“Food Meets Future” at the National Gallery, Singapore

In 2019 S.Pellegrino, the world’s leading sparkling mineral water, marks its 120th Anniversary and goes to Singapore for The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2019 sponsored by S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna to celebrate this important milestone with a special event aimed at reflecting upon the future of gastronomy with the top chefs’ community and key opinion leaders.

On the morning of Monday 24th June, at the National Gallery, S.Pellegrino presented ‘FOOD MEETS FUTURE’: an interactive exploration of the key aspects of gastronomy in the future, run by some of the most influential top chefs on the international gastronomic scene.

“2019 marks our 120th Anniversary and we are celebrating such an important milestone at The World’s 50 Best Restaurants promoting a discussion on the future of gastronomy, with and for the top chefs’ community” said Stefano Marini, International Business Unit Director of Sanpellegrino.

Stefano Marini, International Business Unit Director of Sanpellegrino

Multiple winner of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, Massimo Bottura of Osteria Francescana in Modena (Italy), humanitarian chef José Andres and incredibly talented pastry chef Janice Wong were among the personalities that shared their reflections, exploring four key pillars of focus for discussion to secure the future of gastronomy: inclusion, inspiration, responsibility and talent.

TALENT

Fostering and nurturing talent, investing in the next generation, feeding the future now, is a key focus for the gastronomy industry and was the first pillar to be discussed.

S.Pellegrino, The World’s 50 Best Restaurants and Fine Dining Lovers had invited its audience of young and inspiring chefs worldwide to send through questions of which a selection was answered by an established group of chefs during the event.

Among them was Yannick Alléno, of Pavillon Ledoyen in Paris: “I think chefs can really change the planet.” Also, female chefs Garima Arora, from the celebrated Gaa restaurant in Bangkok and Anne-Sophie Pic, recipient of The World’s Best Female Chef Award 2013 and Maison Pic in Valence, France, plus co-host, Massimo Bottura who commented: “Chefs in 2019 have a voice, a voice of change and they want to use it.”

RESPONSIBILITY

Chefs are cultural influencers and leaders and they take that responsibility seriously in order to make a difference and help inspire others to change the world also.

It was no surprise then that José Andrés, successful restaurateur, philanthropist, Nobel Peace Prize nominee and latest recipient of the American Express Icon Award 2019 of the current The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, was present to discuss some his thoughts on the topic of responsibility in gastronomy.

“We only feed the few, if we want to feed the many we need to give a voice to the voiceless… Women are the people feeding the world today.” said Andrés, who expressed his hopes to inspire and call to action not just those present at Food Meets Future but to spread through the entire gastronomy community.

INCLUSION

On the theme of inclusivity, S.Pellegrino and The World’s 50 Best Restaurants had asked chefs from the 50 Best family around the world, as well as many attending the events here in Singapore, to contribute some pledges for the future. Their messages focused on the importance of diversity, overcoming prejudice of race, gender, sexuality and more.

INSPIRATION

On this fourth topic, the chefs gave way to Janice Wong, acknowledged as one of the most exciting pastry chefs who has delighted the world with her extraordinary dessert creations.

Wong created six edible walls, “We want you to enjoy Singaporean flavours in art form” she said. 3D geometric shapes leaped out of a chocolate painted canvas in full colour.

“To me the future is about mixing all these mediums together. For pastry, it's not only about it being on a plate or in a display, we're mixing here architecture, design, fashion, colours, everything. That's where people get really excited and they can connect with it,” said Wong.

It was the perfect ending to a stimulating morning full of ideas and inspiration to take away for everyone.

The afternoon of FOOD MEETS FUTURE concluded with a lunch of local delicacies such as nasi lemak, chilli crab, laksa and pandan cake, naturally accompanied by the Special Limited Diamond Edition bottles of S.Pellegrino.

In honour of S.Pellegrino’s 120th anniversary, The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2019 has broadened its scope to recognize the best 120 restaurants across the world, adding an additional 20 establishments to its usual top 100 ranking, shining a spotlight on more brilliant chefs and hospitality teams across the globe.

The special extended list of restaurants ranked from 51st to 120th was announced on 18th June. 

S.Pellegrino and The World’s 50 Best Restaurants have been working in partnership for 15 years. The Food Meets Future event was one of the many forums that S.Pellegrino has created in its promise to help build a global gastronomy community that is collaborative, innovative and celebratory.

Read more about S.Pellegrino’s 120 Year Anniversary, the Limited Edition Bottles and S.Pellegrino’s belief in nurturing and supporting young culinary talent through S.Pellegrino Young Chef, and follow all the exciting developments in the world of gastronomy on S.Pellegrino’s Instagram and Facebook pages.