SINGAPORE (Bloomberg): The news in the Singapore restaurant world is that there’s not much news.
There were no new three star dining spots when Michelin Guide announced their selections at a live ceremony on Tuesday (night. The designated places, "worth a special journey,” remained the same as last year: Les Amis, Odette and Zen.
That means there are still no three star restaurants that feature Asian cuisine: Odette and Les Amis are French-influenced and Zén, an outpost of the famed Frantzen in Stockholm, has a Scandinavian influence.
There are 6 two stars ("worth a detour”), one less than last year when there were 7. Shisen Hanten, a nuanced Szechuan accented restaurant, fell to one star.
Still, the total number of starred dining spots crept up: there are now 56; in 2022 there were 52 starred places on the list, and that was the highest count ever.
The number of one stars ("high quality, worth a stop”) inched up as well, to 46 from 42. One of them is the new entry Born, the modern French Asian dining room.
"When I worked with other chefs we achieved stars but now it's my own restaurant, my own team and very meaningful,” says Born’s chef-owner Zor Tan.
Kevin Wong, chef of one of the other new one stars, Seroja, was given the Young Chef award.
Another of the night’s winners was Makoto Iwabuchi of Sushi Sakuta, who earned the Sommelier award. He noted the new one star’s beverage programme: "Singapore customers are often wine lovers, so we do about 50/50 wine and sake. This is our strong point."
Seroja was also the recipient of Singapore’s inaugural Green star, which recognises a restaurant’s sustainability efforts.
It’s the seventh year that the guide has awarded stars in Singapore.
There are still some relative bargains on the local food scene. Michelin earlier this month revealed its Bib Gourmand list of value-for-money eateries. There were 79 total including 19 new spots; stalls from the city-state’s famed hawker centres featured prominently.
Sebastien Lepinoy (pic), chef-owner of Les Amis, appreciated the fresh energy on this year’s list: "They put a lot of local, young chefs in the limelight. All the new restaurants, one stars. There's also a green star, which is great.”
Still, Les Amis has held on to three stars since 2019.
Lepinoy breaks down the difference between the stars from a chef’s point of view: "Receiving a Michelin Star is like a being a Jedi. When you achieve 2 Michelin Star is as if you are Luke Skywalker.”
And, he says "when you are presented with the holy grail of Michelin which is their three stars, you are already the master Yoda of the culinary world."
