SINGAPORE – Six internationally recognized, award-winning celebrity chefs are lined up to create culinary magic at Marina Bay Sands with their first restaurants in Singapore, elevating the Republic’s dining scene to the global stage.
These world-renowned chefs represent the Who’s Who in the culinary world today – Mario Batali (New York), Daniel Boulud (New York), Wolfgang Puck (Los Angeles), Santi Santamaria (Barcelona), Guy Savoy (Paris) and Tetsuya Wakuda (Sydney).
The celebrated chefs will draw inspiration from the kitchens of their own restaurants in Spain, France, Australia and the United States, while creating menus that incorporate regional products and local produce. Nestled on the mezzanine level of the casino, the restaurants of chefs Santi Santamaria, Guy Savoy and Tetsuya Wakuda will offer a refined, sophisticated dining experience based upon their individual culinary styles that have been honed for years.
Culinary giants Mario Batali, Daniel Boulud and Wolfgang Puck will launch their hugely successful, highly regarded signature restaurants that will single-handedly elevate Singapore’s culinary scene overnight. These restaurants are situated near Marina Bay Sands Theatres.
“Singapore will become the culinary epicenter of Asia. The quality of these six chefs will make Marina Bay Sands a dining experience that is beyond comparison,” said Mr. Thomas Arasi, CEO and President of Marina Bay Sands.
Each of the six chefs is personally involved in the concepts, menus, and interior design of the six different restaurants. Each chef will bring to Singapore experienced members from his own restaurant and will develop a new generation of local chefs as they work alongside the industry’s best.
“The quality of the these renowned chefs, coupled with their artistry and international standing, will put Singapore on the world gourmet map as we celebrate glorious food and great wine in one of the most spectacular settings at Marina Bay Sands,” said Mr. Arasi.
In addition to the six celebrity chef restaurants which are finalizing details of their operations here, Marina Bay Sands will run several other signature restaurants that will be unveiled in the coming months.
When completed, Marina Bay Sands will feature large and flexible convention and exhibition facilities, approximately 2,500 luxury hotel rooms, the breathtaking rooftop Sands SkyPark, a museum, Las Vegasstyle gaming, the Paiza Club for premium players, theatres, entertainment, an outdoor event plaza, and unparalleled shopping and dining.
What the chefs say:
“We hope to bring our unique take on both traditional and modern Italian culture, lifestyle and cooking to the heart of the most important city in Asia and we look forward to learning much from the locals about their fascinating culture and food. This is, without a doubt, the most exciting project I have ever been involved with and I look forward to many years of collaboration.” – Chef Mario Batali
“I've had the privilege of traveling to Singapore and enjoyed some incredible meals by local chefs. It’s a superb city where I discovered a culture with a love of food from every corner of the world. Singapore is a wonderful place for me to create a restaurant in partnership with Las Vegas Sands and the international community of chefs they are bringing together. The Marina Bay Sands will be a great addition to a place that is already a dining destination.” – Chef Daniel Boulud
“It’s an honor to open my first restaurant in Singapore, in the city’s most memorable and iconic location. We are eager to create an unforgettable dining experience with the launch of CUT, our first overseas version of the American steakhouse. With its modern menu, we’re offering something new and exciting to local residents and visitors.” – Chef Wolfgang Puck
“Through poetry, human beings express the most profound reasoning of our beings. To experience the world, we need to travel with our minds open, free from baggage. As chefs, we ask ourselves if there’s such a thing as culinary poetry. We hope that together, we can find it. I want to delight the senses and awaken emotional memories with a cuisine of wisdom.” – Chef Santi Santamaria
“Cuisine is the art of instantaneously turning produce suffused with history into happiness.” – Chef Guy Savoy
“I am delighted to be opening at Marina Bay Sands, to bring the flavour of my Sydney restaurant to Singapore’s vibrant and international community.” - Chef Tetsuya Wakuda
About the Six Celebrity Chefs
Mario Batali
With 14 restaurants, eight cookbooks and a host of television shows, including the ever-popular Iron Chef America, Mario Batali is arguably one of the most recognized and respected chefs working in America today. This, combined with his larger-than-life personality is the reason that he has received accolades like GQ Magazine’s Man of the Year and the James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef. Mario and his business partner Joe Bastianich own 14 restaurants across the United States including their flagship New York City restaurant Babbo Ristorante e Enoteca, as well as two restaurants in Los Angeles and three in Las Vegas. The duo’s first Los Angeles venture, in collaboration with Nancy Silverton, is Osteria Mozza and Pizzeria Mozza. Located adjacent to one another, the former features a center island mozzarella bar, where fresh mozzarella is made all day, every day and the latter was recently voted the most popular restaurant with the best pizza in Los Angeles by Zagat Guide®. These two Italian concepts will be launched for the first time in Asia – at Marina Bay Sands.
