RIP fine dining in S'pore?

Not so fast. Despite the spate of closures, fine dining is strategically important for Singapore

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Looking at the emaciated list of one-Michelin-starred restaurants in Singapore, it is tempting to sound the death knell for fine dining.

These are restaurants most people cannot dine at often because the meals do not run cheap. When they do dine at one of these establishments, they sit through hours-long, multi-course meals that are at odds with the way people like to eat these days.

This scenario is played out across the world — in China, the United States and Europe.

The South China Morning Post reports that China's fine-dining scene has taken a hit, with diners holding back amid economic uncertainties.

Multinational finance and business news website Business Insider reported in 2025 that fine-dining restaurants in the US have been hit by skyrocketing costs, labour shortages and potential tariffs. Chefs and owners there, like the ones here, are countering the headwinds by injecting fun into meals, changing concepts and working to seek new groups of diners.

Chefs and restaurateurs in Britain have been hit by the same problems, with the BBC reporting on the spate of Michelin-starred restaurant closures there.

Despite the doom and gloom, chefs and owners of fine-dining restaurants here say they are holding their own. Some have further invested in their restaurants.

Three-Michelin-starred Odette at the National Gallery Singapore recently reopened after extensive renovations that took three months and cost about $2 million.

In 2025, Les Amis at Shaw Centre, also with three stars, overhauled its kitchen to the tune of $2 million. That was just part of ongoing renewal and refurbishment works to the restaurant, which celebrates its 32nd birthday in 2026.

And yet, 2024 and 2025 had seen a slew of one-Michelin-starred restaurant closures.

TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING?