Do young chefs have more culinary skill? Singapore restaurants take a chance on under-30 masters

Sep 8 , 2019

Magic Square's under-30 chefs (from left) Desmond Shen, Abel Su, and Marcus Leow have impressed Singapore diners with their world-class menus.

Banking on bright new culinary talents, many Singaporean restaurants find their businesses increase when a young chef takes the helm

In May of 2018, Tan Ken Loon, owner of Singapore seafood eatery Naked Finn, initiated Magic Square, a 12-month-long incubation project to, in Loon’s words, “nurture future talents in the [food and beverage] industry”.

For each month, one of the three under-30 chefs – namely Abel Su, Desmond Shen and Marcus Leow – would take the lead, aided by the other two, in steering the nine-course menu of locally inspired dishes, sometimes using local ingredients.

Magic Square's chefs (from left) Desmond Shen, Abel Su, and Marcus Leow take turns creating nine-course menus with local ingredients.

In May, there was an awe-inspiring Malay-accented petai (stinky beans) miso by Shen. The next month, it was an eye-opening Peranakan-style Brussels sprouts in buah keluak (Indonesian black nut) emulsion by Leow that stole the show. And last June, Su doled out a local duck liver pate rounded with Hua Tiao wine and topped with a black citrus powder of yuzu and lime, a Chinese take on a decidedly French delicacy.

In the wooded reaches of Portsdown Road, the makeshift restaurant catering to 18 guests at a communal table roars to life at 6pm each night, and again at 8.30pm for the second seating.

Chefs created tasting menus, which included dishes such as the Magic Square's Duck Liver Tart, for only US$56 per head.

In a city known for costly cars and expensive housing, Magic Square’s SG$78++ (US$56) per head price tag was a breath of fresh air. Perceived as a steal, the seats sold out fast. But more importantly, the year-long project sent out a message loud and clear – that we, Singapore’s foodies, as a community need to groom our pool of young cooking talents.

Perhaps a testimony to the success of Magic Square, Su, a former junior sous chef at Odette, wasted no time in landing a sous chef position at Christopher Kostow’s newly opened Ensue in Futian, China, hot on the heels of Magic Square’s cessation.

While the pop-up has come and gone, the city’s obsession with young chefs continues to simmer.

Although only 30 years old, Chef Gan Ming Kiat at Mustard Seed has become a star by creating inventive dishes.

Like Magic Square, Mustard Seed started as a pop-up in June 2017 from the home of its chef-owner, Gan Ming Kiat, who turns 30 this November. Despite his relative youth, Gan has chalked up credible kitchen experiences including three and a half years at the now-defunct kaiseki eatery, Goto, and two years at one Michelin-starred Peranakan restaurant in Singapore, Candlenut, before he packed his bags and took off to Canberra to cook at the Singapore High Commission.