As to what Whey’s success means for Singaporean cuisine, he explained: “When creating food at Whey, I don’t have a reference point as this is an original and unique concept. I always wanted to see how far I can reach with Singaporean-influenced European cuisine. With such a recognition, I will strive my best to push the creative boundaries and take our guests on a unique experience with my hometown Singaporean flavours.”
The question that everyone wanted to ask was how did he intend to celebrate the accolade? “A few bottles of champagne! I will also make some of my favourite Singaporean food for the whole team like beef rendang, hokkien mee, bak chor mee and laksa!”
Elizabeth Chu, chairlady of ZS Hospitality Group, the owner of Whey, and a long-time fan of Quek’s cooking, said: “I have known Barry since his previous restaurant Beet and the opportunity came when Barry shifted from European style cooking to Singaporean hawker food in early 2020. With his Singaporean roots and culinary experiences across globally renowned kitchens, I believe Barry’s talent can push gastronomic boundaries even further.
“With passion to introduce the diversity of Singaporean food culture to a wider audience, he confirmed that Hong Kong was an ideal place for him to achieve this aspiration. We then aligned our vision of elevating and promoting Southeast Asian cuisine, and came up with this interesting concept of Whey, presenting modern European cuisine reimagined with Singaporean flavours.”
The virtual Michelin awards ceremony, broadcast for the second year running on YouTube with chefs joining via Zoom, comes at a time when all restaurants in Hong Kong have to shut at 6pm. It also marks a two-year stretch of the toughest time the industry has ever seen.
No new three-star restaurants made the coveted list this year, but two new restaurants were awarded two stars, namely Italian spot Octavium from chef Bjoern Alexander, as well as Cantonese restaurant Yan Toh Heen.
Source: CNA