#lepristine

Le Pristine Singapore by Sergio Herman just won best Best Interior Design by Tatlerasia.

Sergio Herman’s culinary dreamscape at Le Pristine Singapore will take you on an escapade of atmospheric spaces and private dining rooms crafted by Japanese design firm Nao Taniyama & Associates

In Stanley Kubrick’s seminal work, 2001: A Space Odyssey, there’s a scene where Dave traverses the Logic Memory Center, lit in an incandescent red-orange hue that’s now among the film’s most iconic scenes. While you thankfully won’t encounter a rogue AI here, the wine cellar at Le Pristine Singapore feels similarly atmospheric with its burnt umber tones, creating a sense of suspense and intrigue with its cavernous interior. 

This wine tunnel offers a tantalising glimpse of more that you can expect at Le Pristine Singapore, a dining establishment helmed by acclaimed chef Sergio Herman. Situated within the newly renovated Grand Hyatt Singapore, the Dutch chef’s first Southeast Asia outpost contains enthralling interiors masterminded by Japanese design firm Nao Taniyama & Associates.

Described as “New Italian” cuisine, Herman blends Italian flavours with a touch of his Zeeland heritage with the goal of “creat(ing) restaurants that people love for their quality, atmosphere, and the overall experience”. That sentiment is keenly felt in its interior design. It’s tailored to its Singapore context, while subtly echoing shared creative elements found in the sister restaurants in Antwerp and Tokyo. Here, we take a closer look at how this 120-seater restaurant was designed to create a feast for the senses.

A creative journey 

A sweeping staircase marks the start of your journey at Le Pristine Singapore. Listen to an upbeat mix of disco, rock and dance hits by David Bowie, Grace Jones and The Red Hot Chili Peppers, as you ascend the steps to the main dining room.

At Le Pristine Singapore, Nao Taniyama & Associates has achieved a beautiful play of contrasts. A mirror-clad ceiling would catch the eye, floating above a large 12-seater table and its herringbone wood flooring in the Sergio Suite, one of the restaurant’s five private rooms. In the main dining room, a wood-clad ceiling creates a cocooning environment while Quelle Fête, a Rotganzen-designed sculpture glimmers on a concrete wall, dazzling diners with its disco ball-like facets.

This 650 sqm restaurant in Singapore subtly references the colour and material palette of Le Pristine Antwerp and Le Pristine Tokyo, both designed by Space Copenhagen. The curving leather banquettes in Le Pristine Singapore carry a similar olive green hue to the seats in the Antwerp location. The Rotganzen artwork is among the common artistic elements also seen in the restaurants in Japan and Belgium. The open kitchen is another shared element throughout all three restaurants, where diners get to witness culinary action up-close.

The overall effect creates a space that Le Pristine regulars will find familiar, while acquainting newcomers to the “casual fine dining” experience that Sergio Herman espouses—one that is fun, immersive and dynamic, integrating the restaurant group’s signature mix of art, food, music and design.

Wine not?

There are more tantalising surprises to be found at the top of the stairs, for guests seeking to extend their dining experience here. A bar at the top floor offers classic cocktails ranging from the classic Spritz, Bellini and Gin & Tonic to the zesty Italian Sour and Truffle Negroni. 

To the left of the bar is the restaurant’s visual pièce de résistance: a wine tunnel containing 150 labels hand-picked by the team. An arresting mirrored lamp is its focal point—Mirage by Dutch artist-designer Sabine Marcelis leads the eye to the end of the tunnel, accompanied by a series of red stripe lighting that creates an enigmatic effect.

Where art meets design

This dramatically lit passageway also leads to three private dining rooms that can seat between six to 13 diners each. Every private dining room has its own unique look. In the Moon, for instance, this airy private room features a window that looks out onto Scotts Road, seating up to ten guests. Named after Herman’s only daughter, the room is lit with a golden glow by Tol, a lighting piece by Dutch designer Dirk van der Kooij crafted with repurposed chocolate moulds. Spanning the length of the dining table here, the Clay Lights chandelier by Maarten Baas adds another playful touch to the room. 

Another Tol chandelier is also installed in Le Fête, a ten-seater private room, contributing to the restaurant’s design continuity. A larger version of Rotganzen’s Quelle Fête appears here as well, playfully sparking that “Friday feeling” that embodies the Le Pristine ethos. The Jasper private room is named after the Amsterdam-based artist Jasper Krabbé, a friend of the chef, and will soon be adorned with a selection of Krabbé’s artworks in time to come.

The most impressive of the five private rooms is Sergio’s Suite, which appears almost like the living and dining area of a capacious  presidential suite. It also features a show kitchen for extra pizazz. Here, a circle of three vintage Soriana sofas face Walking so Close Together in This Dense Jungle, a charcoal painting on canvas by Belgian artist Rinus Van De Velde that was specially commissioned for Le Pristine Singapore to represent the country’s lush greenery. The living area is completed with In Hale, a coffee table with a marble top that seemingly floats above an inflated metal sheet. 

Altogether, the spaces have been crafted to astound while creating a refined environment for its diners. As the chef would say, “it’s about crafting a dining experience that lingers long after the last bite”. It’s clear that this has been achieved here, as represented equally in every meticulously crafted dish as well as the restaurant’s thoughtful interior design. 

