CNA938 Rewind - 'Artist's Proof: Singapore at 60' Exhibition – where you can view a rare LKY sculpture and more
In 'Culture Club', Melanie Oliveiro speaks with the creative folk involved in 'Artist's Proof: Singapore at 60', an exhibition celebrating Singapore's 60th year of independence through the eyes of various artists. Drawn from the private collection of respected art collector, Chong Huai Seng, the exhibition features over 90 works by 50 artists. Ning Chong, founder of Family Office For the Art (FOFA), will discuss highlights including a rare prototype bust of former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. Artist duo Chow and Lin will talk about their 33-piece artwork titled, 'I'm Worth My Bread', which uses popular food products to address concepts like GDP.
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27 minutes ago
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A decade of Jaan by Kirk Westaway: Battling the odds, redefining British cuisine and hitting its stride
This year, Jaan by Kirk Westaway celebrates its 10th anniversary with Kirk Westway at its helm, making it a milestone year for the UK-born chef who also marked his 40th birthday two months ago. A 'little get-together' is planned for and at the restaurant, with 'a few glasses, a few friends and family and very regular guests over the 10 years', he divulged to us. And, rightly so – 10 years is no mean feat for a dining establishment anywhere in the world, and in Singapore in particular; never mind the many accolades it's picked up along the way, including two Michelin stars. While he's led the restaurant for a decade, Westaway's time at Jaan is actually closer to 14 years, as he was invited to move to Singapore to join the team by then-chef Julien Royer, who, of course, now owns Odette. Jaan, in fact, has a 25-year history and, over the years, has established a reputation as an incubator of top talents: After Jaan first opened in 2000, Andre Chiang took over in 2008 and the restaurant was renamed Jaan par Andre; while Royer was in the kitchen from 2011 to 2015, leading the restaurant to its first Michelin star. TURNING 'BAD FOOD' INTO GOLD To make his mark, Westaway knew he had to develop a cuisine that was truly his own. His 'Reinventing British' culinary philosophy was launched in 2018, showcasing British produce through the lens of his own memories – and that proved to be both his toughest challenge and, eventually, his proudest achievement. 'This had been a famous French restaurant for many years, and to tell people: 'We're not going to do that anymore, and we're going to (pivot to) a nation that's famous for bad food', it wasn't seen with cheerful eyes at the beginning,' Westaway recalled. At the start, it was an uphill battle. 'It took a bit of time to change people's expectations. We did have a lot of regular customers; it took a bit of time for them to come back.' To make it work, 'I was here seven days a week, all day, every day. I slept in the office. I didn't go home for the first few months. I didn't need to go out and see my friends or my family or go outside and and do other tasks. My whole focus was here, and I loved every minute of it.' What made it so difficult? The fact that 'it was totally new. Modern British food, realistically, was a gamble, because it was unheard of. I was one of the first outside of the UK to put my hand up and say, 'This is my interpretation of Modern British'. What I was trying to create was uncharted territory. Nobody I knew had done it before. I was really trying to share my philosophy on food, and I was creating it as I was going along.' It didn't help that 'many people told me, 'Oh, you've got big shoes to fill'.' But, ultimately, 'the only person in the world that that shadow affects is me. It doesn't affect the customers; doesn't affect the chefs who have left. The way to deal with that shadow is just not to worry. Just embrace it. Enjoy your moment. You've got to just brush it off. That's the key.' To tell a unique story through food, Westaway focused on the best produce: 'Amazing ingredients coming from very small farms, a lot of attention to detail with the proteins coming from beautiful places around the world, a lot of dairy from my hometown in Devon in the southwest of England, a lot of vegetables from amazing places in France and Italy and Spain and Japan.' Many of his perspectives on food were unconsciously shaped by his mum, who cooked vegetarian food at home for the family, he shared. 'I only realised, in the last 20 years, her strong focus on products and ingredients. As a young guy, I remember coming home from school and we'd have a delivery of a cardboard box of vegetables coming from local, organic farms on the front doorstep, and I'd pick it up: Potatoes, onions, carrots and leeks, all covered in dirt. Thirty years ago, we were getting these great organic ingredients delivered to the house. For me, it was just a way of life at the beginning, but, looking back, all of my life has been focused on great produce.' At the same time, he succeeded in evoking emotions through dishes that played on familiar British icons. For example, Fish and Chips has appeared in different incarnations over the years: Sometimes a mini tartlette of cod, sometimes a potato pancake with caviar. 'Day by day, menu by menu, we got to a great place, and we did win all the customers back. To receive the first Michelin star (in 2016) kind of put a stamp on it to say, okay, we're doing something right. Getting the second star in 2021 was a huge high point and life changing for me and for my team.' And, these days, the dining room is 'packed for lunch and dinner every day. In the last couple of years, I've really seen a lot of repeat guests.' It was about two years ago that he felt he really hit his stride, he said. A bit of a hiatus in 2022 thanks to the pandemic and the restaurant closing for a revamp meant he and the team had the opportunity to 'reset and reboot'. 'I took the opportunity to simplify, refine, and clean, and to retrain all the staff to work very closely as a restaurant team. That was a moment of clarity for myself and the team.' The cuisine has reached a new point of structure and clarity: 'Very clean flavours, very organised palettes, recognised ingredients on the plate,' Westaway said. 