PRIVATE FINE DINING @ LYNNETTE'S KITCHEN

What does a veteran violinist of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra do after retiring following a storied 41-year professional musical career? In the case of Cultural Medallion recipient Lynnette Seah, leader of SSO's inaugural concerts in 1979 and co-concertmaster until 2019, it was a career change as a gourmet chef to become the leader of Singapore's private fine dining scene.

Lynnette's Kitchen (www.lynnetteskitchen) started informally in 2016 when she entertained several guests at her Tiong Bahru home, and she was encouraged to up the game upon her retirement from the orchestra. The Covid pandemic came in 2020, and Lynnette used the time to dispel retirement blues and dream big, and when communal meals became a possibility, her private dining career blossomed. She specialises in Peranakan (Straits Chinese) cuisine and we had the pleasure of being her guests for dinner on 9 April 2025 in the company of good friends.

And here are the photos of what happened, and what we enjoyed on this special evening:

Getting to know you!
Professor Lim Seh Chun (SUTD)
meets artist-painter May Oon
& German culture chief Huang Ying.

Lynnette busy in the kitchen
preparing tamarind squid.

Snacks, keropok and belinjo crackers
are best eaten with Lynnette's special sambal.

Lynnette is the perfect host.

Tamarind squid made for the perfect starter.

Nothing beats a "simple" sambal kangkong
with generous helpings of hae bee hiam. 

Everybody's ready to tuck in!

Main course: BBQ jumbo prawns
with pesto sauce

A modest first helping of mine.

The latest reunion of TBM (three bald men)
with Wilson Wang subbing for Kee Kirk Chin.

Main course: Chicken buah keluak
with meat that melts off the bone!

Main course: a divine beef rendang

Ladies having a fine time.

Lynnette's musical and culinary career,
working with and entertaining 
Martha Argerich & Lee Hsien Loong.

And now for something different!

For the record, we played
Kreisler's Liebesleid & Liebesfreud
and Rachmaninoff's Vocalise.

And the non-musical dessert
was Chendol!

Lynnette reminiscing about the many highs
and few lows of a legendary musical career.

We all had a great evening!

And you can too,

by checking out this website:

www.lynnetteskitchen.com