Michelle Garnaut’s famous M restaurants set the bar for upscale dining in Asia. Well ahead of her time, the trailblazer was in town recently for the Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards. She spoke to Keng Yang Shuen on her favourite food trends, and why we’ll all be eating fonio soon.
Following a trend is easy; creating one, though, is hard work.
Well before restaurants in Asia became the cultish Instagram temples they are today – hello Gaggan – entrepreneur, chef and restaurateur Michelle Garnaut was hard at work in the late ’80s and ’90s, building the scene with her restaurants M at the Fringe (Hong Kong), M on the Bund and Glamour Bar (Shanghai), and Capital M (Beijing).
A favourite of the city’s scenesters and celebrity set, each was a destination in itself: think plates of elegant global cuisine, as pretty as the (always) choice location, a sophisticated wine menu, and an enviable client list of in-the know foodies – this was before “foodie” became an actual job description.
While the multi-tasker has taken a step back from Hong Kong and China’s highly competitive dining scene, her experience has never been more relevant. As the jury president (Asia Pacific region) of the Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards, a platform to drive change by empowering women to set up their own businesses, Garnaut is channelling her years of know-how towards grooming Asia’s next wave of female entrepreneurs.
This story is from the July 2017 edition of Female Singapore.
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This story is from the July 2017 edition of Female Singapore.
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She Calls The Shots
Since The 2000s, Rihanna Has Been Making Dance Floors Work, Work, Work With Her Infectious Electronic And R&b-inflected Pop Hits. For Another Side To Her "Queen Of The Night" Persona, There's Her Role As The Latest Face Of Dior's J'adore Perfume And Its Accompanying Campaign Film. Shot By Her Long-time Friend Steven Klein, It Features The Barbadian Baddie Striding Through The Gilded Halls Of The Palace Of Versailles Dripping In Gold. Here, She Shares More About How The Famously Feminine Fragrance Embodies Celebration.
GOOD VIBES
EVERY YEAR, CHANEL PICKS A PLACE ON THE WORLD MAP NOT ONLY TO INSPIRE, BUT ALSO TO SHOWCASE ITS ANNUAL CRUISE COLLECTION (IT’S A TRADITION THAT’S ROOTED IN THE MAISON’S EARLY YEARS WHEN COCO CHANEL PRESENTED A LINE OUTSIDE OF THE USUAL FASHION CALENDAR TO INCITE WANDERLUST FOR TOASTIER, MORE PICTURE-PERFECT CLIMES DURING THE WINTER MONTHS). THE LATEST DESTINATION: VIBRANT MARSEILLE – THE FRENCH CITY THAT RECEIVES THE MOST SUNSHINE; HOME TO AN ECLECTIC REPERTOIRE OF CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS AND LANDMARKS; AND A MAGNET FOR EMERGING CREATIVES WITH ITS MIX OF GRIT AND GLAMOUR, LAND AND SEA, AND YOUTHFUL BOHEMIAN ENERGY. THE RESULTS? A COLLECTION THAT MAKES US WANT TO LET LOOSE AND DANCE. NOELLE LOH REPORTS FROM THE PHOCAEAN CITY.
THE PARTY EDIT
Club-appropriate hits from the Resort 2025 collections
THE VIPS
SOME OF THE 17 PEOPLE SPOTLIGHTED ACROSS THE NEXT 26 PAGES HAVE BEEN IN THE NIGHTLIFE BUSINESS WAY BEFORE THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC DECADES EVEN. OTHERS LESS, BUT HAVE BEEN FOR MUCH OF THEIR LIVES DEEP INTO MUSIC, VIBING IT OUT ON DANCE FLOORS AND MAKING SURE EVERYONE AROUND HAS A HELLUVA GOOD TIME. THEIR ENDEAVOURS RANGE FROM A MODEST NEIGHBOURHOOD BAR TO CONGLOMERATE-BACKED, MULTI-CONCEPT SPACES AND A MULTIFARIOUS NETWORK OF POP-UP PARTIES, ALL OF WHICH HAVE BEEN MAKING AN EXTRA-LOUD SPLASH IN THE PAST YEAR. WHAT ELSE THEY ALL HAVE IN COMMON: THEY'RE RETHINKING AND RESHAPING PARTY CULTURE FOR THE FUTURE - OR, TO PARAPHRASE CHARLI XCX, THEY'RE BUMPIN' IT. KENG YANG SHUEN AND NOELLE LOH PUT THE CAMERA FLASH ON.
THE NIGHTS
ROUGHLY TWO YEARS ON SINCE THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, FOLKS FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE ARE STILL TAKING IT UPON THEMSELVES TO THROW THEIR OWN INDEPENDENT PARTIES WITH MORE EXPERIMENTAL SOUNDS, AND MORE INTENTIONAL AND INCLUSIVE EXPERIENCES THAT INJECT A ROUSING UNDERGROUND ENERGY TO SINGAPORE NIGHTLIFE. KENG YANG SHUEN TURNS THE SPOTLIGHT ON FOUR OF THE NEWEST ORGANISERS ON THE SCENE AND TELLS YOU WHY YOU SHOULD HIT THEIR PARTIES.
THE SOUNDS
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A Not So Common Scent
For the first time, the singular house of Hermes has launched a chypre perfume fragrance type known for its complexity and dualistic nature a that comes in a first-of-its-kind bottle, no less. Keng Yang Shuen finds out more about Barenia, Hermes's latest scent that hit stores recently, from the brand's in-house perfumer Christine Nagel.
Strange Love
The six names in this story create wildly different works that tend to blur the boundaries among disparate disciplines. All have little in common except one thing: a certain wondrousness and sense of curiosity that inspire audiences to look at familiar things anew. Keng Yang Shuen reports.
The artist
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spirited away
Collaborations with the art world have become a trusted way of injecting novelty into fashion.