'I'm not a fan of going to a restaurant and not knowing what kind of jelly we're eating or weird ingredients on the plate. I love to use seasonal ingredients – in Spring, you might see a bit of white asparagus, green asparagus, morels and spring peas, and it's all recognisable, but the taste is elevated. We use some very, very elegant ingredients, but it's all just simply cooked and simply placed.' While in the past, 'if you had a fish and artichoke dish, perhaps we'd have an artichoke puree and roasted artichokes and artichoke sauce. Now, it's fish and artichoke – just the perfect elements on each dish to sing for themselves.' UPWARDS AND ONWARDS These days, apart from running the ship at Jaan supported by head chef Ng Guo Lun, Westaway has ventured into Vietnam and Indonesia together with Fairmont Hotels and Resorts. Last year, he and his team opened The Albion at Hotel des Arts Saigon – MGallery Collection in Ho Chi Minh City, and this year, they opened The Crown at Fairmont Jakarta in the Indonesian capital. 'I put in a head chef to liaise with directly, and they're functioning very well on their own. I would love to stay within our core and look at opening a couple more properties like these. That would be the dream,' Westaway said. 'In a fast-paced environment, I think the more you take on, the more you can find yourself achieving. It's very exciting.' Meanwhile, he spends his days running 20km at 5am, and indulging in late night suppers with his team. 'We work crazy hours, shoulder-to-shoulder all day. It's fun to break away and have a bit of team bonding time just to relax. We might go for a beer at Chijmes, or a late night chicken rice – Swee Kee, for me, is the best chicken rice around. Or, we might go to Tian Tian Seafood at Outram Road and have cereal prawns and xiao bai cai with garlic.' For a quick fix in between lunch and dinner services, 'we get murtabak with mutton curry, biryani and sugary tea at Zam Zam.' 'People come and go, but every person that has been in this restaurant over the years has a huge part on the growth of this restaurant.' Summing up the journey, he said: 'We've stamped our claim on modern British cuisine – my interpretation of what I believe it should be seen as today, and how it should be seen as in the future – trying to change people's expectations over the last 50 to 100 years. I've obviously evolved and grown myself, and I've really come to understand the style of food that I have always enjoyed, and now, I've got the confidence to share it. 'If I come to your house for dinner, you're not going to cook what I want. You want to cook what you want. And it's the same thing in a restaurant – the customers are coming to enjoy the food that I want to share. They come here for a special experience and something unique, and ideally items not re-create-able.' He added, 'It's been an amazing journey so far, and I look forward to the next 10 years.' JAAN BY KIRK WESTAWAY IN DISHES Here's a look at the restaurant's journey through its most memorable and evocative dishes, many of which have appeared on the menu in different forms and iterations over time. 'FISH AND CHIPS' 'A lot of people from England have told me that when they ate our Fish and Chips, it took them back to a memory on a pier in Brighton, under the rain, eating their fish and chips, listening to the seagulls in the background. To link a memory to any part of what we're doing is incredible. If, somehow, I can make a dish that connects with all of us and takes us back to a memory as a child or a family moment or travelling somewhere in the world, I think that's the biggest achievement you can ever aim for. It's very difficult, but when you when you get it, it's very special.' 'TOMATO' 'Sometimes, people tell me they closed their eyes, they tasted the tomato dish and it took them back to their garden in Aix-en-Provence, eating their tomatoes in the summer.' 'This dish connected to a lot of people over the years. That was probably one of the real connections to the emotional heart strings. You know, my mum used to make me eggs, and it's incredible — some people call them 'dippy eggs'; some people call them 'eggs and soldiers' — everyone in the world has their own form of eggs. It was really a talking point. I'd come over and say hello to all the diners, and they'd say, 'Ah, our mum used to make us these amazing eggs.' That egg was not intended to connect to people's childhood because it was my childhood, but it really did create a very nice trip down memory lane for many people who came and enjoyed it.' LEEK AND POTATO SOUP 'In England, leek and potato soup is loved whether it's made in spring or summer or winter or when you're sick. People love it. Regular guests have had it a few times and they say, 'Never change it. We love this. It's so warm and comforting, and we love it every time.' It took six months to a year to tweak and adjust it to the right levels of seasoning and a little bit of spice. It really does captivate a lot of people.'
CNA
12 hours ago
- CNA
CNA938 Rewind - Stitching Stories: Three Generations of Batik Nyonyas
In 'Culture Club' Melanie Oliveiro finds out more about the Peranakan Museum's ongoing exhibition 'Batik Nyonyas: Three Generations of Art and Entrepreneurship'. Curator Naomi Wang will explain how the exhibition steps into the lives of three batik makers turned master artists from Pekalongan in Java, Indonesia, a celebrated batik centre of the early 20th century. Wang will talk about the creative lives of Nyonya Oeij Soen King, her daughter-in-law Nyonya Oeij Kok Sing, and her granddaughter Jane Hendromartono. Wang will also discuss the history of batik making as a dynamic process and art form, and new ways of thinking about entrepreneurship.
CNA
12 hours ago
- CNA
CNA938 Rewind - Fur the Love of Singapore: SingaPAW Weekend 60!
In 'Destination Anywhere' Melanie Oliveiro finds out where animal lovers can go to enjoy SingaPAW Weekend 60! - self-funded community event dedicated to celebrating SG60 alongside furry, feathered, and scaled companions. Organisers Melodee Tan & Dominic Neo from animal advocacy group Hope For Animals, will explain how the two-day extravaganza promises a blend of entertainment, education, and community spirit in the presence of 10 dedicated animal welfare groups and more than 80 local pet businesses.
