We spotlight a few folks in Singapore’s buzzing food and beverage industry with a complementary creative eye. In the second of a three-part series, we speak to Starter Lab’s Jennifer Lee
It’s not hard to see how various art forms could collide naturally with one another to rather stunning effect, particularly where the culinary arts and the diverse world of design are concerned. From artful plating to the trendy halls of our favourite restaurants and cafes, not to mention their equally dapper staff, the synergy—though at times subtle—is undeniable. As such, it is not surprising to find proponents from complementary creative fields combining a passion for gastronomy with a keen or trained eye for design and vice versa.
A graduate of fashion design, Jennifer Lee’s foray into the less-than-glamorous world of professional cooking happened by chance. She had moved to London as a fresh grad, and ended up working in the food and beverage industry while she looked for “the right job”. A self-taught chef, she also dabbled in tending bar and managing a restaurant.
But it wasn’t until she landed the role of helming the kitchen of the now-defunct Vasco, a Latin American gastrobar, that it dawned on her just how special it is to be a chef, and a female one at that, in Singapore. Even so, she admits to never really feeling comfortable in the standard chef’s whites. Lee explains: “I never felt I was a ‘proper’ chef as I had not been culinary trained and wearing the white chef’s coats seemed a little awkward. I first started covering buttons in bright coloured fabric on my chef’s whites, which eventuated me designing some jackets for events.”