If there’s one thing Singaporeans love more than a good bargain, it’s one involving good food; and in the case of Citibank’s S$100Gourmet dining programme, a lavish meal by some of the world’s best chefs in collaboration with some of the island’s bests.

The deal is as straightforward as it comes: Valued at S$180, the six-course S$100++ menu will comprise signature dishes of the visiting chef alongside those by the hosting chef and at least two original collaborative dishes. It is, to boot, a progressive dining experience featuring local, imported and seasonal ingredients. The 12-month programme involving more than 36 chefs and 24 local establishments, kicked-off this month with a bumper showing of two visiting chefs.

However, diners have to charge the bill to a Citibank credit card to enjoy the eponymous discount. But, as one avid diner pointed out, it’s not hard in this “multi-card society” to find a fellow foodie without one.

And maybe it was the thought of savouring polished French technique combined with influences from the Japanese kitchen and prized seasonal ingredients that both visiting chef Laurent Peugeot (of 1-Michelin starred restaurant Le Charlemagne, Pernand-Vergelesses, France) and Singapore’s Emmanuel Stroobant (St Pierre) champions. Or the modern amalgamation of two winning philosophies, namely Niklas Ekstedt’s revival of long-lost Nordic techniques, which involve food cooked over an open fire or in a wood-fired oven, and Jason Tan’s Gastro-Botanica, which celebrates global influences in flavours and an emphasis on the botanical elements on the plate.

Fact is, response to the programme is already proving just how well diners here know a value meal when they see one. More than 200 seats were snapped up in the first three hours after the ticketing site opened on April 1, and by the end of Day One, more than 400 seats were sold, said a spokesperson. “In our first week of sales, the programme cleared over 700 seats, achieved 30,000 page views on the website with an amazingly low bounce rate. This shows that the customers who came to $100Gourmet website were already convinced by the value proposition, and had come into the website with clear intentions to purchase. In addition, several diners actively made purchases across all three dining establishments in the April line-up.”

It’s no surprise then that most seats for April’s menus have been snapped up. All but 10 of the lunch seats and all of the dinner seats for the Niklas and Jason collaboration at Tan’s Corner House (from April 23 to 26) have been sold.

VESTED INTEREST

Less apparent, though, are the reasons that make such promotions possible, starting with the fact that with the bank’s support, both visiting and local chefs are able to engage in such a collaboration without an additional financial outlay. This allows them to focus on mutually-beneficial advantages.

“I am always enthused to participate in such events,” Stroobant said. “The chef community remains one of the last fraternities where the spirit of brotherhood is still alive. We may ‘compete’ professionally but we are always happy to share techniques, recipes and lend a helping hand if anyone needs it. I am always happy to have a guest chef in my kitchen and I feel that it is also very beneficial for the junior team to experience different styles of cooking.”

To bring the experience and value to as many diners as possible, each chef/restaurant have commited to three to four days of their full business operations to the programme, where the $100Gourmet menu is served exclusively, which is how organisers are able to offer up to 1,000, sometimes 12,00 seats each month for the 12-month duration.

And while visiting chefs aim to maintain the integrity of their signature dishes, they may tweak some recipes based on their encounters and discoveries of new ingredients or sources in Asia.

“We are aiming to present them (our signature dishes) very similar to what we serve in London,” said Anthony Demetre of Michelin-starred Arbutus and Wild Honey in London, United Kingdom. “But there may be tweaks to the recipes as produce in Asia can be different to Europe. You always need to adapt your style slightly when collaborating with other chefs, but that’s what makes it exciting and challenging.”

He is the programme’s featured chef next month, collaborating with Christopher Millar of Stellar at 1-Altitude (from May 22 to 24) and Riccardo Catarsi of il Cielo (from May 25 to 28), offering meus for both lunch and dinner.

“I have done many collaborations before, but not restricted to the $100 scheme; value for money is something that I strive to achieve in my London restaurants,” the British of Greek origins added.

Recognised as one of the pioneers of the “bistronomy” movement in the UK, Demetre’s featured dishes include crisp pig’s head with potato puree, turnips and toasted buckwheat as his signature starter and slow-cooked ox cheek with Swiss chard and other market greens as his signature main at Stellar at 1-Altitude.

Of course, the value of such promotions is not lost among the chefs. “We have the support of our suppliers in helping us to keep the price of ingredients as low as possible; it is a win-win situation as we will run a full house for five days and the quantity purchased by the restaurant due to the amount of guest will compensate for the discount offered by the supplier,” said Stroobant, who also pointed out how this minimises wastage. “When you run a normal a la carte service, we have to prepare extra ingredients that may end up not being used. In $100Gourmet, we know the exact number prior to each meal.”

Other visiting chefs who have confirmed their participation in the programme include Chris Naylor of Restaurant Vermeer, Amsterdam, Holland; UK’s Nathan Outlaw (Restaurant Nathan Outlaw, Outlaw’s and Outlaw’s Fish Kitchen); Belgium’s Nick Bril (The Jane in Antwerp); and Switzerland’s Rolf Fliegauf of Ristorante ECCO in Ascona and ECCO on Snow in St Moritz.