One of the highlights of the of opening of the Palais de Chine (君品酒店) luxury hotel behind Taipei Train Station was the presence of Emile Yung, who was in town to oversee a banquet and contribute to the menu of the hotel’s La Rotisserie restaurant.
A visit to Taipei by a chef like Yung — whose three Michelin-starred Au Crocodile restaurant in Strasbourg represents the heights of culinary achievement — is worthy of comment not so much in and of itself, but because it is part of Taiwan’s growing participation in the international culinary scene. Once utterly eclipsed by regional neighbors Hong Kong and Macau, Taiwan is increasingly becoming an attractive destination for top gastronomic innovators.
Just last month, Far Eastern Plaza Hotel, Taipei (台北遠東大飯店) played host to guest chef Igor Macchia, whose La Credenza restaurant in Piedmont, Italy has one Michelin star. According to the hotel’s food and beverage director Gabriele Lombardo, this is the beginning of a program to bring in chefs with acknowledged reputations within the Michelin Guide framework to enhance the hotel’s image and hone its culinary expertise.
In addition to major hotel chains such as Palais de Chine and Far Eastern, the appeal of Michelin-starred chefs is also apparent to smaller boutique establishments such as Villa 32 (三二行館) in Taipei’s Beitou District, which hosted a visit by three-star Michelin chef Yannick Alleno in April and has already confirmed arrangements to host Massimiliano Alajmo, who is famed as the youngest chef in Italy to obtain a three-star Michelin rating, in August.
BUILDING THE INFRASTRUCTURE
Fine dining of a Michelin-star standard is still something of a rarity in Taiwan, and according to Far Eastern’s Lombardo, visits by Michelin-starred chefs are only gradually shifting away from being merely exercises in prestige marketing.
“I am a bit worried that it is related too much to a kind of trend ... so that you have to have a [Michelin] chef because you want to be trendy ... For some, it has been mainly about strengthening exposure, making sure you are talked about,” Lombardo said.
While the presence of chef Igor Macchia certainly attracted patrons to Far Eastern’s Marco Polo Italian restaurant to try his innovative take on traditional Piedmont cuisine and boosted the restaurant’s reputation for authentic Italian food, Lombardo said that an equally important aspect of Macchia’s visit was to hone the hotel’s overall food and beverage operation.
“We believe that we have the structure to grow and groom our chefs, either in Chinese or Western operations, to become one day Michelin chefs. We don’t have this yet because the market in Taipei is not yet mature enough, but we hope one day Michelin will come,
and we want to be prepared for that,”
Lombardo said.
That long-term perspective is not unique to the Far Eastern Plaza Hotel. Villa 32, a boutique spa selected by CNNgo.com as one of the most exclusive spa resorts in Asia, launched its Project Michelin (米其林星光計畫) earlier this year by hosting a visit by Alleno, whose Restaurant Le Meurice has three Michelin stars.
“Inviting Michelin-starred chefs is not about making money,” said Joseph Pi (畢嘉瑋), general manager at the resort. “For us, it’s mostly about developing our team ... We don’t have the opportunity to let all our staff gain international work experience, but we can bring the best in the world to Villa 32.”
Although Villa 32 is small, it has spared no expense in targeting three-star Michelin chefs. This has been done in the belief that diners in Taipei (at least those who frequent establishments such as Villa 32) have already experienced top-level fine dining in Europe or Japan. “These people have stayed at top hotels around the world, so we want to set our standard at the very highest level from the start,” Pi said.
In addition to honing their food and beverage team to the high standards demanded of a three-star Michelin chef, which Pi said had pushed his staff to the limit and beyond, Villa 32 also hosts an intern program for outstanding students of local hospitality colleges, who are given the invaluable opportunity of working with a top international chef during his weeklong visit. This contribution to the wider industry is not without some degree of self-interest: It is from these young hopefuls that Villa 32 aims to recruit its new staff so that it can bring itself ever closer to its goal of perfect service.
A NEW MARKET IN THE MAKING
Visits from Michelin-starred chefs are not a one-way transaction, with the chef and his team parachuted in to present a banquet to well-heeled diners before being whisked off again. The luster and experience that these chefs can provide Taiwan’s hospitality industry is now balanced to some degree with a recognition that Taiwan, and Asia as a whole, is an important market for chefs who would like to claim an international reputation.
“There is definitely a move by Western chefs who have stars to get recognized and gain exposure in the Asian market ... It appears that they are looking closely at Taiwan — as with [Joel] Robuchon setting up in Taiwan — which is setting the tone for what will be happening in future ... These chefs understand that they can bring back a certain experience to complete their [culinary] background an introduce new experiences to their diners back home,” said Far Eastern’s Lombardo.
Macchia has been traveling extensively around Asia over the past three years, visiting Hong Kong, Japan and Indonesia last year, and Macau, Taiwan and China this year. “I think Asian people are now ready to know where the Italian kitchen is going,” he said. “Ten years ago in Asia you could only do pizza and pasta, because people don’t know really well the Italian kitchen. Now they start to understand, they are curious to understand. Every time it is a pleasure for me to come here and explain to people why we do this kind of food.”
SPRINGBOARD TO ASIA
Achim V. Hake, general manager of Palais de Chine, said that for top chefs, Taiwan has the perfect ingredients to help launch them in the region. “Food ingredients are excellent and there are some unique items as well. Also, Taiwan has become more and more recognized in the world economy, and also as a [desirable] destination. Many celebrity chefs have not been to Taiwan yet, so that too is an attraction for them to come over here.”
Having traveled so much in Asia, Macchia said that he felt his visits to the region helped “open the mind.” The discovery of new ingredients was also important. “My kitchen will always be Italian, but for sure, I now like to use wasabi, I like to use ginger.” It’s all part of enhancing the traditions that he has been trained in and providing a new excitement
for diners.
Macchia’s menu features innovations such as a spicy wasabi ice cream and fried prawns with ginger and potato sauce, which use Italian methods but have hints of a wider world of culinary experience.
While the economic benefit of bringing over celebrity chefs might be difficult to quantify, the hospitality industry in Taiwan has seen a new trend in fine dining that makes the investment in inviting Michelin-starred chefs worthwhile. For local foodies, this is excellent news. While not everybody is up for dropping anything from NT$4,500 (Far Eastern’s price for Machhia’s set menu, with wine) up to NT$12,000 a person (the price commanded for the gala dinner at the opening of Palais de Chine overseen by Emile Yung, with wine), regular visits by top international chefs can only lead to building a stronger and more sophisticated culinary culture on both sides of the kitchen counter.
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