MAKING THEIR MARK

Spirited and assured, these three young chefs are making a name for themselves after learning from the best fine dining doyens in Singapore and abroad

- Lu Yawen

TARIQ HELOU 

CHEF-OWNER, FLEURETTE 

Tariq Helou has a sense of quiet calmness about him. It is a quality that spills over into what he does at his restaurant Fleurette, an oasis of natural dark wood, exposed brick walls, bare cement floors and curved corners. Tucked away on Rangoon Road, it is quite the opposite of the district it resides in, the vibrant and chaotic Little India.

The 28‑year‑old first came on the radar when he opened Division Supper Club in 2019 with his childhood friend Aidan Wee. As one of the underground pop‑up supper clubs that made up the wave of young chefs dabbling in private dining four years ago, it stood out from the crowd with an ever‑changing location, from Chijmes to Fortune Centre.

It was then that diners got their first taste of Helou’s delicate and intentional dishes, a meld of Japanese, French and Singaporean much like his own ethnicity of half‑Lebanese, a quarter Japanese and a quarter Chinese. After completing his national service, he headed straight to Switzerland’s César Ritz Colleges, ranked the 6th best hospitality school worldwide in the QS World University Rankings for Hospitality and Leisure Management.

He then spent a few years working in Geneva, Paris and Tokyo under the tutelage of legendary fine dining toques the likes of Philippe Chevrier of two‑Michelin‑starred Domaine de Châteauvieux, Stéphane Pitré of one‑Michelin‑starred Restaurant Louis, and purveyor of Japanese wild meats, chef Susumu Shimizu of Restaurant Anis. He also did a brief stint at three‑Michelin‑starred L’Effervescence with chef‑owner Shinobu Namae.