Little Miss Honey

A Lifestyle Blog about living an inspired life through travel, food discoveries and books

EXPAT DIARIES: HEATHER, CEO OF FINE PALATE

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“(Wikipedia) ‘An Expatriate (often shortened to Expat) is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country other than that of their citizenship. The word comes from the Latin terms ex (“out of”) and patria (“country, fatherland”).

This blog aims to discover people who are adventurers like me, venturing out in a new place to call home and creating memories. I have previously lived with my parents and siblings in the Saudi Arabia when I was in high school. I have enjoyed and cherished my memories in the beautiful Sandbox I once called my home. Now, I am in a new adventure with my husband and sons here in Singapore.

I am featuring Expats in different countries every two weeks to share their experiences and adventures with you and me.

I met this featured expat in one of the Blog Meet Sg. Heather was the one who catered for the event. She is a delightful character with winning smile. Get to know her and her business, Fine Palate.

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1.Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and where you are originally from?

I am from Melbourne and my family background is Armenian

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Source: Fine Palate

2. What made you move to Singapore? How long have you been here?

I have lived in Singapore for 27years, we came for a two year assignment (my husband and one year old son) with Citibank where my husband was in Global Treasury Department.

3. What do you miss about your home country?

Great outdoors mainly beaches and natural way of life.

4.What are the wonderful discoveries and things you like about in Singapore?

Proximity to other regions and convenience of getting around on a tiny island.

5. What are the 3 tips you can give to fellow expats in Singapore or those you planning to move here?

Make the most of it and get a good network of like-minded friends to ease into life here, in fact it is easier to make friends in Singapore then moving within states as everyone needs to recreate what they left behind, and travel as often as possible to avoid Island fever.

6. The LITTLE MISS HONEY community gets inspired through travel, food and books. Can you tell us your current FAVORITE TRAVEL SPOT, current FAVORITE FOOD/RESTAURANT DISCOVERIES & current FAVORITE BOOK?

My favorite travel spot is Berlin and will always remain so as it is a complete contrast to my work life in Singapore.

My favorite restaurants are Neon Pigeon, Fat Prince, Dingdong.

7. Where do you get your inspirations? Who or what inspires you?

I am a very practical cook and always focus on quality ingredients and apply healthier components into the dish without compromising on taste, i.e., sweet potato as a filler to home made sausages, no palm oil, no packaged sauces, absolutely no life extenders or chemicals of any sort. I am a purist and don’t get over exited about trends or fads

8. Can tell us about your Fine Palate? How did it come about?

Out of pure necessity back in 1990 there were very few options in Singapore for home catering either super low quality local food or 5 star hotels neither suited my style, so started doing my own food, styling and décor for each event, for my husbands work or social occasions for myself and friends, as I realized this is something that really tapped into my creativity, love of cooking and making guests happy, I guess the main thing is I am a ‘compliment junkie’ and love seeing people well taken care of.

 

Fine Palate

8. Can you share with us some of favorite dishes in your catering business?

Too many to mention I love making my gourmet buffet’s where I use mostly seasonal vegetables, fish and meat and serve it at ambient temperature, meaning: cooked very close to event timing and served on platters, I don’t like using chafing dishes, which is so common in Singapore, as it does make it very easy for caterers to cook and send food out hours before the event and be done with it, which does not result in a tasty or hot meal by the time the guests eat it.

Food whoever makes it must be looked in the right way until the last bite is consumed.

 

9. Give us tips some entertaining tips for home parties.

This will be in a book I have been working on ‘watch this space’ 😉

However here is the most important;

The best tip I can give is to entertain with generosity, make your guests

Feel they are welcome and important and spend as much time as possible with them, once they arrive stop fretting over details and just focus they will forget all else expect how they felt at the party and how much fun they had.

 

10.Lastly, can you share with what is your inspirational mantra in life?

I choose quality over quantity in every aspect of my life.

 

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Thank you Heather for gracing us with an interview. I love your entertaining tips and can’t wait to try more of the wonderful gourmet dishes of Fine Palate.

For those interested in catering services from Fine Palate, visit the Fine Palate website.

If you are an expat or know any expats who are interested to be featured, drop me a line at littlemisshoneyblog@gmail.com.”

 

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