Whipping Up Dreams Abroad

Whether they moved for love or recognition, these three Singaporean chefs are living their culinary dreams overseas by helming or starting their restaurants..

- ANNETTE TAN

AKMAL ANUAR

CHEF-OWNER OF ONE MICHELIN-STARRED 11 WOODFIRE IN DUBAI AND FOUNDER OF HOSPITALITY CONSULTANCY GROUP WHITE RICE CO. 

His credentials would be the envy of many chefs in Singapore: A World’s 50 Best Discovery award for his former restaurant 3 Fils in 2016, a Michelin star for his international grill restaurant 11 Woodfire in Dubai in 2022 and 2023, and a thriving F&B consultancy firm with six restaurants spread across the United Arab Emirates and New York. That’s not to mention his eight years working at Iggy’s, three of which as head chef, and more notably, at a time when the contemporary European restaurant sat at the top of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list in 2012 and ranked 26th on the World’s 50 Best list. Yet, mention the name Akmal Anuar to Singapore’s avid foodie community, and few would be familiar with it.

“I definitely felt like I was underappreciated during those years in Singapore,” Akmal admits. “Even though I was cooking in one of the country’s best restaurants, I was always ignored. I’ve cooked for the late Lee Kuan Yew five times with Iggy’s — I had all the skills and was out there, but I was always overlooked.”

By the time his first daughter was born in 2010, Akmal had loftier career aspirations. Job offers came in thick and fast from all over the world: “London, Moscow… all the big (hospitality) brands got in touch with me. But then Dubai popped up,” he says.

The only thing Akmal knew about Dubai at the time was that it was home to the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. After visiting Singapore and sampling his food, the bigwigs at a hospitality company invited him to spend three nights in the Middle Eastern city.