<p>Despite a hectic travel schedule, Singapore-born businesswoman Kashma Budhrani makes it a point to have chicken rice once a week.</p>

- Timothy Chiang

Thumbing through Kashma Budhrani’s Instagram account (@ kashmab), it is clear that she is a foodie. Every third post is one of food. Japanese food, in particular, which she enjoys for its “surprises in taste and technique”.

One of Budhrani’s favourite haunts in the Japanese capital is Ginza Kagari Ramen, where the collagen-rich broth is made with chicken feet. Then there is the high-end sushi restaurant Zoroku Yuzan. “It hasn’t quite hit the Michelin radar, but I think it’s better that it has not done so. (The prices are) a lot more reasonable and they give you more food.”

Born in Singapore but raised in London, the 34-year-old’s understanding of Japanese cuisine was shaped by the likes of Nobu, Sumosan and Zuma. Their contemporary twists on Japanese food inspired her to open Kinki Restaurant & Bar here with a group of friends. The Japanese restaurant was part of hospitality group The Big Idea, which was sold to Far East Organisation’s F&B arm, Kitchen Language, in 2014.

However, Budhrani could not stay away from the restaurant business for long. In 2015, she founded the Murasaki Group, with the aim of partnering chefs to open restaurants. “I’m backing chefs that I’ve known for ages. This is important in Singapore, where you have a lot of chef changeovers. When you make them partners, they’re more likely to stay and put their passion into the project,” she explains, citing the restaurants she now owns – Sushi Murasaki, Kurama Robatayaki and Yoi S

This story is from the August 2018 edition of The PEAK Singapore.

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