Owner of Singapore’s two-Michelin-star Odette restaurant on why his grandmother would be proud of him
Julien Royer says he became a chef ‘because I wanted to give people pleasure’
How often do you do these guest-chef promotions? “Not that often because I try to stay in my restaurant as much as I can. But we planned this one a long time ago, and I knew it was going to be fun. Ricardo [Chaneton, of Restaurant Petrus at the Island Shangri-La] and I know each other from a four-hands dinner that we did about four years ago, when I was chef of Jaan [in Singapore] – he came to do a collaboration as part of a gourmet festival. After that we cooked together in Shanghai, at Unico.”
Tell us about your restaurant, Odette. “It’s named after my maternal grandmother. I’m from Auvergne, in the centre of France. It’s quiet – very quiet; there are not many people but it’s rich in agriculture. They say Auvergne is the cheese board of France; it’s the only region in France with five AOPs [appellation d’origine protégée], the official appellation of cheeses. My grandfather had a small farm and my sister, our parents [and I] lived there. My grandmother cooked every day.
What do you remember your grandmother making? “I remember the long, slow simmering of the red currant jam she would make, adding vanilla and juniper berries – this perfumed the entire house. I’ve kept this memory in my heart for many years, and so it’s a small gift we give to diners when they come to Odette – a jar of red currant jam, to show them where I’m coming from.”
Has your family eaten at your restaurants? “Not my grandmother, because she was too old to travel, but she knew what I was doing. She’s passed away now, but she’s watching over me from up there. My parents came to Odette and they were so proud. It’s a long journey, and for them it was such a discovery. It’s nice to cook for people you love.”
How did you come to open Odette in singapore’s National Gallery? “The CEO of the National Gallery [Chong Siak Ching] used to come to Jaan often and one day she said, ‘I have a space for you in our building.’ I said, ‘OK, I’ll come down,’ but I didn’t go. She came back two weeks later and said, ‘I was waiting for you. I’m serious, I have something for you.’ I went to see the space and it’s a beautiful location. At the same time, I met my business partner – a Singaporean guy. We decided in a couple of weeks – everything was done quite fast. I wanted to do a restaurant that’s not too big and really classic yet refined. The next step for me after working at Jaan for four years was to become a restaurateur more than a chef, and being able to shape the entire hospitality product, from the lighting to the decoration, tablecloth, cutlery, plates – everything. We started from a white page, so that was fantastic.”
What is your favourite ingredient to work with? “Citrus. I like any kind of citrus and, in Asia, I discovered many types I didn’t know about – yuzu, sudachi, bergamot, calamansi. Citrus is such a humble ingredient but the zest of lime, for example, can give a totally new complexity and dimension to a dish.”