From its reinvention as Jaan par Andre under the helm of Taiwanese chef Andre Chiang, to its recent one-Michelin-star recognition, Jaan has seen a succession of chefs go on to lead restaurants embraced by the Michelin Guide’s very first Singapore edition. We speak to the Fairmont Singapore and Swissôtel The Stamford’s executive chef Robert Stirrup to glean some insight on the hotel’s winning recipe for grooming top talent.
Not every restaurant can have it all, but you could say Jaan gets pretty close.
The nouvelle French restaurant on the 70th floor of the Swissôtel The Stamford helped to propel into the spotlight culinary luminaries such as Andre Chiang (of two-Michelin-starred Andre) and Julien Royer (of two-starred Odette), while recently snagging a Michelin star of its own under the charge of current head chef Kirk Westaway.
A key reason for the restaurant's success, according to Fairmont Singapore and Swissôtel The Stamford executive chef Robert Stirrup, lies in Jaan’s unique position of being an independently run restaurant couched within a large hotel group - a conscious decision made by the hotel’s management.
“Jaan is quite unique in the sense that we treat it as an individual restaurant, not under the Swissôtel umbrella. The chefs are given a lot of freedom and opportunities, but at the same time, they have the support and infrastructure when they require any assistance or guidance from the hotel.” says Stirrup, who has been overseeing restaurant operations in the two hotels - including Jaan when it was under both Royer and Westaway - since September 2014. (Jaan par Andre, meanwhile, was supervised by Otto Weibel, the hotels' then-Director of Kitchens, who retired in 2011 and is now a consultant chef for one-Michelin-starred Osia.)
This means that Jaan has been able to build its own identity and, on occasion, take a vastly different direction from the hotel in terms of marketing initiatives and events. Citing as an example Westaway’s guest chef stint at Tables Grill restaurant at Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok in May, Stirrup admits: “Most hotels would see this as working with competitor, which a lot of hotel chains would not let you do.”
(Related: See our inspectors' pick of Singapore's top hotels)
Conversely, when Jaan partnered with luxury brand Hermes to dish out canapes for 600 invited guests at the brand’s launch event the same month - a feat for any intimate, 40-seater restaurant to pull off on its own - Jaan benefited from “having a hotel structure to support it”.
Being plugged into a bigger group also means that Jaan chefs get to tap on the hotel’s existing relationships to gain access to top suppliers and premium ingredients from abroad, Stirrup adds.
“What I appreciated most was the carte blanche I got from the management in terms of ingredients, dishes and menu creation. There were no objections or guidelines, only a lot of support,” says Royer. “A lot of chefs view hotels as a very corporate and political environment to work in, but the most important thing is that the management understands that fine-dining, in general, is not a business model that will generate huge amounts of money. Instead it should be a vitrine, a showcase for their brand, if they want the restaurant to be successful.”
Acknowledging the increasing importance of social media exposure, the hotel also ensures that Westaway (and Royer and Chiang before him) meet frequently with the hotel’s internal and external marketing teams, in order to confidently act as the public face of the restaurant, says Stirrup.
“Media is key nowadays. People are interested to see the chefs directly explaining their food and philosophy," he explains. But he cautions that they do not adopt a one-sized-fits-all media training regime. “We always tailor it according to the individual’s own character - whether Julien was more reserved or Kirk is naturally outgoing. At the end of the day, the chefs have to feel comfortable with what they are saying,” he adds.
Another feature that Stirrup credits is what he calls the restaurant’s “progressive chef programme”. The restaurant has enthusiastically embraced guest chef initiatives in recent turns, hosting more than 10 visiting chefs in the last two years.
“It’s an interesting process, not just for our head chef but for the whole team, who get the opportunity to work with chefs from two- or three-Michelin-starred restaurants with different ideas and techniques.”
Such exchanges help with staff retention, too. “As a chef, you tend to go off and work in different restaurants in different countries for exposure, but here we give them the chance to work alongside the best chefs in the world without having to move, which is great for the younger chefs,” he says.
(Related: 8 Singaporean chefs fronting Singapore's Michelin-starred restaurants.)
Though Jaan’s kitchen team of 16 has been “stable” in the last 12 months, Stirrup acknowledges that the occasional departure is all part of the cheffing process, which is why he accepts it with no hard feelings. “Most chefs tend to work somewhere for two to three years, so they already have a progression plan for where they want to be in the future. If they want to go, I often look through my contacts and see if we can help them find a position somewhere.”
Even as we speak, the hotel is concurrently grooming Westaway’s second- and third-in-command. “For us, it is about identifying the talent and constantly seeing what would be the best next step for each chef at every point in their career.”
Stirrup adds: “Watching Julien, Kirk and Andre go on stage during the Michelin Guide Singapore awards ceremony, and knowing that three of them came from one place - it’s definitely something to be proud of.”
(Read more: 3 pioneering establishments that helped to groom Singapore's top talent.)
