This Singaporean chef wants to usher in a new age of Asian cuisine

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This Singaporean chef wants to usher in a new age of Asian cuisine

Restaurants all over Asia await to the western earth for inspiration and technique, but why non plumb the depths of culinary treasures that Asia has to offering? That's the ethos behind Singaporean chef Ace Tan'southward "progressive Asian cuisine".

07 Mar 2022 06:30AM (Updated: 21 May 2022 11:32AM)

If at that place'due south ane thing chef Ace Tan has in spades, it's ambition. Three years ago, along with chef and business partner David Lee, he opened a fine-dining eatery of lofty calibration; one that fifty-fifty far more established chefs would think thrice virtually.

The eatery had all the trappings of a large-name fine-diner: Two-storey shophouse, sombre dining room, starched tablecloths and a unique cuisine they labelled New Asian, which essentially translated to Asian ingredients parsed to fit into the traditional Western fine dining format.

When Restaurant Ards – an acronym for Asia, Roots, Distinct, Singular – shut barely six months later, few pundits were surprised. The duo lacked the experience, maturity and recognition needed for a project of that calibration to succeed.

But that was then. Now 38, Tan recently returned to Singapore's dining scene after a yr-long stint as executive sous chef at Michelin-listed Flowerchild Restaurant in Seoul.

Today, at the newly minted ane-V:U (pronounced "ane view") Day Club and Restaurant at the rooftop of Sentosa's The Outpost Hotel, where he has taken the drapery of head chef, Tan looks relaxed, confident and ready to usher in his new brand of Asian cuisine that he hopes other chefs will embrace besides.

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"Ards was a good learning experience," he said reflectively. "Nosotros thought that equally long every bit the food had a signal, success would come up if we persevered. Only that didn't translate to skillful business. We realised that a 2-storey fine dining restaurant in Duxton was a challenge to sustain, especially in Singapore where the competition is tough. David and I didn't feel similar the cuisine was a failure; we only weren't mature plenty to understand the business organisation."

At 36 years one-time when Ards closed, Tan could not be considered a immature chef. Just he'd had a late start in an manufacture where many chefs begin their careers from as young every bit their teenage years. His passion for cooking was ignited when he found himself watching cooking shows round the clock after taking a break from his advertising chore at historic period 27. With no culinary experience to speak of, he wrote to fine dining restaurants across Singapore asking for a job. Not i replied.

Undeterred, he walked into a mid-range mall restaurant and asked if they would hire him. "I knew I had to start somewhere. I just wanted them to give me a job; they didn't have to pay me," he recalled. Naturally, they said yep. The next year was spent working from the ground upwards, washing rice, making salads, chopping onions and peeling potatoes. In the years since, Tan has worked his manner upwardly from mall restaurant to higher-cease mall restaurant, to mid-range standalone eating house, and somewhen the likes of acclaimed establishments like Pollen and Les Amis.

"Ards was a skillful learning experience. We thought that equally long as the food had a point, success would come if nosotros persevered. But that didn't interpret to good business." – Ace Tan

LOOKING Inwards

Time and experience hasn't tempered Tan's passion for redefining Asian cuisine. Over the last 18 months, he has thrown himself into gleaning a deeper understanding of the origins of Asian nutrient and questioning what he thinks he knows.

Glazed Beef Flat Iron Steak. (Photo: 1-V:U)

He has since parlayed that cognition into a new dining feel, 1 rooted in a solid identity and the desire to connect with people through food. "I don't demand the white tablecloths and five servers around each tabular array checking on what cutlery diners accept anymore," he said. "The food just has to be skillful."

1-5:U which is owned by the 1-Group, which is behind concepts similar Stellar at 1-Altitude and Monti – comprises a informal day lodge and an adjoining eating place appointed with an open up kitchen, sumptuous wicker chairs and teal sofas. Hither, Tan serves a menu that is described equally a "bold, progressive take on Northward-East Asian cuisine". The food is served communal-style, fifty-fifty if y'all order the tasting menu.

Happily, Tan manages to harmoniously meld influences from all over the region, such as in a starter of Indian puri shells filled with diced yellowtail sashimi tossed in a korma, coconut and lime dressing, or a hot French edible bean and wing bean salad dressed in an Indonesian bumbu sauce and natto.

'Panthera leo'south Head' Asian Hamburg. (Photo: 1-5:U) "I don't need the white tablecloths and five servers around each table checking on what cutlery diners have anymore. The food just has to be good." – Ace Tan A Taste OF THE REGION

If there's anything he's learnt in the concluding couple of years, it is that people need to recognise what they are eating in lodge to understand the food. "At Ards, we experimented with a lot of fusion components and called it 'New Asian'. Now I'm calling it 'Progressive Asian' every bit I designed a menu where people who are not from Asia can recognise what they are eating without the servers having to explain too much to them. That is the starting point of the progression.

Jospered Octopus, Gochujang Emulsion, Burnt Corn Salad. (Photo: 1-5:U)

"Every bit nosotros progress, I desire to strip away my dependence on French and western techniques and instead employ what I've learnt from my travels to Korea, for instance, to improve the identity of the cuisine so that it tin can evolve into its own persona. People won't question whether information technology's east or west, or what percentage of each is in the nutrient. It can stand up on its own as a new form of Asian cooking."

Fiddling try has been spared in his research, from experimenting with making his own koji and soy sauce, to learning the history behind now quotidian Asian condiments such as oyster sauce. "For our cuisine to be stronger, nosotros need to understand our history. I'm trying to extract dissimilar parts of Asia and combine them in my dishes."

"For our cuisine to be stronger, nosotros demand to understand our history. I'yard trying to extract different parts of Asia and combine them in my dishes." – Ace Tan

ASIA MAJOR

Where many chefs have looked to the western world for inspiration, Tan wants to turn the focus back to Asia. "The region is and so big and I remember it's important to find out what'southward happening in Asia, and not and so much about what's happening in the west. I want people to run into Asia in a new light through my Asian cuisine.

"What I want to reach eventually is to inspire a new generation of Asian chefs to create their own version of Asian cuisine. I hope to build a customs of Asian chefs with unlike perspectives, who will open themselves to researching Asian culture."

To that terminate, he is planning collaboration dinners with other Asian chefs so that they can acquire from one another, merely the most pressing matter at hand is getting diners to come to the restaurant which opened merely as the COVID-19 outbreak hit Singapore.

"Our timing could non have been worse," Tan said with a smile, "but I've told my staff that this is a good time for us to settle in and concentrate on doing our research." Evidently, with this endeavour, Tan is amply prepared.

"What I want to achieve somewhen is to inspire a new generation of Asian chefs to create their ain version of Asian cuisine. I promise to build a customs of Asian chefs with dissimilar perspectives, who volition open themselves to researching Asian culture." – Ace Tan