Have you been to Wonderfruit before?
I have not. Basically I heard about Wonderfruit when Gaggan came to visit us at our restaurant a couple of years ago. He was telling us about the idea and it really fit with our restaurant, the whole sustainability thing. My good friend from Burnt Ends in Singapore [chef David Pynt] actually did the first edition. It sounded great, really a different idea. I find all food events can be so similar but this was new, something social. They also really focus on the environment and food’s relationship with the earth, which suits our restaurant.
Food at Ola
So how did the partnership with Gaggan come about?
It was very cool actually. He came to the restaurant and asked to collaborate with us. This was awesome because Gaggan had just recently been crowned no. 1 restaurant in Asia, so we were super excited and happy to do that. So we did our first collaboration at Ola with a dinner he called GGGola. It was great to see the synergy between his team and ours—obviously he’s a really cool dude, full of ideas. The idea was to serve Thai and Indian dishes with a little Peruvian and Spanish influence. We made a 25-course dinner and served about 250 people, just the perfect environment. Customers at Ola loved it. One year later we did three nights with him at Meatlicious just cooking Peruvian food. It was great to see how he works, there’s really only one Gaggan in the world.
Farm to Feasts dinner, Wonderfruit 2015
Your restaurants are very different. How will they both come together for the dinner at Wonderfruit?
We’ve made a really cool menu. Gaggan cooked at Wonderfruit last year so knows well what we can and can’t do. We’ll make some ceviches, some Catalan-style dishes. We’ll make a joint-effort paella with some curry flavor—there’ll be some Thai, Indian, Peruvian, Spanish influence. What matters is that it’s flavorful. Then we’ll have some suckling pig and beef tomahawk.
Have you spent much time in Bangkok? What are your thoughts on the restaurant scene here?
The problem in Singapore is that we have no agriculture. I went to Bangkok a few weekends ago to talk with Gaggan and had no idea of all the sustainable, local produce in Thailand. We even had Thai caviar at Suhring—things like this I never knew existed. Thailand has a big opportunity to package itself in a complete way but it will no doubt take some time. What makes Bangkok cool is that it’s so flavorful and intense. A few years ago people wanted delicate and refined but now people want intense experiences and Bangkok is perfect for that.
Any standout restaurants you’ve visited?
Err from the Bo.lan group was delicious and super good. Obviously Suhring was also fantastic. But a lot of what makes a big difference is that people are using Thai ingredients and that really adds flavor to dishes. The personality of the Thai chefs and carrying the flag of Thai produce is so good to see.
Err
What restaurant trends have you witnessed in the last few years in Singapore?
I would say in the last 2-3 years people have been moving out of fine dining. It can still work well but people are moving towards something more casual—Burnt Ends, for example is still doing very well. Japanese food is also becoming incredibly popular.
What impression did the Michelin guide have on Singapore?
Michelin gave a lot of credit to some great restaurants here. For the past 10 years everyone was looking at foreign chefs and talking about which Westerners were in the kitchen, and Michelin didn’t do that. They awarded Asians, Westerners and all with great personality which is great.
Brought to you by 
The four-day festival of art, music, food and wellness returns this Feb 16-19 to the Fields at Siam Country Club, Pattaya. Adult tickets start at B5,500 for a four-day pass, available at www.wonderfruitfestival.com.
