A Singapore fairy tale of how a poor young boy from Potong Pasir grew up to win the accolade of creating the 60th best restaurant in the world, all within 2 years – the restaurant is Iggy’s and it is located in Singapore’s Regent Hotel. The young man, Ignatius Chan, was neither super quick, nor very smart and did not get certificates – but he had a secret weapon – memories of rare moments of elegant meals eaten at the Gordon Grill. We take you on a journey of Ignatius Chan’s path to success.

By Violet Oon

In the midst of a childhood where money was very tight, memories of rare glamorous dinners at the super deluxe Gordon Grill of the 1980’s and the Mont D’or Café at the old Ngee Ann Building fuelled Ignatius Chan’s passion and imagination for the luxe life.

“So even though I grew up poor in the Potong Pasir area after my father died when I was three, these very rare treats in fine living and eating stood out in my memory forever,” recalls Ignatius, who has won the rare honour of being voted one of the world’s top 100 restaurants within just one year of launching his namesake restaurant Iggy’s.

In April 2006, the prestigious magazine based in the United Kingdom rated Iggy’s the fourth best restaurant in Asia and ranked it 98 in the world.

“With my wife Janice, who runs Iggy’s with me, we thought that being voted one of the top 100 restaurants in the world at 98th place, was really stupendous and that we would not make the list the second time around.”

This was in the year 2006 and Iggy’s which is located on the 3rd level of Singapore’s Regent Hotel, was the only Singapore restaurant to make it to the list.
“Imagine our delight when we were voted 60th top restaurant in the world by Restaurant Magazine of Britain this year,” said Ignatius and Janice.

How did Iggy’s manage to be a bright shooting star? It can perhaps be traced back to Ignatius’ childhood where it was these very special “moments” of his childhood that fuelled Ignatius’ quiet passion for the quality luxe life and even more importantly, for fine food and fine dining.

When he stumbled on to the hotel line, in his early adulthood, Ignatius found that this passion was able to be fulfilled. To those who have known Ignatius since his early days, first as a waiter, then as an award winning sommelier in the Oriental Hotel and then as one of the front line owners of the famed Les Amis, this accolade for Iggy’s comes as no surprise, and especially to me, as I do remember conversations with Ignatius spanning 20 years.

At an interview him at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel of Singapore after he was awarded a six month training scholarship in Europe in 1989, Ignatius made an impression as a smooth, erudite and supremely elegant young man, studied in his conversation, not given to fast quips and clever sound takes.

Rather, one was taken by his slow enunciation and great thought given to his replies. The wonderful English most probably comes from his years as a student in St Andrews School.

RARE CHILDHOOD TREATS AT THE GORDON GRILL
But his penchant for the finer and more elegant aspects of life dates back much further – to his early childhood, when his Shanghainese mother, in spite of near empty coffers, would scrape whatever extra money she could every once in a while and take young Ignatius out for rare epicurean treat which was not only about good food, it was about the good life.

“My mother, in spite of being very poor after my father died when I was three, would take me out to Gordon Grill, then the epitome of luxurious eating in Singapore. That is a meal that is embedded in my mind,” says Ignatius. “These pockets of moments are what stands out in my life.”

“I think I was only five and my mother even got a suit made for me and took me out to dinner. Other memories that shine in my mind was going for a meal in Mont D’or and also having tea time at the Adelphi Hotel in Coleman Street, again one of the deluxe destinations in Singapore at that time.

“My grandaunt remembers that my mother used to dress up spectacularly and go out dancing with my father when he was alive.”

The glamour days faded with the passing of her husband but Ignatius’ mother used to re-create these days with these occasional forays into glamour in the company of her young son.

EARLY DAYS IN THE HOTEL INDUSTRY
“I was not clever in school,” said Ignatius, “Not being able to take my A Levels as I had to go to work, and with jobs being scarce, after I finished NS, I was told that working in a hotel was good – that was in the early 1980’s. So I applied to the Goodwood Park Hotel (the home of the famed Gordon Grill) for the job of a receptionist that was being advertised but found out that I did not qualify due to lack of certificates and started working as a busboy in the coffee house. I was clumsy and really not suited for the fast pace of coffee house service.”

