In the meantime, Stalder was also working on another hotel, the brand-new Hotel Toranomon Hills, part of The Unbound Collection by Hyatt. The hotel was being designed by Space Copenhagen—their first project ever in Japan. Taking the coincidence as providence, Stalder asked Herman to not just open Le Pristine in the Tokyo property but also a Le Pristine Café, and help oversee the hotel’s total F&B operations.

In case you missed it: Why you need to add celebrity chef Sergio Herman’s Le Pristine Tokyo to your Tokyo restaurant hit list

Le Pristine Tokyo opened in December 2023. It’s a gorgeous, airy space devoted to what Chef Herman describes as “casual fine dining”. We caught up with the celebrity chef there in March 2024 to chat about both his new Tokyo outpost as well as the soon-to-be-opened Singapore branch. Le Pristine Singapore is set to bring ‘New Italian’ cuisine to the city’s dining scene—a concept Herman describes as a contemporary tribute to pure Italian flavors and his deep-rooted Zeeland heritage.

Our first question was what exactly is “casual fine dining”?

The roguishly handsome chef explained by first qualifying that “fine dining is very close to my heart”. He continued, “I grew up experiencing fine dining with my parents, and that's one reason I ended up attending hotel school and working in my parents’ restaurant. I believe there will always be a place for fine dining. However, I believe the future belongs to casual fine dining. Not everyone enjoys sitting at a table for five hours anymore. There’s a group of people who love that, and sometimes, I’m one of them. But at Le Pristine, it is a celebration of fantastic food, great atmosphere, and vibrant energy that includes music, design, and art, fostering open conversations. This approach appeals to everyone—young, old, businesspeople, you name it.”

When pressed to further define what separates a fine dining experience from a casual fine dining one, Herman said the two biggest factors were the atmosphere and the service. “We don’t serve 18 courses,” he shared. “Instead, we focus on creating a welcoming and open atmosphere with about four or five courses, sometimes including shared plates. It’s important to me that diners feel relaxed while eating. That’s the most critical aspect.”

After dining at Le Pristine Tokyo, what stood out was the way that Herman both incorporated top Japanese ingredients and also paid homage to some popular Japanese dishes. The key aspect, he told us, was to bring highlights from Le Pristine Antwerp to these cities while adapting to each new city. “The DNA of my cooking,” he told us, “reflects a love for seafood, complemented by a preference for crisp, acidic notes. Le Pristine’s philosophy marries these elements with inspirations from my travels and experiences, creating a unique dining experience that respects the local culinary landscape while staying true to my roots.”

“We have some dishes that have been with us from the very beginning, which we will serve in Tokyo and Singapore,” he shared. “But alongside these classics, we’re also looking to incorporate local elements. For Tokyo and Singapore, we’ve created dishes that celebrate the unique DNA of each place.”

“In Singapore, for example, the mix of cultures presents a fantastic opportunity. It’s a rare situation that offers a wide range of influences from across Asia. We’re experimenting with local flavours like chilli crab, adapting them to fit our menu. Japan offers some of the world's best seafood, which we use to inspire new dishes. We aim to respect and embrace the local culture while introducing our unique blend of flavours and dining experiences. It’s a delicate balance, but one that we navigate with care to ensure that each Le Pristine offers something familiar yet new.”

He clarifies that he’s not trying to recreate local dishes. Instead, he and his team take inspiration and try to incorporate these flavours and ingredients into new dishes. “The opportunity to work with diverse cultures and ingredients are what drive me. Each new location offers a fresh challenge and a chance to innovate. The goal of sharing our vision of dining with the world remains my primary motivation.”

His vision, we feel, will certainly resonate with today’s customers, who are shying away from overly fussy, over-complicated and drawn-out tasting menu formats. Herman, a veteran of over thirty years in the kitchen, knows that this new format will bring customers back more regularly. He has no interest today in running a restaurant that people only visit once, to tick a box, or only annually, to celebrate a special occasion.

Herman also tells us that while he respects the various awards and surveys that many chefs obsess over, “my goal today is to create restaurants that people love for their quality, atmosphere, and the overall experience. Recognition from Michelin or any other esteemed institution is always appreciated, but the satisfaction of our guests is paramount.”

Each Le Pristine restaurant, while unique to its location, will share common design elements that create a recognisable brand identity. A huge art and design buff, Herman is quick to point out the melted disco balls (a work titled Quelle Fête by Dutch art collective Rotganzen) and the specially designed reception desks by Maarten Baas and Bertjan Pot that provide a thread of continuity across his three restaurants.

Another common thread will be the tableware used in the restaurants. Herman is a long-time collaborator with Belgian design company Serax. With them, he has launched two beautiful lines of tableware, Surface and Inku, the latter of which was designed for the launch of Le Pristine Antwerp.

When we talk about his collaboration with Serax, Herman perks up and gushes, “I love that the plates are not just used by my restaurants but around the world. I was so proud when I saw a picture of David Beckham and Robert De Niro eating in Miami and the food they were eating was being served on my Inku designs. It is amazing that they are everywhere in the world and that makes me really proud.”

This enthusiasm, this sense of accomplishment and wonder, and the humble pride that comes through as we chat make us want to support Herman and his restaurants even more. His vision for Le Pristine, ultimately, is to create restaurants that promote the enjoyment of dining, without pretension, but with all the experience that only a master craftsman who has achieved the pinnacle of success in his industry can layer in smoothly, akin to the way he and his culinary team build complex and addictive sauces that, as Stalder says, are seemingly simple but super well-executed. Based on our experience at Le Pristine Tokyo, we are big fans of Herman’s vision for casual fine dining and can’t wait to visit Le Pristine Singapore when it opens.

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