Michelin Chef (and nice guy) Daniel Boulud: One Night in Singapore

Food on film and television is pretty hard to beat. Let's face it, what other prop is easily accessible to the audience, regardless of language and demographics and theme? Similarly, the entertainment value of people behind food as an art is great fodder for televsion content, and for couch potatoes who love food like me, a near-perfect lazy afternoon.

Pic lifted liberally from Asian Food Channel because I'm a gangster like that

Michelin-starred Chef Daniel Boulud and his adventure in Singapore is the subject of the Asian Food Channel (AFC)'s second original production. AFC invited Daniel to whip up his signature cuisine for one night only at the Fullerton Hotel and the hour-long feature captures the intense rigeur leading up to the evening of this meal.

The premier was held at the spanking Neo, perched atop Jalan Sultan Ismail next to Tamarind Hill which became dramatically more ravishing as night fell upon us. It set the stage for the documentary itself, a rapid fire dramatized study of the man himself during his trip, punctuated with plenty of tension, humour and frenzy.

We got to chat a little to our affable host Hian Goh, Managing Director of AFC to try see if there was dirt behind the decorous depiction of Chef Daniel, having heard of horror stories of other celebrity chefs. But Hian assured us that Chef Daniel was a genuinely nice, gracious personality, incredibly passionate and meticulous. Besides, he shared, AFC only works with nice guys!

Neo's aqua theme offered a lovely ambience for the gathering which was also for me personally a wonderful first-time meeting with folks whose words I were familiar with. Also it was great to meet again some bloggers from Penang I'd first met almost two years ago.

The parting shot of the magnificent dining room with its water wall backdrop left me awed. Just look at it... enough drama and trepidation to behold the appearance of Count Dracula. Or failing that, Chef Daniel Boulud himself!

'Daniel Bould: One Night in Singapore' will premier on AFC (Astro Channel 703) on Tuesday 29th September 2009 at 9PM. Caution: Do not watch hungry!

Big thanks to Asian Food Channel as well as Alice George Communication for hosting such a great evening! We look forward to seeing more homegrown productions in the future!