Spotlight on: Ryan Jette

epicure: What is your cooking philosophy?
Ryan Jette: Simplicity is the best philosophy—I try not to introduce too many flavour profiles; use good ingredients and treat them with respect. I also like to infuse a bit of Japanese and Southeast Asian influences into French cooking techniques.

Who is your culinary hero?
Christian Delouvrier who was previously chef of Lespinasse in New York. I had the opportunity to work with him in La Goulue—a Paris-style bistro in Bel Harbour, Florida. He’s extremely passionate about food and he’s involved with everything going on in the kitchen.

What was it like working at FARM?
As the chef de cuisine, I was responsible for what went on the menu. FARM was really about being seasonal and trying to source local ingredients as much as possible. We even had our own half-acre garden. During the summer we would grow tomatoes, sugar snap peas, beets, turnips, cucumbers, radishes, arugula, mizuna, rainbow Swiss chard and cabbage for our housemade sauerkraut in the winter. Our menu changes according to the availability of seasonal produce. For example, during tomato season, one of the mainstays was the Marinated Summer Tomato Salad with radish, burrata cheese and toasted country bread. The tomatoes were warm from the sun and were only picked one to two days prior to being eaten.

What is the dining scene like in California?
Californians are well-educated and have high expectations when it comes to food. It is not a cheap place to live, much like Singapore, and restaurant prices are similar to Singapore’s as well. Some of the world’s best chefs have restaurants here. But one major difference is that ingredients have to be imported into Singapore. In California, I have had people come to the restaurant and tell me they own a few Meyer lemon trees or have hens that lay excellent tasting eggs and ask if I would like to use them. When you have high quality produce available to you, it makes a rather incomparable difference.

What was your first taste of Singaporean food?
It was carrot cake, roti prata and local coffee. My Singaporean wife took me to a hawker centre for breakfast on my first visit. Going there on a Saturday morning was a bit overwhelming at first but now I know what to expect.I thought it was weird to eat a savoury carrot cake as it is usually a dessert back home; I didn’t understand how it got its name but it was really good! As for Singapore’s king of fruits, I was able to get past the smell and try durians in a sorbet and ice cream but I still do not like it.

What do you usually whip up at home?
My wife and I have an arrangement where she will cook most of the daily meals and I will do the cooking when we have friends or family over. When I’m not in the kitchen, I enjoy spending time with my wife and son, and checking out local delicacies.

3 things you didn’t know about Ryan Jette:

The dish I am most proud of:
Pan-seared diver scallops with sunchokes, hand-rolled cavatelli pasta and truffle consommé.

My ultimate comfort food:
Mom’s mac and cheese!

My three favourite ingredients:
Miso, ginger and Japanese soy sauce.