Cover Find out more about the Visa’s Infinite Tastes: Beyond the Menu programme
Find out more about the Visa’s Infinite Tastes: Beyond the Menu programme
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Visa Infinite grants access to culinary worlds across Asia Pacific where the story behind the meal is as important as the plate itself
A good meal nourishes. A great one stays with you. The rarest meals, however, are the ones where the reservation is just the beginning, and the real experience starts when you step through the door and into a realm that exists beyond the dining room.
It is a world of farmers’ markets before the crowds arrive, and of kitchens that buzz with energy while the city sleeps. A place where chefs are storytellers, ingredients carry memories, and a single plate can hold the weight of generations. This is the world that Visa Infinite opens.
Visa’s ‘Infinite Tastes: Beyond the Menu’ is a programme built on a simple premise: that the most meaningful experiences are the ones that feel personal. Across the region, chefs are stepping out from their kitchens to welcome a handful of guests into their private worlds. Not for a tasting menu. Not to dine at the chef’s table. But for something rarer: a glimpse into who they are and where they come from.
Taiwan: Roots and Ritual with Nobu Lee
Above Chef Nobu Lee will present a seven-course lunch
Above Nobuo makes use of Taiwanese
Ingredients
Chef Nobu Lee will present a seven-course lunch
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Nobu Lee cooks from a place of stillness. There is no noise or unnecessary flourish, just natural ingredients treated with a respect that feels almost sacred.
The experience begins not in his restaurant, Nobuo, but at the source: Wang Tea House, a place of quiet ritual, where fifth-generation tea master Jason Wang holds court. He leads a private tasting, guiding you through the layers of Taiwan’s tea culture, from the leaves to the water to the centuries of knowledge that inform every cup.
Then Nobuo closes for the afternoon. A dozen guests take their seats and a seven-course lunch showcasing classical technique, Taiwanese ingredients and modern creativity is presented. At the end of the meal, guests are presented with rice and tea, not as souvenirs, but as tangible connections to the land and the people who work it.
Sri Lanka: Breaking bread with Harean Hettiarachchi
Above Guests will be able to take their loaves home after the workshop
Above Bake bread with Harean Hettiarachchi in Colombo
Guests will be able to take their loaves home after the workshop
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Harean Hettiarachchi studied physics at Cambridge. Then he fell in love with bread. Today, he bakes out of his home kitchen in Colombo, a space that feels like a laboratory of obsession. Flour dusts every surface, while the air is thick with the smell of proofing dough.
The experience begins in the afternoon, with guests baking their own loaves under Hettiarachchi’s watchful eye. He guides you through the alchemy of flour, water, fire and time, applying the precision of a scientist to the craft of a baker. As the loaves rest in the wood-fired oven, the evening shifts to pizzas and beers while Hettiarachchi tells his story: how a physicist became a baker, how perfectionism became passion, and how the simple act of making bread can be a form of love.
At the end of the evening, guests take home the loaves they baked themselves. Yet the real takeaway is less tangible. A new appreciation for the craft and the reminder that some of the most profound experiences are also the most humble.
Singapore: The People’s Brew with Dave Pynt
Above Dave Pynt will host an experience
at his microbrewery People People
Above One of the dishes from Burnt Ends in Singapore
Dave Pynt will host an experience at his microbrewery People People
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Dave Pynt has spent years perfecting the art of fire. At Burnt Ends, his modern Australian barbecue restaurant, smoke and char are not just techniques; they are a philosophy. But on the shores of Sentosa, at his microbrewery People People, he is stepping away from the fire and into the grain.
The afternoon begins with a brewing session led by the resident brewmaster. You stand shoulder to shoulder with the people who make the beer, your hands in the grain, learning the weight, smell and texture of the craft. There is no barrier between you and the process.
As the sun begins to set, Pynt takes over. The beer you helped create is poured, and the food that follows is fire-driven, elemental, unmistakably Pynt. Weeks later, a case of the beer you brewed arrives at your door. A reminder that this was not something you attended. It was an experience you helped create.
Vietnam: Fervour for Fermentation with Vuong Thanh
Vuong Thanh was a prodigy before he was a chef. Discovered on a national cooking competition, he rose through the ranks with determination. At Coco Dining in Ho Chi Minh City, he has built a reputation for food that is both deeply traditional and fiercely modern.
For one night, he opens his kitchen for what he calls a “greatest hits” menu, though it is less a retrospective and more a confession. Each dish marks a moment in his culinary journey: the dish that won him his first Michelin star, the dish that failed and taught him humility, the dish that points us toward where he is going next. As the courses arrive, Vuong shares the stories behind them: the mentors, the mistakes, the late nights and the quiet triumphs. As the counter becomes a stage and the plates become chapters, you realise that you are not just eating a meal; you are getting a taste and glimpse into his life.
Above Coco Dining seamlessly blends the
traditional and modern
Above Chef Vuong Thanh at Coco Dining in Ho Chi Minh City
Coco Dining seamlessly blends the traditional and modern
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Malaysia: Fire and Spice with Zhe-xi Lee and Yong-zhi So
Above Chef Zhe-xi Lee at Barkar in Kuala Lumpur
Above Lee will host a meat and marination workshop
Chef Zhe-xi Lee at Barkar in Kuala Lumpur
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At Barkar in Kuala Lumpur, co-founders and chefs Zhe-xi Lee and Yong-zhi Soh have built a theatre of fire, with cooking that feels both primal and refined.
The experience begins before the fire is lit, with Lee leading an intimate workshop on the art of meat and marination. He guides guests through prized cuts and the subtleties of seasoning, turning a demonstration into a shared exploration of flavour.
In the evening, the flames take centre stage with a dinner built on smoke, char and the deep satisfaction of elemental cooking. The two chefs work with a synchronicity that speaks to years of collaboration, a friendship forged in the heat of the kitchen.
Access Granted
These five experiences offer a glimpse into the breadth of the programme. They are hands-on, intimate, behind-the-scenes and immersive. They speak to what access truly means: storytelling, heritage and the human connection that transforms a simple meal into a lasting memory.
‘Infinite Tastes: Beyond the Menu’ is part of Visa’s refreshed Visa Infinite proposition for Asia Pacific. The programme moves beyond traditional perks to offer moments that feel relevant, distinctive and personal.
Limited seats available, exclusively for Visa Infinite cardholders.
Visit vi.sa/beyond-the-menu for more details
