If there’s anything to look forward to during Christmas, it’s throwing parties and gatherings to celebrate with your friends and family. A festive celebration needs good food, be it the classic turkey to the ever-popular steak or beef Wellington. But if you’re not one for the kitchen and you’ve found yourself at a loss, don’t fret, Singapore’s dining scene is never one to skip a beat. Whether you’re having a large festive bash or an intimate gathering of your closest friends and family, there is something for everyone.

Hosting a small family gathering? Go for Raffles Singapore’s Joyous Revelry takeaway set, which includes a roasted half turkey, bone-in gammon ham, Le Borvo smoked salmon, and a bottle of Billecart-Salmon Brut Réserve. Or, get your Christmas essentials at Intercontinental Singapore, which is offering a traditional US Tom Turkey, best savoured with its accompanying sausage and chestnut stuffing and giblet gravy. Ham is a must, and the hotel’s offering is particularly packed with flavour, glazed as it is with a lemongrass and acacia honey. Don’t forget the salt-baked cajun salmon fillet that adds balance to your entire meal, with its acidic lemon-caper sauce vièrge. 

Those with a penchant for local-inspired flavours can look forward to The Fullerton Hotel Singapore’s Christmas offerings. Its gorgeously roasted laksa turkey, for one, comes accompanied by local trimmings including nasi kunyit and an aromatically spiced coconut gravy. While the slow-roasted Japanese black pork belly is a festive rendition of the popular kong bak pau. Beautifully tender meat comes served with fluffy lotus leaf buns, pickled papaya and fragrant 10-spice soy sauce.

Prefer seafood instead of turkey? Greenwood Fish Market is offering stunning festive takeaway presentations, perfect as a grazing platter, an appetiser, or a show-stopping main. A cold seafood platter, for instance, offers tantalising treats like a steamed half Boston lobster, oysters, mussels and clams. But if you just want oysters, there are platters with 15 varieties of oysters to choose from.

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Tatler unveils Asia’s Most Influential 2023, the definitive list of titans, thought leaders and changemakers who are making a positive impact on people’s lives. Now in its third year, the annual list presents 600 extraordinary leaders from Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand.

This year’s edition highlights catalysts of change from 11 categories. These include the Wealth Builders who shape the future of finance; the Creatives who define global culture; the Innovators who disrupt industries; the Magnates who helm the region’s most established family corporations; and more leaders who are Champions, Changemakers, Entertainers, Scientists, Stylemakers, Tastemakers and Thought Leaders.

Tatler weighed four key metrics to arrive at the list: Impact places importance on a leader’s scope of influence; Relevance considers the timeliness of achievements, Longevity measures the endurance of careers; and Leadership looks at how each has made the world a better place. Together, these criteria ensure that every honouree personifies not just success but also a profound commitment to positive change.

Ultimately, Asia’s Most Influential 2023 establishes the true nature of influence: that the people who matter are the leaders whose power is guided by purpose and whose influence is informed by ideals. Join Tatler as we celebrate the 600 visionary leaders who are shaping Asia and beyond.

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Nestled along the picturesque New Jersey coastline is a charming family haven. Just a stone’s throw from the hustle and bustle of New York, this American abode is designed to be a summer and weekend retreat for a multigenerational family, and encapsulates the stately allure of a classic Italian villa, with a contemporary twist.

The home melds the essence of an Italian villa with Latino-Mediterranean influences, and is testament to the collaborative synergy between its visionary homeowners and architect John Ike, partner at American architecture firm Ike Baker Velten. It blends elements of that Italian sense of la dolce vita, referring to the sweetness of life, celebrating luxurious experiences and everyday delights. The architect drew inspiration from the captivating architecture of Sicily, specifically the Italian city of Catania, and its buildings of volcanic sand-infused stucco and contrasting white limestone.

