Fine dining at Fanling Industrial Estate

Fanling Industrial Estate isn't the most obvious location for a fine dining restaurant, especially one that not only wants to offer its customers a menu with the expected emphasis on presentation and flavour, but also claims to serve healthy food.

It is something of an understatement to say that at IPC Foodlab the restaurant-within-a-restaurant Chefs' Table is inspired by the popular concept of farm-to-table cuisine. The chefs pick their own ingredients from calamansi, lemons and herbs to edible flowers and cherry tomatoes on the roof of the seven-storey building that houses the restaurant. En route they may pause to forage for fresh, supposedly cancer-fighting ABM mushrooms from the indoor nursery on the sixth floor.

The concept is the brainchild of chef de cuisine Louis-Antoine Giroud, a Frenchman who wears multiple hats as IPC's chief executive, managing director and corporate executive head chef. Fortunately, he functions well on a minimum of four hours sleep per night.

The placing of the apostrophe in Chefs' Table is deliberate, emphasising that this is very much a team effort. Giroud is happy to share the limelight with his colleagues - Jimmy Poon, head chef; Bryan Ng, second chef; and F&B director, Francisco "Pancho" Barria from Argentina. "We four make a cultural melting pot and that is reflected in the cuisine," says Giroud. "Once the basic structure of the menu was decided, everyone made suggestions to help it evolve."

The team looks a little apprehensive at the start of the night I attend. "Of course they are nervous - this is fine dining," says Giroud.

"Everybody can cook, everybody can make simple food, following their mother's or grandmother's recipe. But only about 15 per cent of professional chefs can tackle fine dining successfully. It is a question of detail, the smallest change will make a difference. That's why restaurants with Michelin stars are special.