'Blind dates for chefs': Kenjiro Hashida launches Savour Life dining series pairing unlikely culinary partners

Kenjiro Hashida feels that chefs should get to have a bit more fun.

That’s why the Tokyo-born chef, who runs Iyasaka by Hashida at Raffles Sentosa as well as Hashida in Tokyo, has started a new initiative together with events organiser Melissa Ho named Savour Life, which he says is like a “matchmaking” platform for chefs to collaborate.

The first in a series of monthly events featured Hashida, usually pressing sushi behind a counter, cooking over charcoal together with chef Drew Nocente at the latter’s woodfire restaurant Il Toro on Aug 13, where the duo created and served a full menu of completely new dishes.

Unlike standard four-hands collaborations between restaurants, Savour Life’s events will pair chefs from culinary backgrounds diverse enough to be interesting and novel, with plans to include even hawkers, Hashida and Ho shared.

"I've done many collaborations outside of my restaurant. But, I wanted to do other things besides sushi," Hashida said. 

He thinks other chefs would appreciate the opportunity to venture out of their comfort zone, too. For example, those who run restaurants located within hotels might not be able to cook over charcoal, and might relish the idea of doing so outside of their home turf.

If you’re a chef, “Don’t stop challenging yourself,” he added. “Sometimes, we are so used to just cooking our own cuisine in our own kitchens. I want to explore ideas like, ‘What if we brought chefs to an island where they had only fire and water – what could they do? It should be simple, but still entertaining for guests.”

While cooking with Nocente, Hashida said he was able to present food that he wouldn’t usually serve at his restaurants, like grilling eggplant over charcoal and then handing the dish over to Nocente to add yogurt and chili oil to; or making a salad with cucumber and mikan kosho to accompany Nocente’s grilled iberico pluma. Another interesting dish was fish noodles made by Hashida out of cod, paired with a turbot tea made by Nocente.

The next Savour Life event, to be held on Sep 14 and 15, will see chef Damian D’Silva of Gilmore & Damian D’Silva team up with chef Sho Naganuma of Barrel: Story of Hibiki. And for future events, Hashida said, he’s in discussions with “my favourite bak chor mee stall” in Bedok.

"It's like blind dates for chefs," he quipped.

The aim is to have as eclectic a mix as possible, Ho said. “Imagine if we paired Keng Eng Kee Seafood up with an Italian or French chef. I’ve also suggested we pair Korean food with Thai food.” Of course, “It’s like a blind date – the chefs have to have chemistry first”.

Importantly, each collaboration meal will cost the diner under S$200, Ho said. And, the dishes served will be one of a kind. “Every dish is created from scratch. We specifically say that we don't want them to pick signature dishes from their existing menu and put them together.”

Ho, who usually organises events for luxury fashion brands, said Savour Life dinners are designed to build a database of chefs and diners in order to pave the way for bigger F&B events in the future.

“We want to partner with chefs who also want to be passionate and creative, and to have fun while doing this,” she said.

To sign up for events, visit https://www.savourlife.fans/ .