He remembers that SHATEC (Singapore Hotel Association’s hospitality school), founded in 1983 was the hospitality school that created a buzz in those days, with its affiliation to a prestigious hotel school in Switzerland. He applied for a place to study in SHATEC and remembers saying that he was willing to pay his way at his interview.

“Benson Phua, the CEO of the Esplanade Theatres on the Bay, and a leading hotel manager at that time, was one of my interviewers – I was not dressed properly and remember that he gave me a real telling off for not grooming myself properly for an interview.

“Nonetheless, they called me again and said that the Oriental would offer me a scholarship to SHATEC and being such an unaware young man, I thought that I was being offered a job at the Oriental Emporium, which was then a big business. I told my mother I was being offered a scholarship by Oriental Emporium and she wondered what they wanted me to do in the shopping centre after I graduated!”

It was at SHATEC that Ignatius met his wife Janice and his partner at Les Amis, Justin Quek. Both Janice and Justin were sent to the Oriental Bangkok for training.
By happenstance, since the Oriental Hotel was still being built, Ignatius was sent to the Meridien Hotel for his training – that to him was another important “moment” in his life as the Meridien then, in the late 1980’s was the most super deluxe hotel in town with Le Restaurant de France offering even a more superlative luxurious experience than his memories of the Gordon Grill.

“When you are young and working in such a top world class restaurant – Le Restaurant de France had super star chef Louis Outhier as a consultant – you should open your eyes, open your ears and close your mouth. Just observe and learn and absorb,” advises Ignatius.

With the opening of the Mandarin Oriental, Ignatius was first sent to Café Palm where he proved to be more of a hindrance than an asset.

“I was not the sharpest of service staff. I am diligent but not fast and coffee house service requires you to be super quick and I would be more concerned about taking care of the guests properly than turning the restaurant around for the next service.”

INTRODUCTION TO FINE FRENCH FOOD AND FINE WINES
Fortunately Ignatius was transferred to the French restaurant the Fourchettes and it was here, that his star shone, where he could indulge in his passion for taking care of guests. It was also at Fourchettes that Ignatius was introduced to wine, the great passion of his life apart from exquisite dining experiences.

For newbies to the wine taste, take heart from Ignatius’ experience – though he has won the greatest wine accolades in the world, he said that his first taste of wine was not auspicious.

“I did not know why people liked wine at all – at first taste it strikes you as sour, dry and aggressive and though words like “fruity” are used, you cannot taste the fruit at all,” recalls Ignatius. And like many newbies of the 1980’s Ignatius’ first favourite wine was Gewurztraminer, considered by connoisseurs to be the lowest end of wines, but a really good introductory wine for the virgin palate.

“It takes about one year for you to learn to really enjoy and appreciate wine,” said Ignatius. “Fourchettes had a great wine cellar and each night, we would taste the leftover wines from customers’ bottles or they would offer us a glass to taste. I used to bluff a lot, with eloquent words spilling out of my mouth till one day, I decanted a rare wine too quickly and when the customer sarcastically said, “You must be the fastest decanter in Asia” I thought it was a compliment and thanked her! She complained to the manager and I got a real telling off!”

STRIKING OUT ON HIS OWN WITH FRIEND JUSTIN QUEK
For people in the food and wine business and for those who appreciate food and wine, Ignatius’ career has been well documented. In December 1993, Ignatius left the Oriental and partnered his long time makan and minum kaki Justin Quek to launch Les Amis with stockbroker Desmond Lim and gynaecologist Dr Chong Yap Seng. Les Amis opened in March 1994. Ignatius was also the Executive Director and Partner of Vinum Fine Wines Merchants.

In 1998, Ignatius was selected as the only Asian member of the prestigious Grand Jury Europeen, and travels to Europe several times a year to visit and taste with wine makers and other esteemed members of the trade.

In June 1999, Ignatius was inducted as a member of the oldest wine fraternity in the world – Jurade des St-Emilion. Ignatius is also one of the permanent judges in the annual Lianhe Zaobao Wine Challenge organized by The Wine Review.