Artworks by Sabine Marcelis, Rotganzen, Dirk van der Kooij & Rinus Van De Velde

Sergio Herman, the Michelin-Starred Chef Behind Le Pristine Singapore.

Chef Sergio Herman brings top-notch ingredients, techniques, and his 5-Pillar philosophy to Le Pristine Singapore at the newly renovated Grand Hyatt Singapore.

It’s not everyday that you meet a passionate, down-to-earth chef who transformed his family’s humble seafood restaurant to 3-Michelin-star status, and then, shuts it down in 2013 at the height of its success.

Meet Sergio Herman, the 54-year-old driving force behind the Sergio Herman Group and one-Michelin-starred Le Pristine Antwerp. The culinary maestro was in town late August ahead of the October launch of Le Pristine Singapore, located at the newly refurbished Grand Hyatt Singapore. The launch also marks a full circle in his journey from Europe to Asia, as Singapore was the first Asian city he visited 15 years ago.

“I grew up in Sluis, the south-western coastal province of Zeeland, northwest of Antwerp, in a home where everything was about food,” he shares. “My parents ran Oud Sluis, a classic seafood restaurant. It was a great life growing up, living above our restaurant, constantly being surrounded by kitchen aromas and the world of food.” Herman worked with his parents in the kitchen, doing every dirty job including cleaning mussels manually like his grandfather used to. “Food is in my DNA and I think we have one of the best jobs in the world – creating something beautiful and making people happy”.

The young Herman attended culinary school in Belgium for two years, learning the basics of classic French cuisine, before training at the (now defunct) Michelin-starred De Swaen restaurant in Holland. “When you’re at culinary school, you think you know everything. But when you start working, you quickly realize that you actually know nothing,” he laughs.

Eight months into his training, Herman’s father called him back home to help. He had the basic seafood knowledge and loved working with different citruses and sour components, but was obsessed with innovation and doing things differently. “I’m in my element; in my own tunnel when I cook, cooking with my heart and soul. At Oud Sluis, I cooked with all my emotions growing up near the sea. At Le Pristine, it's a twist on classic Italian, inspired by both Zeeland and the Milanese fashion scene, but always with the seaside, the citruses, and fresh herbs in mind.”

“A restaurant is much more than just food. Everything I do reflects these 5 Pillars: Food, Fashion, Design, Art, and Music. At Le Pristine, those pillars run extremely deep, be it for a lobster salad or the perfect orecchiette with seafood,” he says. “I’ve always been interested in food, but I’ve also always had a fascination for crafts; the inspiration and creativity around art and design, thanks to my parents who had a lot of art and art books at home. For me, music is the highest form of art and I literally dream about food and music. The specially curated music we play around the main course just captures you. It’s a mystical experience,” he says passionately.

“There was no real plan when I came back to help my father at Oud Sluis in 1990. I was only 20 then and I just wanted to show him what I had learned and what I could do. There was no bigger picture, certainly no stars on the horizon – just ambition, creativity, pride, and a lot of passion. It was in my DNA, but I needed to create my signature,” he reveals.

And that’s what he did. “Passion, ambition, and talent can only come together when you have focus. But you have to keep it real and honest, and stick to your signature style and natural creativity. If the stars come, the stars come. It shouldn’t be the other way around,” he says.

In a surprising move, at the peak of his career, Herman shut down Oud Sluis for good. “I loved every minute of what I did, but when you get older, less is more. I closed three of my restaurants because I wanted to do better quality with less. Stay close to yourself, do it well, and see what happens,” he shares.

Regarding his foray into Southeast Asia, Herman says, “Singapore was my entrance to Asia and I’ve always had a good feeling about the city.” Fate called and Herman’s good friend, Andreas Stalder, Senior Vice President, F&B Operations & Product Development of Hyatt, Asia Pacific, suggested he open a restaurant here in Singapore, setting the wheels in motion for Le Pristine Singapore. The collaboration also marks Grand Hyatt Singapore’s first chef-driven F&B concept since opening in 1971. “Singapore is a very interesting city because it's so dynamic. Singapore’s dining scene is a significant gateway to the rest of Southeast Asia and opening Le Pristine here is a huge milestone.”

Herman unveiled his first restaurant in Asia in December 2023 with Le Pristine Tokyo at Hotel Toranomon Hills and is already part of the Michelin Guide Tokyo. “Japan is the holy grail of perfection and products, and despite the language barrier, it’s great to be in Tokyo and feel the Japanese DNA. With Singapore, the challenge is the heavy price setting because you need to fly in everything, but it's fantastic to be here.”

But at the heart of it all, Herman is truly passionate about his roots and the products that come from Zeeland, making him a torchbearer for his hometown’s culinary heritage. He says, “I live half in Antwerp and half on the seaside in Zeeland, five minutes from the Belgian border. We have top quality seafood and shellfish, as well as amazing natural seasonal produce, such as seaweed and local wild herbs. I’m very excited to bring these new flavors to Singapore! Walking along the seaside in Zeeland always gave me the best ideas and the best solutions to my troubles. The continues to inspire me tremendously. I'm very proud of where I come from.”

Sergio Herman transformed this beautiful 1960s building into a unique restaurant. Food, fashion, design, art and music: these are the five pillars on which Le Pristine is based.