Review: Le Petit Chef at Grand Hyatt brings an outsized spectacle to Orchard Road

After a sold-out run in 2019, Grand Hyatt Singapore returns with the latest installment of Le Petit Chef. Running till Sept 15, 2022, the World’s Smallest Chef, a sprightly, 6-centimetre animated character, leads diners on a learning journey on How to Be the World’s Greatest Chef”. Updated with cutting-edge  3D technology and projection mapping, the five-course immersive tasting experience evokes a certain Pixar film that shares the joy of cooking.  

Commencing with cocktails on Grand Hyatt’s third-floor event space, Residence 2, half an hour before dinner starts. Gathered guests and their families – the event is perfect for budding, young scholars – are then ushered to a darkened room, taking their seats at long communal tables illuminated in a soft glow by hidden projectors.

A single halo adorns the crisp white canvas of each audience member’s empty plate. Anticipation roars to life as a live emcee enthusiastically greets guests and introduces the dining concept, a visual history of influential ingredients, and the transformative power of food as art. 

From there, “Le Petit Chef” beamed onto the table amidst a swirling kaleidoscope of motion graphics, and together with our cheerful human host, takes us on a tour  across time and culture that spans Old World Europe to Aztec homeground in central Mexico.

Here, we should mention that there are two main menus: the Master ( $218++ per adult) and the Elite ($318++ per adult). With the same number of courses, the latter features additional premium ingredients such as caviar and seasonal truffles.

Vegetarian and kids menus are available at $218++ and $108++ respectively. Two wine pairing menus ($128++ for Master and S$228++ for Elite) are available; the pours are generous but we’ll recommend getting a bottle to share due to the 90-minute timeframe of the experience.

Down the tomato-themed lane we go for Chapter 1, which dovetails nicely with the hotel’s focus on sustainability. The tiered vessels of this refreshing first course  unveils layers of sustainable prawn ceviche, buffalo mozzarella with pistachio pesto, and heirloom tomato terrine.

Next up, a playful course offered by Le Petit Chef on various art forms through history. The little chef encourages diners to craft abstract, modern art pieces with the vibrant sauces and purees imbued with the natural hues and flavours of vegetables on the plate. Go all out in embellishing the star of Chapter 2, the Hokkaido scallop and Kaluga queen caviar atop creamy egg custard.

In a personal nod to family and heritage, Le Petit Chef takes us home with him for a cooking lesson from his grandmother. Tender free-range Chicken Ballotine is a treat in Chapter 3, particularly with generous shavings of seasonal truffle and a flavourful chicken jus.

The experience then brings out surf and turf heavies to a projection of dancing carrots and avocados – perfectly cooked blue lobster meat is presented alongside a chunk of braised beef wagyu brisket, with a rich, aromatic roasted onion jus. Flavoursome dish that fills one up, despite the brisket being was a touch overcooked.

Things pick back up with the pocket-sized chef’s pièce de resistance – an interactive dessert course that gets diners to work up their creative juices again.

Served in a tray of deconstructed parts of passionfruit curd, berry sherbet, and chocolate soil, we create our own potted plant dessert in Chapter 5. They even provided a mini fire starter to caramelise the meringue, igniting a colorful post-dinner discussion on the culinary lessons learned!

Le Petit Chef runs daily at 1.30pm for lunch, 6pm & 8.15pm till Sept 15, 2022 at Grand Hyatt Singapore, 10 Scotts Road, Level 3 Residence 2, Singapore 228211, p. +65 6732 1234.

This article was first published in City Nomads.