Julien Royer: "A Great Chef is Only as Great as Their Team"

Julien Royer, chef-owner of Odette in Singapore and Louise in Hong Kong, will mentor S.Pellegrino Young Chef Academy Asia finalist Kevin Wong Tat Mun, in the forthcoming competition's grand final in Milan in October 2021.

The 36-year-old French chef, whose three-Michelin-star French fine-dining restaurant sits at no. 2 on Asia's 50 Best Restaurant list, is ideally placed to offer the benefits of his culinary experience and expertise to drive his mentee to victory with his signature dish entitled 'celebration of a duck'.

Ahead of the competition, Fine Dining Lovers spoke to Royer about his culinary dreams, sustainability and how the culinary world is evolving.  

Can you remember the moment you decided to become a chef - what inspired you and what obstacles did you overcome to achieve your dream?

My grandmother, Odette, was a fantastic home cook and she was the one who inspired me to become a chef. I spent a lot of time in the kitchen with her and would see the amount of joy derived from family coming over for a home-cooked meal. We cooked with freshly-picked produce from our farm, eating with the seasons and living off our land. She taught me to have the utmost respect for seasonality and product beyond any kind of food philosophy. Through her, I realised how joy and love can be demonstrated through food and how the most remarkable dishes can come from the simplest ingredients. To this day, this ethos continues to inspire me to bring authenticity to the table.

This is a very demanding industry, nonetheless I have felt incredibly lucky throughout my journey; it has been amazing every step of the way. We are on a continuous journey of discovery together, devoting ourselves to growing and innovating, cooking with our hearts. The challenge we have set for ourselves is to do better than the day before and strive for perfection.

How important are competitions such as S.Pellegrino Young Chef Academy for young chefs?

I think such competitions are exciting opportunities for young chefs to challenge themselves. The experience is very different from cooking in a kitchen. Here, they have the chance to conceptualise a multi-course dining experience from start to finish, and within a time limit. They take responsibility for the whole process, whether it's the story behind the dish, sourcing for ingredients or the techniques used; it is a great platform to demonstrate what they are capable of.

This year, the inaugural S.Pellegrino Award for Social Responsibility was awarded to the signature dish that was best able to show the principles of sustainability in a dish. How do you integrate sustainability in your kitchen?

We believe in sourcing carefully and making considered decisions in working with our small producers, suppliers and artisanal farmers who champion more sustainable practices, providing us with a range of seasonal ingredients, from sustainable seafood, to farm produce to work with. While farms here are few, we are proud to be working with some of the best, who take great pride in their fantastic produce.

Since pre-opening, we have worked with Ting Ting of Urban Farm & Barn, a Singapore-based operation that supplies us with herbs grown biodynamically. She grows many greens, micro-greens, cress and flowers for us, and we use them for several dishes and especially for PROMENADE À SINGAPOUR, which features a selection of our favourite and finest greens of local provenance, consisting over 20 ingredients foraged and farmed from our little red dot. This way, we do not have to especially fly in herbs such as sorrels and micro-greens. We also work with Farm deLight, another Singaporean-based operation, which supplies us with herbs grown in a hydroponic system.

Other sustainable producers we work with include Fabien Deneour for sustainable pigeons. For our signature dish, the pigeon is prepared three ways, showcasing the many facets of flavour and texture within. It is comprised of a pigeon liver parfait, confit leg and breast, pan-seared to finish. We have also been partnering with Food from the Heart to donate our leftover bread.