Vis a Vis

Address 12 Chun Tin Road

Opening Hours 12pm-3pm, 6.30pm-11.30pm daily tel: 64687433

Long before celebrated local boy Justin Quek set up his own French eatery Les Amis, there was little Jeremy ----------- with his Le Grande Bouffe.

It was a simple French eatery set up way out in the moon-docks in Sunset Way in 1989. His is a basic tale about a pint sized poor local waiter boy turned restaurateur. The story is simply about success but the details are of patience and toil.

He had no formal training in French makan but it helped that the hotel he worked for regularly conducted in house courses for their staff and that he had the eagerness and vision of a hungry hawk.

He rose from bellhop to waiter at the then Marco Polo Hotel in the 70s. And for the next 8 years, without a day of sick leave and with an exemplary stint at the hotel’s French makan outlet Brasserie La Rotonde, he saw his future. He set up the ulu Le Grande Bouffe after he was affected by the hotel’s major retrenchment exercise in the 80s, then Vis a Vis in ulu Bukit Timah, then created Jeremy’s in town, closed it and is now back at the second. Le Grande Bouffe has since closed.

He learnt fast.

He knew in the long term, that his was an out-of-town French makan brand that had to rely on a majority of local customers. They did not like heavy French flavours like cream, wine sauces and cheese. He had to adapt and it was convenient that his personal favourite ingredient is pepper and “the locals like spicy but not paprika spicy.”

So, today at Vis a Vis (which incidentally was the name he adopted from an old British Airways in flight magazine, how uninspiring!), he even has an off menu Durian Lobster to cater to the extreme local French palate. It came stirred with parmesan cheese, pepper , Dijon mustard with pasta and sweet carrots. Sounds ridiculous but it tasted savoury, spicy and delicious, with just a light whiff of the fruit he personally bought from Geylang. He lured them in with a good pricing strategy at just $45 for this 500 gm lobster and he offer daily three course set meals for about $20 with desserts and beverage.

Three times a year, just to stay in touch with his adopted French makan roots, he would go on a makan and winery tour. He has visited and ate at no less than forty 3 Michelin star eateries throughout France. And his favourite…George Blanc Restaurant in Mecon, Burgundy. “He told me that his philosophy is to simply do what he is good at, work hard, and do it very well everyday. He does not care about trends, but just what his customers like there.” , gushes an inspired Jeremy. Goerge blew him away with his Bilini (French mini pancakes) with Salmon, done with lemon sauce and caviar. “I could smell the fragrant lemon sauce as the waiter came out of the kitchen.”, recalled Jeremy.

A typical day at Vis a Vis would see white collared customers from the industrial estates nearby, senior management types from town and military officers tucking into his hearty classics like tenderloins and game hen. When he brought out his starter of beef carpaccio with foie gras terrine, black truffles and parmesan cheese dressed in port wine sauce and aged balsamic vinegar, it was hard to believe that there was no ang-mos in the kitchen.
Although the dish was not some new stunning creation set to rock the world, it was just simply well done, the textures were consistently soft with contrasting flavours and given a little reprieve with the firm truffles and the sweet sour sauce.

The trio dessert platter of a rum raisin ice cream, baked banana and chocolate torte with coffee larva was sweet poetry.

Three items has never left his menu since his Le Grande Bouffe days…his full bodied onion soup, the hearty baked escargots and the lemon soufflé wrapped in crispy filo with ice cream, and the reason was very obvious.

Jeremy recalls an old personal advice from Francis Carcel, a Prof of Cuisine at the Culinary University of Toulose, who ince taught them at the Marco Polo Hotel, “to be a good restaurateur, you have be good at both back and front operations.” Today, some twenty years on, Jeremy don’t just understand front service and back kitchen culture, he knows it inside out and upside down in French lingo and with a local slang.