What would a dining experience be without wines? At Les Amis, the restaurant prides itself in presenting the best cuisine along with glorious wines. Ever since its opening 15 years ago, it has slowly built its wine reputation as the most respected and the best in Singapore and the Asian region.
For Les Amis, not only it is important for its cuisine to be of utmost superiority but it is equally important for its wine selection to be of the best quality as well. Its wine collection is worth S$5 million and boasts an extensive 3000 labels. With a focus on French wines, New World wines cognoscenti are not left out because the restaurant promises an interesting and diverse selection as well. Without doubt, this is the reason why the restaurant has always been recognised for its wine list.
For four consecutive years, from 2001 to 2004, Les Amis’ wine list has been acknowledged as the best by the World Gourmet Summit Awards Of Excellence. Moreover, it has also been the recipient of the Wine Spectator’s Grand Award since 1996 – Les Amis is one of the only three winners in Asia. What good is an extensive wine list if it is not presented and served by experienced and knowledgeable sommeliers? But Les Amis is never short of skilled individuals who are responsible for its wine list – from selection to service.
Les Amis’ lineage of sommeliers represents the who’s who of wine experts in Singapore. From Aby Tan to Randy See to Timothy Goh, these three individuals have stamped their marks in the local wine scene. As testaments to their sharp acumen for understanding and serving wines, these three sommeliers have won the World Gourmet Summit Awards Of Excellence’s Sommelier Of The Year since 2001. Tan won it thrice from 2001 to 2003 followed by See, who also won it thrice from 2004 to 2006. Goh continued the tradition and was recognised as the best in 2008, 2009 and 2010.
Les Amis is truly the best dining experience a gourmand should never miss out on. When a restaurant and its wine list are deemed the best by so many organisations and publications, without doubt, it has arrived. But Les Amis has more than just arrived, it is here to stay.
Interview with Les Amis Pte Ltd
What does being in the World Gourmet Summit Awards Of Excellence Hall Of Fame for Wine List of the Year mean to Les Amis?
We feel honoured. The wine list at Les Amis has been one of our main priorities and we’re delighted that our customers acknowledge it.
What do you hope to achieve in the near future in terms of your wine list?
Constantly searching for new gems and offering choices to our customers – that’s what we hope to achieve.
Can you share with other establishments in the industry the problems you’ve had to overcome to achieve this accolade?
We’ve had good support from our chairman. To be able to build a wine list of this scale needs a lot of financial support and social encouragement. All the sommeliers who have worked at Les Amis have or had to be tough mentally and physically. Constant purchases, updating of wine lists and replenishments are all part of a fifteen-hour-a-day shift! That’s a challenge for a normal person!
Are there any other wine regions that your establishment would like to introduce in the near future?
Old World wines particularly from France have always been our focus. Also because of the cuisine and the history of the restaurant since day one, we’ve not changed that. Having said that, we are constantly in search of new wines too to share with our customers! One of our sommeliers just got back from Croatia, and there were some nice wines produced there. It’ll be nice to have a few in the list just to explore.
