Family, foraging, and rural France - how Julien Royer's idyllic childhood influenced his incredible cooking at Odette

Although he’s now feted as the chef-owner of the enormously successful Odette, his three-Michelin-starred restaurant at the National Gallery in Singapore, by his own admission Julien Reyer really didn’t have the easiest of starts in life.

"We didn't have much growing up - not the latest sneakers nor the coolest school bags – but we had land," he reflects.

And what land it was. The rolling hills and lush woods of Cantal, in the Rhône-Alpes of France, was his garden, and Julien and his sister, Emilie, spent most of their childhood making the most of the seasons in the surrounding countryside.

"Just as they did our meals, the seasons prescribed our activities," the chef remembers. 

"Our summers were spent swimming in the nearby river and diving off the rocks along its banks. In our parents’ barn, we rigged a short zipline and took turns whizzing across it before landing on thick bales of hay."

It was the Autumn however, that fired up an interest in the young boy and which was to kickstart his stellar career in gastronomy.

Julien Royer and family. Photography: Edmond Ho and Jovian Lim

Our new book with Royer, Odette: Terroir to Table, Heart to Plate is an intimate, elegant tribute to the people, places, and philosophies that shaped that career. At Odette – one of Asia’s most lauded restaurants – Royer balances French technique with Southeast Asian terroir to create a cuisine defined by grace, clarity, and emotional resonance. 

The book opens with a series of deeply personal essays exploring the chef's upbringing in rural France, the culinary influences that shaped him, and the values that guide his restaurant – from hospitality and mentorship to design and storytelling. It also features forewords by Daniel Boulud and Dominique Crenn.

The second section of the book features 80 recipes, arranged to reflect the rhythm of a meal at Odette – from playful starters to vegetables, fish and seafood, meat and poultry, and desserts.

Iconic dishes such as Mushroom Tea with Sabayon, Rosemary-Smoked Organic Egg, Pigeon, Beetroot, Cherry, and Marukyo Uni appear here, accompanied by stunning images and essays sharing the inspiration behind each plate. In his introduction, Royer recalls the roots of one of those recipes.

Mushroom Tea, Cep Sabayan Brioche 'Feuilletée' - Photography: Edmond Ho and Jovian Lim

"Autumn was for mushroom hunting. We combed the land with our cousins Jean-François and Philippe, competing to see who could pick the most mushrooms. It takes a sharp eye to spot the morels, girolles and ceps that blend in remarkably well with the brown forest floor." 

"We picked more than we could ever eat, returning home day after day with our baskets filled to the brim. My mother would cook and freeze the mushrooms to make them last or string them up to dry above the stove, ready to be plopped into whatever stock or consommé she was cooking. This cherished memory inspired the Mushroom Tea we serve at Odette today. We shared our harvest with our families and neighbours, and our homes smelled like mushrooms all autumn long."

Julian Royer and his mother - photography: Edmond Ho and Jovian Lim

"When mushroom season ended with the first winter frost, Emilie and I would dust off our sleds and wait for the snow to fall. Luging down the slope behind the house was our favourite winter sport. You could hear us from miles away, tearing down the hill with our friends, howling with glee. Born two years apart, Emilie and I shared practically everything. We may live on different continents today, but Emilie is still my best friend. We talk often and vacation together in the summer with our families. Throughout our childhood, we developed our own code, a language only we understand. Even today, when we’re out together, we can converse without words – a raised brow or a tilted head is all it takes to know what the other is thinking. 

Ibérico Pork ‘Grenobloise’, Cévennes Onions, Fuji Apple. Photography: Edmond Ho and Jovian Lim

"My parents shared the labour of caring for us with the clearly marked roles of traditional French country life. Maman, Claudine, was our beacon of home, while our papa, Jean-Marc, was our connection to everything beyond our front door. He was our driver and personal shopper, ferrying us to school and football (soccer) practice in between his job as a farm consultant. A measured man, Papa never wasted his words, especially on things or people he deemed unimportant. His analytical mind meant he could see right through me, especially if I tried to pull the wool over his eyes."

Crab, Peas, Horseradish. Photography: Edmond Ho and Jovian Lim

Papa showed his love in our long countryside walks, just the two of us talking about everything and nothing at all. He demonstrated it in our winter father-son ski trips, when he would drive us to Le Falgoux in the early morning, where we would eat our picnic upon arrival, shivering a little as the cold seeped into the car, before getting out to ski till sundown. When I got a good report card, he would give me a high-five or a hug. We know he loves us because he’s always there when we need him."

Turbot, Marchand de Vin, Bone Marrow. Photography: Edmond Ho and Jovian Lim

"Like her mother, Odette, my mother is a formidable cook. But Maman’s cooking goes well beyond rustic country fare, both in attention to detail and imagination. I often watched while she finessed recipes using her instincts, coaxing flavour into dishes without adding fat and refining them with an unexpected twist. Without knowing it, I learnt, as if by osmosis, how to deglaze a roast with water instead of stock and how to roll pâte sablée thinly to impart a light elegance to homestyle desserts."

Pithiviers Grande Cuisine. Photography: Edmond Ho and Jovian Lim

"In this way, she exposed me to nouvelle cuisine long before I’d heard of the Troisgros family or Michel Guérard. My mother’s sense of self was ignited by knowledge and entrepreneurship. She was a quick study who taught herself, through reading, numerous skills (including beekeeping and cheese-making) which supplemented our family income from time to time. In my and Emilie’s teenage years, she turned our grange into a chambre d’hôtes, a charming bed and breakfast that became popular with tourists for the farm-fresh meals she served. City folk were always dazzled by the taste of ingredients picked from the damp earth of our farm just moments before they’d been put on plates."

And now diners come from near and afar to sample Julian Royer's three star cooking at Odette. If you can't make it to Singapore take a closer look at Odette: Terroir to Table, Heart to Plate and perhaps create your own taste of rural France.

Julien Royer. Courtesy Odette