Within the interior, the fusion of the old and the new creates a fresh aesthetic. The home’s tactile charm is expressed wonderfully in its interior, with predominantly white plaster walls that serve as a fitting canvas for the colourful furniture and textiles. These are complemented by the black terrazzo floors and white stone accents, while reclaimed wood is artfully integrated into the ceilings and occasionally the walls, which serves to reinforce the textural look.

The house also weaves a rich tapestry of Latino-Mediterranean cultural influences into its design. In the bathrooms, Italian tiles designed by the legendary Italian architect Gio Ponti introduce vibrant colours, while the bedrooms are adorned with rough stucco ceilings inspired by Ponti’s mid-century modern houses.

The overall effect, muses Ike, is an interesting synthesis that seamlessly blends old-world charm with contemporary comfort. The home is a place in which treasured memories are made, and a timeless work of art that invites one to step in and be enchanted by its classic beauty.

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Sitting down with Tatler Singapore, Esther Choy divulges: “I like that fashion is a marathon and not a sprint”. Surely this is an apt description for her journey as a fashion designer and founder of Esh by Esther, the womenswear label she started upon graduating from Lasalle College of the Arts in 2016.

Choy took art as an A-level subject, learning the various forms, from drawing and painting, to sculpture and installation. When it was time to choose where she wanted to go next, “I was certain that I wanted to go into the creative field”, she shares. “But I didn’t want to make art for art’s sake. I felt that it was important to have a functional element to it.” She eventually settled on fashion as a medium for her creative outlet because “I figured that people wear clothes every day, but not everyone will go to an art gallery to see art. So if I made the clothes the artwork, people would wear them, and they are basically installation art”. 

Describing her design aesthetic as “menswear-inspired clothing for women”, Choy takes inspiration from menswear tailoring and suiting, and translating them for womenswear. “I feel that a lot of menswear has functional elements that womenswear doesn’t,” says Choy, who built her first collection around the idea of pockets.

Her subsequent collections released over the years were built as an extension and based on the same core idea of the first collection. She does not follow a specific timeline for new releases. “I want to make clothes that resonate with me first and then with my customers,” says Choy. “Back then, I didn’t want to tie a collection too much to a personal story or a personal emotion but more recently, I realised that bringing in the designer’s personal experiences would help to bring a garment to life.”

This is the premise behind her upcoming collection, which she hopes to release before year-end. The collection takes inspiration from the phrase “memories of the future”, which she came across during a visit to the Leeum Museum of Art in Seoul.

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Puglia is one of the most picturesque regions in Italy. Tranquil waters lap its promontories, and it is a dream to traipse amongst its whitewashed houses and across its cobblestones. To Mirko Febbrile, Puglia is also his home, where he found his passion for cooking and baking (sometimes with his neighbour's borrowed ingredients). Previously the chef de cuisine of one-Michelin-starred Braci from 2016 to 2021, Febbrile now helms Fico in East Coast, one of the hardest tables to book in Singapore. It is no surprise that Puglia’s culinary gems have inspired Febbrile’s talent, so we had to ask the chef his favourite spots to eat and drink in this sun-kissed region. 

For wine lovers, Febbrile recommends visiting Casa Vinicola Coppi. He shares that the Coppi family has been producing wines under the family’s name for more than 40 years, and has owned vineyards for more than 100 years. “Puglia has plenty of beautiful, beautiful wines that are often forgotten; and the [Coppi] family always welcomes anyone that wants to visit the massive, beautiful cantine and wants to explore better Puglia wines,” he adds.  

When it comes to restaurants, Ristorante Due Camini is one of his favourites. At Due Camini, the food is modern, fresh and progressive, yet extremely comforting, traditional and made with plenty of heart. There are different menus to choose from, with recipes inspired by the region as well as the wider Mediterranean. Many ingredients are sourced from the garden on-site. 

Another restaurant worth a visit is Al Boschetto. Febbrile shares that the humble restaurant is the perfect picture of a Puglia made by young people who are “hungry to grow and go big while respecting that there is no future without the history and traditions from the past”.

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