Taiwan’s Lanshu Chen comes clean about her reasons for closing Le Moût after a decade of success
When Taiwan's Lanshu Chen said she would close Le Moût by year-end, food lovers across Asia were genuinely surprised. The restaurant opened in 2008 and seemed to be growing from strength to strength, debuting at No 24 to become the first Taiwanese fine dining restaurant to earn a place on the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list in 2014; Chen was also named Asia’s Best Female Chef the same year.
But the 37-year-old chef-owner had also chosen to make the announcement to shutter Le Moût only days before the launch of the inaugural Michelin Taipei guide in March, which left some wondering if she was disappointed that the guide only featured restaurants in the country’s capital, leaving out Taichung where Le Moût is located. After all, Chen’s flair for reinterpreting French dishes using Taiwanese produce and cooking methods are renowned within and outside Taiwan.
She has thought about opening in Taipei but prefers the weather and what she feels is a “more livable environment” in Taichung. With speculations on the rise, she tells T.Dining Singapore Tatler why she has decided to close her French dining room in its 10th year, and hints at plans to open elsewhere.
(Related: This Is Not Goodbye, Says Andre Chiang)