I was astounded. And I really badly wanted to have been there. It looked like such a fun event. And the concept? Combining great food and wine, sartorial splendor, and a flashmob? Genius. So, when it was announced earlier this year that Dîner en Blanc was coming to Singapore, I immediately signed up. I also (shamelessly) wrote to the organiser, Clemen Chiang, asking him if he could interview for this site. I was thrilled that he said yes. Continue Reading →

A beer lover’s guide to Shanghai

In Shanghai, there has been a sudden and recent explosion of “boutique” beer bars and microbreweries. It appears that for both locals and foreigners alike, the current drinking trend is beer. However, this is not just your average easy drinking beer like Tsingtao or a local pilsner. Everyone is mad for premium, imported brews–the harder to find and more unusual the better. While the classic Paulaner beer gardens of Shanghai remain respectably busy, the places that are really packing them in are exactly these “boutique” beer bars and microbreweries. Continue Reading →

VOTE VOTE VOTE

Okay, so I’m updating the blog a lot sooner than I thought I’d be. But that’s only because today’s message is SUPER IMPORTANT. Which is that voting for the 2012/2013 edition of The Miele Guide is now open! Over the past 5 years, my business partners, colleagues and I (not at Chubby Hubby but at Ate) have produced 4 annual editions of what is still the only independent and regional restaurant guide to Asia. The guide has grown from strength to strength each year, gaining more and more credibility within the industry–and we very much owe that to you guys. We’re very grateful for your participation. Almost 20,000 of you took part in the public vote last year. And with thousands of restaurants across 18 countries vying for just 500 spots in our guide (not to mention the Asia’s Top 20 rankings), every vote counts.

Continue Reading →

Singapore Takeout

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Yesterday afternoon, I had the great pleasure of attending the local (Singapore) launch of the Singapore International Culinary Exchange (SPICE for short) and the unveiling of the Singapore Takeout. The Singapore Takeout is a custom-fabricated shipping container that, with the push of a button, transforms into a pop-up kitchen. This flying kitchen has been engineered so that it can be used for both demonstrations as well as a proper, working pop-up restaurant kitchen. Continue Reading →

CNY Sous-Vide

Over the past few months, the way that I have been cooking has changed irrevocably. You see, late last year, I picked up a device from Singapore’s newest, coolest and easily largest kitchen store, ToTT, that has not only changed the way that I cook but also what I am cooking.

The device is a SousVide Supreme, which is something you quite simply need to use to realize just how revolutionary it can be for a home chef. I am sure by now most of us are familiar with seeing the words “sous-vide” on restaurant menus.

(Keep reading)

Mod Sin & The World Expo

A few months ago, I was approached by a friend with a really interesting request. Would I be interested in shooting photographs of local food to be showcased as part of an interactive exhibition in the Singapore Pavilion at this year’s World Expo in Shanghai? Of course I said yes. Repeatedly. The 2010 World Expo, which opens in just a few days, is expected to draw some 70 million visitors. To have my pictures seen by even a small percentage of these people, supposedly coming from all corners of the globe, would be pretty darned awesome.

Plus, I had an pretty immediate idea for the kind of photographs that I wanted to shoot. Or rather, I knew how I wanted the food to be portrayed. I didn’t want to shoot the dishes that were selected — obviously iconic Singaporean foods — in their traditional forms. I wanted to shoot them as re-imagined and re-invented by one of our most talented chefs. I wanted, through the photographs, to portray both our heritage and our innovativeness. In some ways, for me, this project wasn’t just about food but about our culture and where we’re headed.

To help pull off the food I’d be shooting, I called upon a chef whose culinary concepts and continued exploration of our cuisine have always impressed me. To my great satisfaction, Willin Low, chef-owner of Wild Rocket, accepted my challenge and became my collaborator on this project. (Keep reading)

Fame and fortune

To pick up a tangential thread from one of Matt’s recent (and most fantabulous) posts, last week, I received an email from a publisher congratulating me for having been shortlisted by them to contribute to a cookbook/guide to the best food blogs on the Web that they are producing. The email (rather amusingly) said that they spent 3 months researching the Web in order to best determine which blogs would be selected. (Please. I could get an intern to spend less than a week and produce a list of the world’s best food blogs–especially since all these great resources already exist). The letter essentially suggested that I should feel honoured to be included in this project and that while the publisher could not afford to pay any of its contributors, fame and fortune would be ours. Or in their words, “We believe the benefits you receive in terms of exposure and satisfaction will make involvement worthwhile.”

The publisher further outlined 3 reasons why a blogger like me should feel special about being part of this project.

