After a one-year hiatus, Michelin Guide is back in Singapore awarding Michelin stars to more than 40 different restaurants. This year, the Michelin Star Revelation went virtual, streaming the entire event for the public to tune in.
Due to the pandemic, the prestigious food guide had to adapt and be flexible to last-minute changes when it came to sending their inspectors to various restaurants. Nevertheless, they continued to ensure the quality of each rating was in compliance with the Michelin standards.
Singapore’s food scene is more diverse than ever, with plenty of dining options for food-lovers to choose from. With a competitive industry, restaurants seek the opportunity to be creative, from the art of food presentation to adapting during a pandemic. Even through these hardships over the past year, restaurants have remained enthusiastic, ready, and willing to move forward.
The Michelin Guide Young Chef Award was introduced this year to mark the Michelin Guide’s 5th year in Singapore. According to Mr Gwendal Poullennec, International Director of Michelin Guides, this award recognises young chefs who are ambassadors helping shape the future of the F&B industry through exceptional talent and potential.
Chef Mark Tai of Cloudstreet, a restaurant incorporating Sri Lankan heritage to its dishes, received this prestigious award this year. Chef Mark graduated from the Culinary Institute of America before embarking on his professional journey in the kitchen.
The most highly anticipated announcement was undoubtedly which restaurants have claimed or reclaimed its Michelin star recognition. 49 restaurants have made it into this year’s guide, with 12 new restaurants awarded one Michelin star. Four of these are making its debut, including Art, Cloudstreet, Oshino, and Sommer.
In addition to a gastronomic journey rooted in Italian traditions, Art offers picturesque views from the top floor of the iconic National Gallery Singapore. This luxe contemporary restaurant pushes the evolution of Italian gastronomy, offering creative food combinations that work wonders. Some of its dishes include culurgiones (stuffed pasta), pigeon breast, and kagoshima sirloin.
Cloudstreet showcases intermingling flavours through Sri Lankan heritage, as well as the long-time kitchen experience from its chefs. Its food menu is constantly changing and evolving, depending on the seasonality of each ingredient. Despite the current pandemic, the team at Cloudstreet has pushed themselves harder than ever to achieve more in terms of creativity — guests will be wowed by how this establishment interprets and presents different ingredients on its menu.
Helmed by culinary artisan Chef Oshino, his eponymous restaurant Oshino provides diners with classic Edomae sushi, which embodies the spirit of Japanese washoku cuisine (traditional Japanese food). Through skill and creativity, Chef Oshino believes in the importance of sharing the elegance and unique tradition of washoku cuisine to his guests.
Sommer showcases its personal approach on modern European cuisine, and is praised for its ecumen, finesse, and harmony found in each dish. It recently opened during the “controlled” period of the pandemic, and Chef Lewis Barker expressed his gratitude at being able to gain such a prized reputation so quickly. “It was definitely unimaginable,” he notes.
Joining the two Michelin star tier along with 4 other restaurants is JAAN by Kirk Westway. Helmed by Chef Westway, JAAN offers a modern reinterpretation of British gastronomy through an innovative culinary lens. Chef Westway expressed his gratitude after the ceremony: “[we are] really thrilled, the result is fantastic, we are really committed. We worked so hard and [for] so long to achieve this.” During this challenging time of operating an eatery during a pandemic, the team at JAAN used this opportunity to refresh their minds, taking a step back to see how they could move forward.
At the very top of the Michelin food chain, we see Les Amis and Odette retaining its three Michelin stars, just as expected. Sebastien Lepinoy, executive chef of Les Amis, mentioned retaining its three stars is “a dream come true”.
Joining these two award-winning restaurants is Restaurant Zen, the sister restaurant to three Michelin-star restaurant Frantzen in Stockholm. Being promoted from two stars to three is no easy feat, and Zen is deserving of its newest accolade. It provides diners with dishes created using premium European and Japanese ingredients, underpinned by French cooking.
Tristin Farmer, executive chef of Restaurant Zen noted that even through the trials of the pandemic, they continued to strive to create delicious dishes, while constantly adapting and changing to survive.
Even through this tough period for the restaurant industry, Michelin hopes to encourage others to recognise the diversity and energy of the local culinary scene. It wants to motivate others to continue to visit all of Singapore’s restaurants, allowing the F&B industry to recover strongly and quickly.
“What is important is to encourage the local food scene, encourage chefs by celebrating their talents while encouraging people to come back and rediscover restaurants. [This] is important to help the whole industry recover,” Mr Poullennec added. He couldn’t have said it any better.
Here’s the full list of the 2021 Michelin-star restaurants in Singapore:
One Michelin Star
Alma
Beni
Braci
Buona Terra
Burnt Ends
Candlenut
Chef Kang’s
Corner House
Cut
Garibaldi
Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle
Iggy’s
Imperial Treasure Fine Teochew Cuisine Orchard
Jag
Labyrinth
Lei Garden
Ma Cuisine
Meta
Nouri
Putien (Kitchener Road)
Rhubarb
Shinji (Bras Basah Road)
Shinji (Tanglin Road)
Summer Palace
Summer Pavilion
Sushi Ichi
Sushi Kimura
Table 65
Terra
28 Wilkie (New)
Art (New)
Baque Kitchen by Aitor (New)
Cloudstreet (New)
Cure (New)
Esora (New)
Lerouy (New)
Oshino (New)
Shang Palace (New)
Sommer (New)
Thevar (New)
Whitegrass (New)
Two Michelin Stars
Saint Pierre
Shisen Hanten
Shoukouwa
Waku Ghin
JAAN (New)
Three Michelin Star Restaurants
Les Amis
Odette
Zen (New)
