SINGAPORE – If Norwegian chef Sven Erik Renaa had to take his eponymous three-Michelin-starred restaurant anywhere in the world, Singapore would be his only choice.
He tells The Straits Times: “Because of my connection with Singapore and all the friends I have here, it would kind of be the perfect spot if I were ever to go somewhere else.”
The 54-year-old owns Re-naa in the Norwegian city of Stavanger.
He first visited Singapore in 1999 and has since developed a taste for local delicacies like black pepper crab.
Besides, his restaurant is currently run by a Singaporean – executive chef Mathew Leong, 31. They first met in 2016 after Leong, then a 21-year-old culinary hopeful, sent a hundred applications around the world in the hope of clinching a spot in one of Europe’s top kitchens.
One of the few replies he received came from Re-naa. Since 2010, it has employed Singaporean chefs, favoured by Renaa for their work ethic.
“They have to show me that they’re interested because it’s quite a lot of work for us to bring them in, because of the work permit and everything. I remember Mathew wrote me a very long and polite letter. He was also very hard-working,” he says.
