Since Gwendall Poullennec took on the role of international director for the Michelin Guides in 2018, he has witnessed first-hand the highs and lows of the global F&B industry. The past two years have been the hardest, no thanks to the Covid-19 virus that keeps mutating and showing no signs of ending the pandemic.
But if you ask Poullenec about the positive thing that came out of our current situation, it is the “extraordinary amount of solidarity, adaptability of the F&B scene” that continues to amaze and humble him and his team. Despite the no-dine-in rule during Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) and the continued safety measures in place, he tells Tatler Dining that the chefs and their teams have been able to reinvent their activities and develop concepts such as takeaways and deliveries to get through this period.
Their skill, creativity and passion were celebrated in the recent Michelin Guide Singapore, which returned after a one-year break to award the restaurants their well-deserved stars. It was a timely comeback at a time when restaurants needed it the most, and this is only the beginning of Poullennec and his team in continuing to champion the F&B industry. Here he shares his thoughts on what's next for the dining scene and how he is continuing to support it.
See also: Michelin Guide Singapore 2021: Read The Full List Here

Why is there an even bigger need to celebrate the local F&B scene now?
Gwendal Poullennec We believe that the community support for local cuisine remains incredibly strong in Singapore, and establishments that have overcome the challenges of the pandemic deserve recognition for their contributions to the culinary scene, not to mention the vital role they’ve played in keeping people fed.
From an international perspective—and since the beginning of the pandemic—the Michelin Guide has continuously adapted to the local situation, ensuring its decisions and activities were the most relevant to the local context. The Guide has also developed many initiatives to pursue its historic mission: to be a link between international foodies and the chefs and restaurants. To do so, its teams imagined both local and global initiatives to keep feeding this link. On social media, for example, we launched the Michelin Guide at Home campaign promoting chefs’ recipes for reproduction at home during the lockdown. The editorial platforms, such as its website, published many articles to promote restaurants’ alternative offers (take-away or delivery, for example). Thanks to our teams of inspectors in the field, we were also able to collect the most up-to-date information as well as bring awareness on the reality of the world industry by releasing, for example, a weekly international index that presents the percentage of starred restaurants operating around the world.
The Michelin Guide Singapore has returned after a one-year hiatus. Has anything changed in the way the inspectors review restaurant?
GP Nothing has changed. All establishments are chosen according to the same five criteria used by Michelin inspectors around the world: quality of the ingredients; mastery of cooking; harmony of the flavours; expression of the chef’s personality in the cuisine; and consistency, both over time and across the entire menu.
The anonymity of the inspectors is an integral part of the methodology of the Michelin Guide, hence we do not disclose information about our inspectors. Singapore is an international city, with a broad range of international cuisine alongside local cuisine. The team of inspectors will therefore be international and made up of inspectors of different nationalities, be they Europeans, Americans and Asians.
See also: Michelin Guide Singapore's Bib Gourmand 2021: Read The Full List Here