Daniel Boulud
Daniel Boulud is Chef-Owner of several award-winning restaurants and the Feast & Fêtes catering company. While he hails from Lyon, France, it is in New York that he has truly mastered the dining scene and is today considered one of America’s leading culinary authorities. Over the last two decades, Boulud has evolved from a chef to a chef-restaurateur, bringing his contemporary, seasonally inspired French cuisine to his five New York City restaurants: DANIEL (recently awarded three Michelin stars); Café Boulud; DB Bistro Moderne; Bar Boulud and most recently DBGB Kitchen and Bar. Beyond Manhattan, he has created Café Boulud in Palm Beach and extended his culinary reach internationally with Maison Boulud in Beijing’s Legation Quarter as well as Lumière and DB Bistro Moderne in Vancouver. In Singapore, Chef Boulud will open his signature New
York restaurant DB Bistro Moderne.
Wolfgang Puck
His legendary name carries an undeniable cachet, synonymous with a bold, innovative school of cooking that redefined fine dining in America and around the world. His trademark dishes, coupled with his unmistakable panache and passion, have revolutionized the culinary industry. Beginning with the opening of Spago in 1982, Wolfgang proved that a great meal with excellent wine and service in a dynamic environment could be relaxing as well as an extraordinary culinary experience. In Singapore, Puck will launch CUT, hailed as one of the top three steakhouses in America. Currently in Beverly Hills and Las Vegas, the fine dining restaurant offers a smart, sophisticated menu featuring the finest prime beef available, an award-winning wine list, cutting-edge design and impeccable service.
Santi Santamaria
Santi Santamaria studied Technical Drawing and Industrial Studies, but soon discovered his true passion - cooking. Totally self-taught, in 1981, he opened Can Fabes in the house that he was born in at Sant Celoni, Catalonia, Spain. The house has belonged to Santamaria’s family for 200 years, and he is still living there. What started out as an informal bistro serving meals to peasants has evolved into one of the greatest restaurants of Spain, earning three Michelin stars since 1994. A 45-minute train ride from Barcelona, Can Fabes serves exquisite cuisine in a rustic yet elegant setting. In 2001, he opened Santceloni in Madrid. A multi-faceted 3-Michelin star chef for the past 15 years, Santi Santamaria also pens well-received cookbooks and avidly studies the art of gastronomy by drawing on everyday influences. As a tireless supporter of all types of initiatives to promote Catalan culture, Santi Santamaria is proud to open his first restaurant in Asia at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore.
Guy Savoy
Thinking about the variety and the years it took to perfect it. Thinking also about the « life» of each type of produce, with all its individuality and the unforeseen events which it has had to stand up to”. For Guy Savoy, cuisine is a day-to-day discipline in which time and work combine in an exercise which is subject to the scrutiny of the eye, of the touch, of the sense of smell and of taste. The senses are what form culinary reality. Guy Savoy’s cuisine first and foremost expresses his sensitivity and his passion. Having a meal at Guy Savoy means making the most of the combined talents of the chef, the dining-room and kitchen teams, so as to enhance the flavours of what our planet produces, the results of the efforts of the best farmers, producers and wine-growers, who are all aware of our common heritage. His eponymous Guy Savoy restaurant in Paris has garnered the coveted 3-Michelin stars.
Tetsuya Wakuda
Arriving in Sydney in 1982 with nothing more than a small suitcase and a love of food, Tetsuya landed his first job as a kitchenhand at Fishwives in Surry Hills. A year later, he was introduced to Sydney chef Tony Bilson, who was looking for a Japanese cook to make sushi. It was there at Tony’s kitchen at Kinsela’s Tetsuya realised that he wanted to cook, and that he could indeed cook very well. His own restaurant, Tetsuya’s, opened in 1989 as a tiny shopfront in the Sydney suburb of Rozelle and was booked out with daily waiting lists. In November 2000, Tetsuya relocated his restaurant from Rozelle to 529 Kent Street, Sydney and since then has evolved his style and reputation to be considered by many as Australia’s finest chef. Tetsuya’s restaurant at Marina Bay Sands will be the only outpost to the acclaimed Sydney restaurant.
About Marina Bay Sands Pte Ltd
Marina Bay Sands Pte Ltd is currently developing a fully integrated luxury resort in Singapore. An affiliate of Las Vegas Sands Corporation (NYSE: LVS), the Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) industry leader in the United States and Asia’s leading developer of multi-use integrated resorts, Marina Bay Sands Pte Ltd is backed by a dedicated executive team with a proven track record in the exposition, convention, retail, construction and marketing sectors in Asia.
For Media Enquiries:
Val Chua – (+65) 6688 0228 / (+65) 9712 6871 / val.chua@marinabaysands.com
Sarina Pushkarna – (+65) 6688 0013 / (+65) 9298 5728 / sarina.pushkarna@marinabaysands.com
