IT was a meal at The Fat Duck, the now-legendary restaurant serving avant garde cuisine in the tiny village of Bray in England, that gave Michael Han his eureka culinary moment about eight or nine years ago. Up until then, he had been a law student at Bristol University, following a typical career path familiar to many Singaporeans who study overseas. Now, he's a chef about to open his own restaurant in Singapore.
'It might sound corny but that meal was mind-blowing - it really woke me up to the possibilities of food,' says Mr Han, now 30. He had never shown any keen interest in food before, but he decided to follow his heart. At 21, he secured a holiday internship here at Au Jardin, the French restaurant owned by the Les Amis Group. 'I never had any formal training but I realised I could work in their kitchen,' he says, although his parents were less than enthused. 'My parents said I could do anything I wanted - except be a chef.'
Mr Han continued with his studies, earning a law degree as well as a master's in law. He was even called to the Bar in London. In 2005, however, he went to work at The Fat Duck after being its regular customer for several years. 'I emailed Heston (owner-chef Heston Blumenthal) for a job, and he agreed,' says Mr Han. 'He's a brilliant chap, and he never had any formal training either. He was very supportive and said I could ask him anything.'
Mr Han says the long hours - usually 8am to midnight or longer - plus the 90-minute commute back to Bristol never deterred him. After several months at The Fat Duck, he got a job at L'enclume, a one Michelin-star restaurant in the Lake District operated by the modernist chef Simon Rogan.
This was followed by a stint at Anthony's Restaurant, a modern British culinary haunt in Leeds, and more kitchen experience at Mugaritz near San Sebastian in Spain and Noma in Copenhagen, both of which now hold two Michelin stars and are highly rated for their inventive, produce-driven seasonal cuisine.
Later this year, Mr Han, in partnership with the Les Amis Group, will open a small, bespoke restaurant, serving modern, inventive cuisine and with only a few tables so that food consistency and overall standards can be better controlled. Mr Han's father is an old family friend of Les Amis owner Desmond Lim, who is expecting exciting things from the chef-in-waiting. 'The cuisine will be a refreshing change - something that has not previously been seen in Singapore,' says Mr Lim. 'He's someone who is very passionate and clearly knows what he wants to do.'
Mr Han, who worked as a private chef before teaming up with the Les Amis Group, says the menu is not finalised, but it will be different. He says studying the science of food has helped him understand food better - he plans on using science, not for gimmickry's sake but to create more unique dishes. 'The most important thing is that if you work with the right ingredients, the food will be fine,' he says.
Dishes he plans to introduce at the as-yet unnamed restaurant include Blackmore wagyu tongue with duckweed and smoke and ash, pearl meat with flavours of the sea and textures of sweet corn, black sesame and miso.
'I don't really know what to call it,' he says of his cuisine. 'It doesn't really matter as long as people have an appreciation of what we do.'
Mr Han has set the bar high for himself, and he wouldn't have it any other way. 'I still have a lot to learn - no matter where you've worked in the world, you can't make up for experience.' When he does open for business, though, he aims to be ready.
'The most important thing is that people come to the restaurant, and are happy. It has to be Michelin standard, whether the guide comes here or not.'
Ryan Hong
IT'S a long way from engineering hydrology to private chef, but Ryan Hong, 44, who has a master's degree in the former, decided relatively late in his working life to pursue the latter. By strange coincidence, Mr Hong - like Mr Han - also studied at Bristol University, where he read civil engineering. When he returned to Singapore, he dabbled in the family business, eventually becoming an owner-operator of tugboats and barges, with contracts in Indonesia and Bangladesh.
He later ran a white pigment factory, investing the money he earned into other businesses as well. Last year, after six years in the United States, he moved back to Singapore, looking for a new challenge. He'd always been a cook, but it turns out that he was now going to be a chef.
'I've been cooking my whole life, to the extent that people used to call me up to ask about some aspect of food,' says Mr Hong. When he was at boarding school from age nine to 18, he had access to kitchens, and the requisite equipment as well.
Not long after he returned to Singapore, Mr Hong was asked to cook for a friend's birthday party. 'From that dinner, I started getting referrals. Then I was one of the guest chefs at a charity dinner for about 400 people, and it just continued from there,' he says. He cooks in private houses about eight to 10 times a month and charges upwards of $170 per person, for a six or seven-course meal. He can cater for up to 24 people and says that when caviar and truffles are involved, the cost can go to around $400 per head.
'Sometimes, you just fall into something - it started as a hobby and now it's become a profession.' He adds: 'You can cook for fun, but the transfer from cook to chef is huge - there are a lot of people who can cook but they can't chef. There are things like menu planning, the repetition, the consistency of the food to manage.'
Mr Hong belongs to the casual school of culinary thought, relying on his experience and creativity to come up with dishes that fit a specific occasion. He says: 'My food is more wholesome in style, sort of Franco-American. There's no froth, no fuss - I don't do chemistry, it's about layering the flavours.' He cites dishes like slow-roasted sea trout with chive oil sauce, cooked at low temperature and served with sauteed mushrooms, as an example of his cuisine. There's also raw French oysters, set in shiso jelly and served with caviar on top, or red peppercorn venison tenderloin, seared and roasted with a cherry glaze.
He says he currently has about 80 recipes to work with, but he is constantly adding to that and looking for inspiration. Mr Hong, who is never at a loss for words, has also been tapped to feature in a pilot for a potential television series on Channel Five later this year. Basically, it will show him doing what he does now - cook for people in their homes.
'So I'm a private chef now,' he says. 'I really enjoy what I do, and I've never worked so hard for so little money, but it's the most fun I've ever had.' Eventually, he plans to open a restaurant. 'I think in the end, if you are a chef - and that's the path you choose - that has to be the main aspiration.'
