By Katrina Gracia Consebido
Johanne Siy, a Filipina chef based in Singapore, was crowned as Asia’s Best Female Chef Award for 2023 by Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants.
Siy is currently running Lolla restaurant on Ann Siang Hill in Singapore that offers Mediterranean foods.
Her love for food stemmed from Dagupan where she grew up with Filipino cuisine.
“Singapore made me realize that hospitality is a viable career – that you can actually pursue something that you love and make a living out of it,” Siy said.
“It was a risk I was willing to take – to give up a stable job and start again from the very bottom of the tree,” she added.
Siy later went to Culinary Institute of America (CIA) and graduated securing a post at La Bernardin and Cafe Boulud, as well as in other culinary opportunities to broaden her experiences beyond the kitchen.
During the coronavirus pandemic, Siy was given the chance to manage the Lolla restaurant. She used her creativity, hard work, and resourcefulness in molding and improving the restaurant’s menu.
“Siy’s fresh direction reinvigorated Lolla, with diners starting to flow back through its doors in increasing numbers,” according to The World’s 50 Best.
She continued to “turn heads” since she entered the kitchen of Lolla, making it to the 75th spot on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2022. –ag
