Latest news with #Jaan
Business Times
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Business Times
Ten restaurants drop out of Michelin guide; sign of times for troubled F&B industry
THE wave of fine-dining closures in Singapore had a profound impact at this year's Michelin awards ceremony, as 10 one-starred restaurants dropped out of the list – the highest attrition rate since the prestigious guide made its debut in the city-state in 2015. There are now just 32 restaurants in Singapore with one star, among which Omakase@Stevens was the sole new entry for 2025. The Japanese restaurant, which opened in 2020, also received the Young Chef Award for its 31-year-old head chef Kazuki Arimoto. He joined the restaurant as a sous chef in 2022, and was promoted in 2024. In the only other new entry for the night, Sushi Sakuta, helmed by Yoshio Sakuta, was elevated from one to two stars. While Arimoto acknowledged that he was both 'happy and surprised' at the double win for his restaurant, veteran sushi chef Sakuta said he couldn't believe that his eponymous restaurant had moved up to the next level. He joins fellow two-star restaurants Meta, Thevar, Jaan by Kirk Westaway, Shoukouwa (where he was head chef before stepping out on his own), Saint Pierre and Cloudstreet. Retaining their three stars were Les Amis, Odette and Zen. Of the 10 restaurants which dropped out of the one-star list, only two are still in operation – Rhubarb and Terra Tokyo Italian. Rhubarb recently rebranded itself as the more casual Encore by Rhubarb, while Terra was moved out to the Michelin Select List, which comprises promising restaurants that are below both Michelin one star and Bib Gourmand. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Friday, 2 pm Lifestyle Our picks of the latest dining, travel and leisure options to treat yourself. Sign Up Sign Up The other eight restaurants that closed down were Art di Daniele Sperindio (which will reopen later this year), Matera, Sushi Oshino, Shinji, Sommer, Poise, Sushi Kimura and Chef Kang's Cantonese. At the event held at Marina Bay Sands, several special awards given out. The service award was given to Ines Carriere Bega of Odette, while Bella Jankaew from Jaan by Kirk Westaway received the sommelier award. Paul Longworth, chef-owner of Rhubarb, which has been a fixture in the Michelin Guide from the very start, had 'fully expected to be removed from this year's edition', he said. He had already informed Michelin about his plans to make the restaurant 'more relaxed and affordable', as he has found that 'diners want something less formal and more personal'. It is unclear whether the revamp was also a factor in Rhubarb losing its star, but he added: 'If we still want that accolade, we will have to earn it on merit again.' Underneath the glamour and cocktails at the post-awards party, chefs and others in the industry were sanguine about the challenges they faced. The drop in the number of one-star restaurants is a reflection of the times, said Odette's Julien Royer. 'Over the past 12 months or so, the economic situation has been very difficult. But I really feel and hope that the worst is over, and Singapore will shine again.' Sebastien Lepinoy of Les Amis said: 'It's not a situation that is exclusive to Singapore. The same thing is happening all over the world, even in London and New York. It's bad everywhere. We just have to adapt our business and come back fighting.' He's cautiously confident that things will get better soon. 'People are saving money and not spending on luxury, but at the end of the year, they will come back, especially with Formula 1 and other festivities coming up.'
CNA
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- CNA
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.'
India Today
26-06-2025
- Entertainment
- India Today
‘Umrao Jaan' re-release: A 44-year-old wine coming your way, says Muzaffar Ali
Umrao Jaan (1981) is a gift that keeps giving for filmmaker Muzaffar Ali, every day. 'Just this morning, while disembarking from the aircraft, an elderly gentleman said 'Aap Muzaffar Ali hain? Aap please humein aisi (Umrao Jaan) filmein dete rahiye (Please keep making films like Umrao Jaan),' says Ali. Adulation like that makes his June 27, Ali's classic star-crossed tale about a courtesan, featuring Rekha in an all-timer performance, re-releases in cinemas. He has also managed to put together a book on the film that he's forever synonymous an exclusive interview to INDIA TODAY, Ali shares interesting facts about the making of Umrao Jaan, curating a luxury coffee-table book celebrating the film, and the vanishing Awadhi culture.Q. Is the book as much a labour of love as the film was? A. There's no labour without love or love without labour. It was a very intense and challenging thing to do. Things get lost, people don't look after records and the mind doesn't recollect many things. The book puts everything into sharp focus—the whole ethos of the film, the time, the film has so many shades and aspects that we don't realise until one compiles it into a book. We need to look at the film in a very layered way. The book celebrates the film. It goes into the back-story, the different, subtle things which couldn't have come with the first release. It is a 44-year-old wine coming audiences' The photographs show you have maintained a good archive. What else have you preserved?A. I have got 40-50 trunks of clothing of that time, which need a proper museum. There's no space for these things in cities. Maybe, I will set up a museum of film costumes in my village. It can be an interesting experience. I hate throwing away these things. There's a lot of memory to each little Jaan is full of lovely things that people lent me, in terms of shawls, carpets, jewellery and textiles. You have to have a heart to lend it to somebody, so I was fortunate in that way.Q. The re-release strategy has really done wonders for some films. Are you excited to see the film be discovered by a whole new generation?A. I think it's a big, big experiment. I shouldn't be so scared; I am very expectant as to how people will react. It's a film that's survived many generations, and people have held it close to their hearts. It will take its own journey from here on.Q. The legendary Kathak artist Kumudini Lakhia, who choreographed the songs, passed away recently. Tell us a bit about the collaboration. She truly did make those songs more memorable with the abhinaya she made Rekha If it wasn't for her, Rekha wouldn't have had this kind of grace on screen. By the time