Cépage's head chef Sebastien Lepinoy and pastry chef Cheryl Koh have been lured to Singapore to head up Les Amis' eponymous flagship restaurant. The move makes sense considering both restaurants share the same enticing formula of sophisticated food and slick service mixed with an unstuffy atmosphere - a recipe that has made Les Amis as popular with food writers in the region as it is with regular customers.
Les Amis has also been a nursery for talented cooks who have spread their wings across the region. Lepinoy, who was head chef at L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon Hong Kong prior to Cépage, and Koh are the latest in a long line of alumni that includes Ignatius Chan, owner of renowned restaurant Iggy's.
Les Amis, which celebrates its 20th anniversary next year, was at the forefront of the French fine dining scene in Singapore when it opened in 1994.
Award-winning sommelier Chan, and chef Justin Quek, who'd worked his way around several classical French restaurants in France and Britain, were the brains behind the concept. With Chan's experience, the restaurant became known for fine wines as well as Quek's cuisine.
"Ignatius and I drove the operation for 10 years," says Quek, who now runs his own restaurant Sky on 57 at Marina Bay Sands, where he combines classic French cooking with a Chinese influence. "We were the first stand-alone, fine-dining French restaurant with a great wine list in Singapore."