On his return to the garden city he honed his skills in a number of exclusive institutions with stints in international F&B giants; Hyatt and Four Seasons hotels, Raffles a national icon and in the well known Tower Club, butterbean bistro. John’s next professional move was a bold one – he set up “Asparagus”, a restaurant consultancy to consolidate his skills and broaden his knowledge base. In this role he helped a number of companies with their businesses including project work for “Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf” , Fresh Origin, 25 degress celius, private affair, fork and chopstick , Infusion, figo grail (travel concept bistro)  and “Jing” – a fusion restaurant in Taiwan.

Only a very special opportunity could have cut this bout of entrepreneurship short and it came in the form of an offer to become personal chef to the Australian High Commissioner. Over the next few years John was responsible for delivering creative and ever-changing menus for between 2 and 200 people on a daily basis. If this wasn’t a challenge in itself - his dining clientele, that included celebrities, dignitaries and even Presidents of State, often possessed very discerning palates…no mean feat even for the most experienced chef!

When John chose to jump ship again four years later it was to join the Coriander Leaf team and setting up of Screening Room as Executive Chef. And it was in this capacity that he also represented his home city in a showcase of Singaporean food in Tokyo.

Amid his business John has also managed to bring joy to a number of Singaporean households through the skills he has passed on in his cooking classes as well as through his regular contributions to the well known consumer publications and People Association - Epicure, Young parent, Eat!, Her World and Wine & Dine. He also donated time to help create the dishes featured in this year’s “Spices of Life” themed Red Cross member calendar,  the Cancer Foundation on healthy eating , create menu for HPB, on the healthy eating for kid in school canteen. Chef Michele has loved food her entire life. She started baking and cooking at age of 14 years old when she moved to Australia.

When she returned to Singapore at the age of 24. she worked for the F&B Industry for 8 years and had the wonderful chance to entertain at many exquisite restaurants around Asia, thereby further enhancing her palate. By the time she married her French husband (with Italian origins), she already had many French and Italian recipes tugged under her sleeve. She also utilized her knowledge gained over the years to merge that into entertaining people across different cultures by introducing origins of classic dishes. Then finally as a mother, she discovered that many Singaporeans (including expats) did not eat home often and therefore 2 years ago, started cooking classes. Her philosophy is to strive for the freshest ingredients, and trust that natural flavours married with passion and the right techniques will always produce the perfect dish.