Molina is directed by chefs overseeing Michelin-starred restaurants overseas, namely Sidney Schutte at Amsterdam’s Spectrum (All photos: Michelin Guide KL & Penang
I can’t believe it. It was just 12 months ago, we were gathered in an anonymous hotel ballroom, waiting for yet another Michelin Star “revelation”. It seemed like yesterday. And you know what a lousy day yesterday was.
The crowd that gathered at the Mandarin Oriental last Thursday morning must have been suffering the same Groundhog Day blues. Everything just seemed a bit flat this year, despite emcee Nadia Heng trying her usual best, reading off the same welcome script as last year, in a very similar all-white get-up and noticeably less clipped accent.
So what did we learn from the third iteration of Malaysia’s Michelin Guide? Foreign talent, it seems, is the flavour of the month. Some palates just love imported food, I guess. Both the new star laureates, Molina and Chim by chef Noom, are directed by chefs overseeing Michelin-starred restaurants overseas, namely Sidney Schutte at Amsterdam’s Spectrum and Iron Chef Thailand winner Noom Chantharawan at Bangkok’s Chim by Siam Wisdom. Molina, which also won “Best New Opening”, has only been operating since June, so its gongs are especially notable. To be fair, fellow foodies have had good things to say about it but its location at The Face Style, on the wrong side of Jalan Sultan Ismail, is not the most convenient — or endearing.
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Now, as I haven’t dined at either establishment (yet), I can’t offer anything by way of a critique. Historically, however, it’s worth noting that Michelin has always been quick to promote new outlets from already-starred chefs. Singapore’s two-starred Shoukouwa, for example, by Masakazu Ishibashi, who already had a star at his Ginza sushi-ya, received its two stars within five months of opening. Again, and in case you weren’t aware, Shoukouwa is owned by Emmanuel Stroobant, the Belgian-born chef of Saint Pierre (also holding two stars) and face of the cooking show Chef in Black. And of course, who could forget the Ostend Queen in Belgium (menu by Pierre Wynants of the legendary Comme Chez Soi) which received a Bib Gourmand in 2005 weeks before it actually opened for business?
So, the smart money seems to be saying that if you want a quick star, back an already-starred chef who has a good relationship with Michelin (unless you are massively overstretched like Gordon Ramsay and his bar and grill at Sunway, which although called Sunway City Kuala Lumpur is, in fact, in Selangor and thus ineligible as the guide strictly covers Kuala Lumpur and Penang only). Otherwise, you could tie up a lot of money, effort and time supporting local talents like Shaun Ng at Hide or Johnson Wong at Gēn, with no certainty of ever getting a star despite the sheer, undisputed excellence of their cooking. In the bizarre world, according to Michelin, the jaguh kampung are seemingly unable to berjaguh di kampung anymore.
Speaking of tying up a lot of money, one’s heart must go out to Masashi Horiuchi and DeWet Visser at Potager. After having raved about it in these pages earlier this year, I don’t feel stupid for my wholly inaccurate prediction so much as sorry that Masashi and team are not getting the kudos they deserve.
There is a perfectionism, a technical mastery, a subtlety that goes into so much of their cooking, and which surpasses numerous one-star restaurants in Western Europe at which I have dined. I know that may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but one may have thought that the supposed arbiters of taste at Michelin may have appreciated it. One clearly thought wrong.
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Two very sad closures (and obviously deletions from the Guide) were Bref in Taman Tun Dr Ismail and Playte in Bukit Damansara. Importantly, in the midst of a proliferation of tasting menus and “omakase” (perhaps now the most overused and abused word in the industry, along with “Angus beef”, “caviar” and [yuck] “2.0”), Bref and Playte offered à la carte dining and, with it, an accessible entry point into the “casual-fine” dining segment. Perhaps that was part of Playte’s undoing, as you can’t dictate a minimum spend per head with à la carte. Its talented young ex-chef Brendon Chen seems to have vanished off the radar. I really hope he resurfaces soon.
As for Bref, rarely had I ever seen a restaurant open to so much good cheer and goodwill. It managed to survive Covid-19, but it wasn’t able to survive being gobbled up by its “2.0” (Bref “2.0” at M Resort) cannibalistic twin a mere 10 minutes away. Talk about awful business decisions; the market at that price point just isn’t large enough to sustain two such similar outlets so close together.
Penang performed well, with both its one-Michelin-star establishments — Au Jardin and Aunty Gaik Lean’s Old School Eatery — retaining their status, plus a thumping long list of Bib Gourmand and Michelin Selected spots, both old and new. From popular (and air-conditioned) noodle haven Laksalicious to Ravi’s Famous Apom Manis, Jaloux and Christoph’s, it looks as if the island will remain inundated by the star-struck, greedy, hungry and curious as ever. Dewakan, apart from retaining two stars, was also awarded with the country’s first Michelin Green Star for its role in blazing a trail for sustainable dining.
Perhaps the most giggly and inane gossip has centred around the mysteriously and saucily-named Lucky Hole, which won its first Michelin Select and its head chef, the equally delightfully named Waymann Cheong, the Young Chef Award. The clincher would have been if Lucky Hole had won Best New Opening (geddit?), but the humour gods were not with us that day. Rather, they were probably lounging out back at the Mandarin Oriental with the Michelin inspectors, tossing out stars to the “sure things” they know from other Michelin Guides and whom they knew would not let the side down. Vive la difference? Surely not.
Read more in the Nov 25, 2024 issue of Options, The Edge Malaysia.