“The ‘why’ for you is three-fold:
1. To be a part of the printed world. There aren’t many things better than seeing your words and photos in ink on a page, and on the shelf in bookstores.
2. To let the world know about your blog, and drive traffic to your site. The inclusions in <TITLE OF BOOK> will be deemed by us to be the best blogs on the internet. Make sure your blog is one of them.
3. You have nothing to lose. No risk, no cost, not even much effort. You have already created the content, and we want to maximise its exposure for you, without any risk to you.” (Keep reading my rant)

Chat with Bill Granger

When you think about great foodie travel experiences, there is perhaps none more quintessentially synonymous with Sydney than having breakfast at bills. For many of us, a trip to Sydney just isn’t complete without having tucked into the best scrambled eggs in the Southern hemisphere or a bite of bills’ fantastically fresh corn fritters. Bill Granger started bills back in 1993 at just 22 years old. When I was 22, I was still in university, spending my nights hanging out in dive bars and my days pompously debating political philosophy with classmates. I can’t even imagine the cojones it would take to strike out on one’s own and start a business at that age. Yet Bill did it, and has not only succeeded but become a culinary legend in the process, not just in his native Australia but worldwide.

On my most recent trip to Sydney, I did what I always do in Sydney. I had breakfast at bills. My greedy, gorgeous wife S and I inhaled some scrambled eggs, an order of corn fritters, and a plate of ricotta hotcakes. We visited the Darlinghurst branch, Bill’s first and still my favourite. As always, it was fantastic. Great fresh, simple and delicious fare, served in one of the most charming and casual dining rooms on the planet.

Earlier this week, I had the pleasure of chatting with Bill. The interview follows. (Keep reading)

Quick Q&A with Joanna Savill

Photo courtesy of the Sydney Morning Herald. Taken by Edwina Pickles.

As mentioned in my previous post, uber-foodie Joanna Savill is Festival Director of the Sydney International Food Festival. Joanna kindly allowed me to pester her with a few questions about this year’s SIFF.

CH: Hi Joanna! We had a great time at the Showcase. Can I start by asking how different is the Festival this year under your direction?
Essentially this is the very first Sydney International Food Festival as it replaces an event called Good Food Month. So it’s new. Having said that, Good Food Month favourite events have continued such as Let’s Do Lunch and Hats Off (set menus in leading restaurants) plus the huger-than-ever Night Noodle Markets. But what we’ve done is broaden the focus to include a strong international visitor component, particularly with the World Chef Showcase (brand new) and also extend into Greater Sydney with community-based festivals and other events. The other big thing is a focus on food issues, with talks and forums on sustainability, food security, GM and more.
(Keep reading)

An open letter to camera manufacturers

Dear Camera Gods,

I’m an avid and passionate photographer. Started shooting for fun when I was just 10 years old and my grandfather, a camera collector, had given me a manual Konica SLR as a gift. Over the last 26 years, I’ve owned 18 cameras, ranging from simple point and shoots to complex medium formats. I’d have to say that I’m not bad with a camera. Good enough at least to have landed a few professional gigs from magazines and book publishers during my earlier career as a journalist.

When on assignment, I have no problem lugging around a DSLR (or back in the day, an SLR) and an assortment of lenses; heck, I’ve even toted more than one camera body around when it’s been necessary. But when running around town, or when I’m travelling for my current work, or when I’m taking a much needed vacation with my darling wife, I’ve found that I am less inclined to toting around heavy and bulky equipment. These days, I’d much rather reach for a well-made but light and compact camera. (Keep reading)

Promoting our food heroes

I had dinner with two Knights the other night. No, they weren’t wearing swords and shields. They weren’t wearing armour and we certainly weren’t seated at a round table. Nonetheless, my dining companions were Knights of the Realm (just not my realm). More specifically, they are Chevaliers, Ordre National du Merite (National Merit), awarded by the French President for their work in promoting (excellence in) French cuisine and culture overseas. I am very proud to have become friends with these two amazing men over the last decade here in Singapore–their new titles are well and truly deserved. And I was thrilled to attend the award ceremony, held late last year. But it also made me think about how we Singaporeans are honouring, or forgetting to honour, our own culinary heroes.

Over the past year, a number of our government agencies have banded together to articulate a vision for the future (and future promotion) of our local food scene. One of the identified strategies that I wholeheartedly support is the identification of local food heroes. Thing is, though, while the general idea of supporting local food heroes has been mooted, from what I understand, the mechanics of how to do this, and even who are our local food heroes, have yet to be worked out. (Keep reading)