Seasoned To Succeed

The story behind culinary power couple Sebastien Lepinoy and Olivia Lee’s unlikely match is written in the stars—with stars

- Yuen Lin Koh

He is the reserved French chef who, in a bid to raise the quality and value of his offerings, defied conventions by increasing his food costs to almost 80 per cent—more than double the industry norm and a potential financial suicide—and was rewarded his third Michelin star. A protégé of legendary chef Joël Robuchon, he is known by gourmets around the world for the quintessentially French haute cuisine he presents at Les Amis: each course is decadently generous yet with a refined lightness and purity. Think a starter comprising discs of tender roseval potatoes topped with a cloud of crème fraiche and adorned with micro-blooms, served around a handsome dome of glistening caviar; or an ethereally light sea urchin flan given weight by a velvety fennel sauce and slivers of prized truffle.

Within the industry, however, he is respected for more than just his exceptional culinary prowess. Throughout his 31-year career, he has proven his mettle as a cool-headed tactician who can strategise for the long-term, and one with the tenacity to follow through his plans. In him is also a fearlessness to break conventions and take huge but calculated risks for what he believes in. Sebastien Lepinoy is a quiet titan of the fine dining scene: when he speaks, people listen.

If Lepinoy is the strategist with his foundation set deep and his sights set far, his wife, Olivia Lee, is a dynamic overachiever rocketing into new frontiers at lightning speed. As a culinary and pastry management and arts graduate of Switzerland’s DCT International Hotel & Business Management School (now known as the Culinary Arts Academy Switzerland), she became Korea’s very first female chef to work at Dubai’s iconic Burj Al Arab, and went on to work for Michelin-starred restaurants in Paris, including three-star establishment Le Meurice by Yannick Alléno.