Having developed a passion for cuisine since he was very young, Julien Royer established Odette, a fine French restaurant within the picturesque National Gallery Singapore that has been honoured with a three Michelin-star accolade. Amidst his illustrious schedule, he made the time to sit with us to share his inspirational start and journey.
E: You’ve come from a family of farmers, and that ignited a great appreciation for ingredients. However, was there any specific point in your life when you decided that you wanted to be a chef?
A: The restaurant is named after my grandmother, Odette. She showed me how much pleasure and happiness you can give to people through food and cuisine. From that moment, I really wanted to do something around food. That was when I was around six or seven years old. She fed me so well that I wanted to give the same pleasure to people. So first, I wanted to become a baker, and then I decided to do savoury cooking because it is a bit wider and a bit more diverse.
E: Odette is a household name that barely needs any introduction. How would you describe the restaurant to someone who’s not in the industry or someone who is here for the first time?
A: The backbone of the cuisine is French, but it has a lot of Asian zest and sensibilities. We have slowly introduced Asian accents to products, techniques, tastes and sometimes aesthetics into this very solid backbone of French cuisine. I will describe it as a very comfortable restaurant where people feel good, from the start to the finish, from the food we sell to the way the hospitality and the people approach you. We really try to focus on giving very happy, genuine hospitality to every single one of our guests.
E: Singapore’s culinary scene is one of the most vibrant in the world, what do you think makes it stand out from the rest?
A: The evolution of this French cuisine that I’ve mentioned is what makes it special. It’s a cuisine that has a sense of place. I think it’s very important to understand where you are cooking, and who you are cooking for, to have a product that makes sense to a specific place. This is exactly what Odette is about. We are in Singapore, a place with a lot of different cultures, nationalities, ethnicities and people. It’s a melting pot, it’s a crossroad of Southeast Asia, and I want people to feel it when they come to dine here.
E: You and your team have been running Odette for quite a while. What is your secret in keeping things relevant and fresh?
A: I think it’s being true to ourselves, and to never think that we have arrived, basically. Because the more you know, the more you have to learn. We question ourselves every single day with our team, what we can do better tomorrow compared to today and yesterday. What we can refine, there’s always something to refine, there’s always something that we can do better. Day after day we question ourselves, we sit, we taste and we spend a lot of time researching to make sure that we are the closest to perfection – I don’t like the word perfection because I think it does not really exist. We try to have a product that has a sense of place, harmony and balance.
E: What can our readers or discerning diners look forward to from Odette in the near future?
A: This year and next year, we are going to have a lot of exciting collaborations with some of the finest restaurants and chefs in the world. We are going to organise some very special dinners right here. Obviously, just the seasonality of our menu is something that people can look forward to. We always try and challenge ourselves to source the finest ingredients that we can find. We are also going to turn 10 very soon, and that will be something even more exciting, but I cannot share too much at the moment.
E: Who or what has been your biggest inspiration in creating your culinary creations so far?
A: My biggest inspiration is my family and my grandma and my mom because they teach me values that go beyond the classic training of a chef or a hospitality school. It’s the value of honesty, humility, integrity and truth. I think this is something that is very deep in my heart and in my roots. This is something that I also want to share with my team.
E: What do you think is the most memorable or rewarding moments throughout your career?
A: We have been very fortunate to have many, many accolades. We’ve been named Best Restaurant in Asia two times. Receiving the three Michelin stars is also something very special. And being part of the prestigious association of Les Grandes Tables du Monde is also very special. But beyond all that, I think the biggest reward that I personally have is to see my team growing with me, to see the people that I’ve trained growing with me, and to see the restaurant full of happy faces every single day, every single service.
E: What do you think a good chef should have?
A: I think a good chef should have an obsession with detail, a passion for ingredients and a passion for sourcing. The passion for ingredients and sourcing should be at least the same as the passion for cooking. Cooking is one thing, but sourcing the finest ingredients is also very important. This is what we spend so much time doing, and we really challenge ourselves to do that. We also need the passion for people. Because this industry is about people and alone you can’t do much. You have to create a team around you to be able to deliver a very high quality and consistency.
Exquisite Taste Volume 41
Odette
1 St. Andrew’s Road #01-04
Singapore 178957
T: (+65) 63850498
