The future of fine dining

Published Wed, Feb 15, 2023 · 05:47 PM

IN EARLY January, famed chef-restaurateur Rene Redzepi stunned the world when he announced that his acclaimed Copenhagen restaurant – often hailed as the best in the world – would close for good and be turned into a food lab. The global media churned out numerous commentaries to also announce the death of fine dining – a victim of high costs and thin profit margins that make cooking at a high creative level, even if expensive, an unsustainable business model.

Given a rise in fine dining closures in top foodie destinations, does that same prognosis apply to the Singapore fine dining scene – also plagued by high rents, manpower and food costs? In tomorrow’s BT Lifestyle, we speak to some of the city’s top chefs for their thoughts on the issue, and why it may still be premature to announce the death of upscale dining.

Elsewhere, we take you on a tour of some of the best art exhibitions in town, including Genevieve Chua’s excellent solo show at STPI and Johann Fauzi’s first solo show with Richard Koh Fine Art. In theatre, we review Myle Yan Tay’s sensitive new play Brown Boys Don’t Tell Jokes.

In Dining, we check out the new restaurant Chedi, to see how Singapore chefs put their own spin on Thai cuisine. All this and more in tomorrow’s issue of BT.