Kathak entered Bollywood, it got jhatkas, which isn't true to the essence of the classical Kumudini behn did nobody could have done for me. She was really wonderful in the way she choreographed every single word and musical note. She gave the bhaav and movements. It is poetry in motion. In the book, I have given a tribute to Kumudini.Q. Are the locations where you shot Umrao Jaan intact or they have faded with time?A. Let's talk of the positives first. Yes, some places are intact while some have seen the surroundings degrade. Buildings have come up. Some places are just gone. Places outside of Lucknow, which were very photogenic and more spacious and easy to work in, such as Amethi, Kakori and Malihabad, are still holding on to those don't know how to take care of places. Lots of things are lost to neglect. No conservation architects as such are given these assignments. While shooting the film, we spent a lot of time in restoring places, to bring them back to their original condition. For instance, Mughal Saheba's Imambada in Lucknow. It took two to three months to restore it just so that I could shoot for a five-to-six-minute sequence. These kinds of things are no longer You are seen as a custodian and documentarian of Awadhi culture. Is it alive in Lucknow?A. Don't give me so much responsibility because I don't think I am taking it up seriously. People are aware of it and are conscious of monuments, spaces, architectures, way of life, food, and even literature to a is not getting its rightful place. It's a vast world—poetry is just one aspect of it. People have lost control and command of Urdu. It is an exemplary language for India. I don't know of any language that has bloomed so beautifully. It was born out of the need to connect. The ghazal gave it a beautiful dimension to describe the beloved and to talk with so much automotive culture has really changed the city (Lucknow). There should be a more graceful way of commuting. Until the culture of the street is respected, I don't think any city in India will be worth walking around. There are no footpaths Umrao Jaan is also that rare beast where you see leading artistes from different creative disciplines come together. Anjolie Ela Menon designed the poster; Kumudini Lakhia was the choreographer; poet Shahryar was the lyricist; and illustrator Manjula Padmanabhan did the titles. Such cross-collaboration seems to be missing from filmmaking these days.A. What happens in Bollywood is that people don't get artistes. Shahryar pulled his hair; he felt one had to be degraded to stay and work in it (Bollywood). I don't think artistes of that kind of calibre found it easy to be a part of ecosystem. Unless there's an artistic ecosystem, the concept of collective art or integrated art forms cannot is made without inspiration and respect. Cinema has become a business, and I am not a businessman. What I hate about it is that it's a business art when, in fact, it is an art of the to India Today Magazine- Ends
South China Morning Post
22-06-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
5 of Jakarta's best tasting-menu-only restaurants as the city's dining scene transforms
On June 26, British chef Kirk Westaway – best known for his modern British cuisine at two-Michelin-star Jaan in Singapore – will open The Crown by Kirk Westaway at the Fairmont Jakarta hotel in the Indonesian capital. With sweeping views of the city skyline, the tasting-menu-only restaurant on the 22nd floor will mark his second venture outside Singapore after opening The Albion by Kirk Westaway in Ho Chi Minh City in 2024 It signals a growing appetite for refined, chef-led dining in the Indonesian metropolis. 'Jakarta's dining scene is evolving fast – there is so much energy, and the city is full of food lovers who are genuinely keen to explore new experiences,' says Westaway. 'For me, it felt like the right time to bring something different to the table. 'With a growing audience of well-travelled, food-savvy diners, this seems like the perfect moment to be part of the city's culinary momentum,' he adds. In recent years, Jakarta's dining scene has undergone a transformation. What was once a landscape dominated by traditional Indonesian eateries has seen casual restaurants and international hotel dining evolve into a vibrant mix of independent concepts pushing boundaries in flavour and presentation.
Hans India
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hans India
Twinkle Khanna celebrates three generations of creativity in heartwarming artistic post
Author and former actress Twinkle Khanna shared a heartfelt moment on social media, showing three generations of women in her family—her mother, her daughter, and herself bonding over their shared love for creativity. In her post, Twinkle reflected on growing up surrounded by creativity, with her home always filled with art, poetry, and music. She spoke about how this environment of creative chaos shaped her and how she's now able to pass that joy on to her daughter. The simple act of sitting together and creating something with their hands has been a cherished tradition in their family for years. Khanna reflected on the enduring influence of creativity that runs through her family. Taking to Instagram, she posted a beautiful video showcasing her mother, veteran actress Dimple Kapadia; her daughter, Nitara; and herself, all engaged in different forms of artistic expression. For the caption, the 'Mela' actress wrote, 'Three generations-my mother, my daughter and me-each creating a small piece of art in our own way. I grew up like this, surrounded by creativity. Everyone in our household was always drawing, making knitted little dolls, writing poems. There were sitar teachers and painting 'sirs' ambling in and out of the house. It was glorious chaos. I'm grateful I can still give my daughter a taste of that joy — the magic of sitting together at a table and making something with your hands.' Twinkle Khanna is known for her active presence on Instagram, where she frequently shares photos with her kids, offering fans a glimpse into her personal life. Work-wise, Twinkle Khanna, daughter of the legendary Rajesh Khanna, made her mark in the film industry during the 90s and early 2000s. She began her acting career with a lead role in the film 'Barsaat' and went on to star as the leading lady in several films, including 'Jaan,' 'Jab Pyaar Kisise Hota Hai,' 'Baadshah,' and 'Love Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega.' After a series of performances, she eventually stepped away from acting.
