Cover Chefs Andrew Walsh and Bjorn Shen at the recent four-hands dinner at One&Only Desaru Coast
Chefs Andrew Walsh and Bjorn Shen at the recent four-hands dinner at One&Only Desaru Coast
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Andrew Walsh and Bjorn Shen, two veteran chefs in Singapore who recently held a four-hands dinner at One&Only Desaru Coast, share their thoughts on how crossover dinners expand their culinary horizons
Culinary crossovers are arguably the hottest dining trend in today’s F&B scene, with renowned chefs in Singapore and Asia coming together to curate exceptional dining experiences and foster cross-industry innovation. One of the most recent ones was with Andrew Walsh, the chef-founder of Cure Concepts who did a four-hands dinner with Artichoke chef-owner Bjorn Shen. The culinary event took place last May at One&Only Desaru Coast’s al fresco restaurant, Ember Beach Club, for Walsh’s ‘Andrew & Friends’ annual dinner series.
For Walsh, who has done a number of four- to six-hands dinners (in Singapore, Dubai, Bali and Malaysia) this year, the chance to work with his peers is always a welcome opportunity to be exposed to a variety of cuisines. “I love exploring different cultures through food, and learning about what they offer,” shares the chef, who runs Irish restaurant Cure, Catfish Izakaya, Club Street Wine Room and Asian fusion joint Bao Boy. Shen agrees, but the excitement for the Masterchef Singapore judge (and chef-owner of pizza joint Small’s) comes from flexing his culinary muscles and doing mashups of “different-sounding cuisines which you might think won’t go well together”.
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Above The chefs presenting their collaborative dish
The chefs presenting their collaborative dish
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Having been friends for over a decade, Walsh and Shen were able to share the kitchen for the first time to create a six-course menu showcasing their signature dishes at Catfish Izakaya and Artichoke, as well as exclusive creations served just at the dinner. In planning the menu with two different cuisines, Shen lets on that it’s all about “finding the parallels (between the two) and ingredients you can riff on”. Eventually, you will get something because “there are no two cuisines that can’t work together”.
The exclusive menu was dreamed up over lunch at Catfish Izakaya, where Shen was able to try some of head chef Jared Ng’s culinary repertoire. “He served this amazing unagi rice bowl and I wondered what I could do with it to not make it worse,” recalls Shen. The result was a collaborative dish of grilled unagi and foie gras donabe, topped with Shen’s tabbouleh, made with Malaysian herbs and finely chopped greens harvested from One&Only Desaru Coast’s in-house herb garden. Shen also served his long-aged flatbread mezza with za’atar, while Walsh whipped up the seared Hokkaido scallop bathed in a decadently rich gochujang butter and cured egg yolk.
Catfish Izakaya head chef Jared Ng
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Aside from being able to work together, Walsh and Shen were glad to bring their team of young chefs to this culinary crossover in Desaru Coast. “We are the old guards,” the chefs share, “and it is our duty to train the next generation of chefs”. And culinary crossovers like ‘Andrew & Friends’ provide the perfect platform to network in the F&B industry, try different cuisines and pick up new flavour profiles that they can use to create recipes. “It is also our duty to take them out, as it’s very important for their education, otherwise they will go stale”. At the end of the day, both chefs are rooting for their young chefs to grow in their culinary careers and open their own restaurants in the future.
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Images: One&Only Desaru Coast
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Dudi Aureus is the senior dining and travel editor at Tatler Singapore, covering the city’s most exciting restaurants, global travel trends, and the personalities shaping the culinary and lifestyle scenes. She also serves as co-jury chair for the Tatler Best awards in Singapore, celebrating the very best in hospitality. When she’s off duty, she can often be found at a favourite hole-in-the-wall Thai spot, savouring a perfectly balanced pad thai.
