Singapore restaurant Odette, took the No.1 spot for the second time on the list of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2020. The list was revealed through a virtual announcement that chefs, restaurateurs and their teams watched from restaurants across the region. Co-owner French chef Julien Royer spoke with Asia’s Top 50 to talk about his success, the impact of this pandemic and his optimism for the future.
William Drew, Director of Content for Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants, said: “We are, of course, experiencing unprecedented times both in the restaurant sector and across Asia as a whole. It is therefore more important than ever to support restaurants all over the continent in their recovery, to recognise each other’s achievements over the last 12 months, and broadcast a message of solidarity.” Mr Drew spoke with Chef-owner Julian Royer about the current environment and what it means to win the coveted award for the second year running.
William Drew: As one of the leaders of gastronomy in Asia, do you have a message for the wider hospitality sector at this difficult time?
Julien Royer: “The situation is very unpredictable and scary for all of us, but I would like to send a message of hope and togetherness. It’s important that we realise we’re all in the same boat: no matter the restaurant, the cuisine or where we are, it’s affecting us all. In Singapore, we are lucky to still be able to operate the restaurant for now. I see from my colleagues in Europe, the US and many places in the world, where they can’t keep their restaurants open, that they are fighting to find solutions, to keep going and not close their doors. It’s a difficult situation, but we must realise that we have to put all our efforts together to ultimately carry on doing what we love and doing our job. It will happen only if we’re all together.”
WD: How does it feel to have Odette voted as The Best Restaurant in Asia for the second time?
JR: “It’s an amazing and very humbling recognition for the whole team - nearly 40 colleagues working at Odette since the start almost five years ago. It’s very rewarding and an amazing feeling to be recognised by our peers and people in the food and wine industry. I strongly believe there are many awesome restaurants in this part of the world, and so we take this with a lot of humility and integrity. Some of these amazing chefs and restaurants are in less known cities, or they don’t have as much visibility as we get in Singapore. It’s an amazing recognition, we’re very proud and we take it as a team award.”
WD: How has the last year been, since you first won the award in March 2019, at least until the virus hit?
JR: “It was an amazing year for us, a great ride. We’ve been feeling a lot of love and support from our loyal local guests in Singapore and from people all over the region and the world. We received a lot of very kind messages and we are carrying on doing what we believe in, trying to get better and refine things every day. The beauty of our job is that we can taste, touch, smell and see and learn something new every day. It’s a constant learning exercise and that’s what makes this job so special and so exciting.”
WD: How do you keep motivated and how do you motivate your team?
JR: “I have to lead by example and carry the team and always show positivity, no matter the circumstances, even if it’s difficult now. I’m genuinely a positive person so I try to communicate that with the team. We spend so many hours here at the restaurant, we are becoming very close and this positivity between us makes the team so special and, in turn, the experience for our guests so special.”
WD: Do you feel that the restaurant scene in Singapore is preparing for recovery once the time is right?
JR: “It’s going to take some time, but I like to think about recovery and better things for tomorrow. All of us, restaurateurs and chefs, we are struggling in Singapore because the country has restricted tourist arrivals - for the benefit of everyone, of course. The reality is that the number of restaurants and the number of people living is Singapore is quite disproportionate, so it will be difficult. We hope to find solutions in the meantime, as we really want to start thinking about recovery and begin seeing restaurants busy again, people going out more and being less scared.”
WD: Do you feel that it was important to announce these awards, albeit in a very different format, at this time?
JR: “I asked myself this question, but any kind of positivity and optimism is welcome at this time, when people are surrounded by bad news and stress. Positivity and optimism – even if it’s only for a very short time – are important, no matter what climate we’re living in. Many of us in the industry took an hour today to watch [the countdown of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants], and in the end we forgot about the stresses for that hour. It’s the beginning of something very positive.”
For more visit: www.theworlds50best.com
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