2001 saw Ignatius and Justin Quek voted "Joint Food & Beverage Men of the Year 2000" by Wine and Dine Magazine. During the ten years spent at Les Amis, Ignatius was pivotal in establishing Les Amis as a wine and food destination for many around the world. Through Ignatius, Les Amis acquired a 30-acre plot of vineyard in South Gippsland in Victoria, Australia. The vineyard manager is Philip Jones of Bass Philips and the wine produced is a much sought-after Pinot Noir called Au Jardin.

Ten years after he launched the landmark restaurant, Ignatius left Les Amis to create his very own epicurean destination that would reflect his beliefs on how to enjoy food and wine.

LAUNCH OF IGGY’S
Ignatius says that, “Cooking is a great joy and eating is a finer pleasure. To be able to cook well, you will need to know how to eat well, to have developed a fine palate.” Ignatius can also add that you must develop a questing mission to discover the best ingredients that you can bring to the dining table and this is what distinguishes Iggy’s – the restaurant caters to those who are questing not only for a great taste experience but also the great experience of enjoying the best fruits of nature at its prime.

At Iggy’s you get to eat rare Japanese mushrooms gathered at their apex of maturity and served at the exact correct point of doneness. That is why Iggy’s started off as a small restaurant with a wrap around counter where Ignatius is often the Major Domo, seeing that the food gets from the stove to the customer at its exact perfection point.

The food is served Western style in small portions and you could say that the Japanese Kaiseki dining style has also been an influence. Though dubbing itself Modern European, the food also bears the imprint of many cultures, with Singapore tastes and ingredients featured judiciously in some dishes. You could call it modern cosmopolitan, reflecting the tastes of a much travelled palate.

Ignatius is 43 years old. He is married and in his free time, he enjoys spending time at home with his wife, Janice, who with him, runs Iggy’s, and their three cats. His other interests include travelling and discovering new wines and restaurants. Asked for the most luxurious buy in wines, he said that, “The most expensive bottle of wine I ever bought cost about 3000 Euros for a Petrus 1982.”

Ignatius is not the chef at Iggy’s but all the dishes bear his imprint and his inputs – the chefs interpret his creative direction and the dishes go through rigorous food tasting before it is shared with Iggy’s diners.

We will not be sharing a review of the dishes or the wines with you. The menu changes every month and suffice it for me to say that you should approach the eating of food and the drinking of wine at Iggy’s the way you would when you are invited to dinner at a great host’s home. Just turn up and be prepared to be surprised by the menu of the night and transported to culinary heights with the food and the wine served at the table.

“I dreamt of an intimate dining room so that I could give every one personal, yet un-intrusive attention. I dreamt of sharing a cuisine which some may call European, but would be better described as a culmination of the best of my own dining experiences, brought to perfection by the precise marrying of flavours and texture. And I dreamt that every guest would be witness to this effort at perfection.”

Ignatius Chan

IGGY’S RESTAURANT

Iggy’s started as an intimate 28-seat restaurant serving modern European cuisine. An experience pleasantly different from traditional fine dining awaits the guest. 13 highly-coveted seats by the counter enable guests to witness the chefs at work in the glass enclosed kitchen. Ignatius and his team behind the counter interact closely with guests, providing immediate attention and anticipating every need. A private room seats 15 persons and may be closed off for exclusive parties.

In March 2007, Iggy’s secured additional space adjacent to the existing restaurant and extended the restaurant to now include 13 seats at the dining counter, three private dining rooms which seat 10-24 guests and a walk-in wine cellar. The maximum seating capacity is 50.

The dining counter concept was specially chosen by Ignatius so that he could ensure personal attention to every one. This also lightens the formality of dining, and imbues a fun and friendly atmosphere to the restaurant.

Iggy’s focuses predominantly on Champagne, Riesling and Burgundy wines. The counter seating enables passionate wine connoisseurs to explore the depth of these wines with Ignatius throughout their meal.

Picture Credits: © All pictures by Iggy's

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