Mirella Pandjaitan
May 07, 2025
Singaporean entrepreneur Christina Ong was starstruck throughout her globetrotting days in the fashion industry. She dwelled on this fascination to deliver phenomenal cuisine at her firstly launched hotel in London, The Halkin. That was 1993—two years afterwards, The Halkin’s restaurant by Stefano Cavallini received the first ever Michelin star for an Italian chef outside the country’s borders.
The COMO Hotels and Resorts brand has seen an impressive global expansion, now encompassing 18 properties across diverse locales—from the vineyards of Burgundy to the spiritual landscapes of Bhutan. Parallel to this growth has been the evolution of a remarkable culinary network. Ong has cultivated relationships with an array of distinguished chefs, each contributing to the COMO ethos of refined yet soulful cuisine—ranging from the elegance of haute French gastronomy to the rustic charm of the Tuscan osteria.
Over the past decade, this culinary vision has been further shaped through eight Singapore-based collaborations with world-renowned chefs, including Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Massimo Bottura, Osaka-born tempura maestro Masaru Seki, and Malcolm Lee, the acclaimed interpreter of Michelin-starred Peranakan and Straits cuisine.
These enduring partnerships have culminated in Ong’s personal culinary philosophy, now eloquently captured in the newly released cookbook, COMO Simple. The volume opens with a foreword by Ong and features her favourite recipes simplified for home cooks by COMO’s VP of Culinary, Daniel Moran, and Culinary Director, Amanda Gale, both of whom trained under Neil Perry at Sydney’s Rockpool in Sydney.
“My passion for cooking runs as deep as the happy memories I have of my grandmother in the family kitchen in Singapore. She taught me how fresh, hand-picked ingredients mean everything in the search for flavour,” conveyed Ong.
“She also revealed how technique builds with commitment, experience, and inspiring relationships. She showed me how food brings you into a community of passionate people — an exchange of ideas, discoveries, and tastes. And how the joy of cooking takes on another life when the dishes we make are shared with friends and family.”
The delicious confluence of influences, flavours, and family-friendly classics acknowledges places, traditions, and culinary masterminds. These selections are also available on COMO Hotels and Resorts’ menus. The repertoire features salads, soups, meats and fish dishes, sharing platters and kids’ favourites.
Highlights include South Indian curries honed at COMO’s Maldivian outposts, hand-crafted Tuscan pastas, Balinese-style nasi goreng, the signature COMO burger, and a luxurious lobster biryani. Among the standouts is Chef Malcolm Lee’s delicate crab and pork ball soup—light, aromatic, and brimming with delicate flavours. Elevated interpretations of Bangkok street food and revives forgotten recipes from Thailand’s royal kitchens are also included.
It’s a mix which reflects a traveller’s curiosity in the world, its beautiful diversity, and the abundance of nature.
COMO Group partnered with MODENA Culinaria, a culinary platform by MODENA Group, designed especially for gastronomy enthusiasts, to launch COMO Simple in Indonesia. Through MODENA Culinaria, food lovers are invited to explore a myriad of exciting experiences, from cooking classes with experts to personalised dining experiences with some of the industry’s finest chefs.
MODENA’s talented chefs were joined by COMO’s VP of Culinary, Daniel Moran, and Michelin-Star Chef Giovanni Luca Di Pirro from La Torre at COMO Castello Del Nero to create a selection of standout dishes from the new cookbook.
“It’s recipes that make you feel warm on the inside,” said Moran, who oversees food and dining across the Group. “I mean that in the metaphorical sense, not just the physical. Like when you’re in the company of the people you love, in a place you care about. COMO Simple is meant to conjure those memories, those feelings of ease, contentment, and relaxing get-togethers.”
COMO Simple is available to purchase at COMO Uma Canggu, COMO Uma Ubud or COMO Shambhala Estate. Visit www.comohotels.com for more details on COMO Hotels and Resorts.