Celebration in gastronomy
Filipino chef Johanne Siy of Lolla in Singapore wins the Asia’s Best Female Chef Award for 2023. Voted for by the 300-plus members of the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants Academy, this coveted accolade provides an opportunity to celebrate women in gastronomy who continue to push the boundaries of excellence with their skills, techniques and craft.
Siy is the first Singapore-based chef to win the prestigious award. She will be honoured as part of the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2023 in-person awards ceremony on the 28th of March 2023 – the first full-scale gathering of Asia’s gastronomic community since 2019. The awards and event programme will return to Singapore this year in collaboration with host destination partner Singapore Tourism Board to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants, which debuted in the Lion City in 2013.
William Drew, Director of Content for Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants, says: “Johanne Siy’s deep understanding of the provenance of ingredients and her flair for presenting cuisine that is produce-driven, alongside mindful inclusions of the culinary traditions she grew up with, make her a worthy recipient of the Asia’s Best Female Chef Award. Her work at Lolla is a true reflection of the many years spent and intentional experiences sought in order to hone her craft.”
Siy has been Lolla’s head chef since 2020 and has led the restaurant to its first-ever placement in the extended 51-100 list of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2022 at No.75. Lauded for its considered emphasis on produce, seasonality and intentional simplicity, Siy’s food spotlights Asian-inspired modern European cuisine that often pays homage to her Filipina heritage.
Born in Dagupan, Philippines, Siy left a corporate career to pursue a passion for the culinary arts. She trained at The Culinary Institute of America in New York and has apprenticed under chefs Eric Ripert (Le Bernardin) and Daniel Boulud (Café Boulud). Her experiences in the kitchens of the world’s leading restaurants also include a four-year stint at Restaurant André (Singapore). Here, she formed part of the team that secured the restaurant’s highest rankings in the 50 Best Restaurants lists in 2017: No.2 in Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants and No.14 in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
A pivotal point in Siy’s learning journey were her years spent travelling, training and learning in the kitchens, farms and forests of the Nordic countries, including enriching stints at Noma and Relae in Copenhagen, and Fäviken in Sweden. An interest in working with dough also led her to apprentice at Andersen and Maillard in Copenhagen and lead product development at sourdough specialists Starter Lab in Singapore.
A meal at Lolla is a testament to her gathered experiences and cooking ethos. Lolla opened its doors in 2012, offering Mediterranean-inspired small plates. Eleven years later, it remains a solid fixture in Singapore’s fine-dining landscape, holding steadfast to the ideology of ‘the best produce, simply prepared’.
Under Siy’s tutelage, the Lolla experience features modern European cuisine with nods to the Nordics and gastronomic inspirations from Asia. Dishes like crab ‘relleno’, aligue sauce and kaffir lime are a tribute to her roots thanks to the inclusion of the ‘aligue’ sauce from the Philippines —a paste of river crab tomalley cooked with aromatics – and to the dish being served within the crab’s own shell.
Another popular small plate, named caviar, sturgeon and egg yolk sauce, pairs caviar with the fish the eggs are harvested from. Lolla’s tasting menus are evidence of a low-waste kitchen, with examples such as an herb paste made from the pulp of house-made herb oils, forming the flavour base of parmesan crisp, herbs, weeds and flowers.
