- Michelle Garnaut
-
Michelle Garnaut Cooking style European cuisine, Middle Eastern cuisine, North African cuisine Education Monash University, William Angliss Institute of TAFE Michelle Garnaut is an Australian restaurateur, chef, and philanthropist most well known for her series of upscale restaurants in China such as M at the Fringe, M on the Bund, Capital M, and The Glamour Bar. Garnaut also is a founder of the Shanghai International Literary Festival.[1]
Contents
Career
After graduating from Monash University, Garnaut traveled around the world spending time in Greece, England, and the United States of America. She then returned to Australia to study catering at the William Angliss Institute of TAFE.[2] After that, she went to London and began working at the Leiths School of Food and Wine as one of the head chefs on the Orient Express.[2] She then arrived in Hong Kong in 1984.[2] Though she only intended to stay in Hong Kong temporarily, she soon began cooking at Post 97 in Hong Kong's Lan Kwai Fong, and also launched her own catering business after that.[3]
M at the Fringe
Garnaut originally wanted to open a restaurant in Hong Kong with her former co-worker and another Australian at the Restaurant 97 Group, Greg Malouf. However, Malouf soon fell ill and had to return to Australia.[4] During her time working with the Restaurant 97 Group, Garnaut accumulated many business contacts with local celebrities and bankers who helped her invest in a new restaurant.[5] In 1989, Garnaut went on to open her first restaurant in The Hong Kong Fringe Club's building and named it M at the Fringe. Garnaut was inspired to open M at the Fringe because she felt there were not enough genuine international restaurants in Hong Kong and believed this was a niche market.[3] In an interview with Time Magazine, Garnaut remarked, "When I first arrived in Asia, I was in Hong Kong and got into a lift to go up to a restaurant on the seventh floor, where we were greeted by 20 Chinese guys saying 'Ciao' and singing 'O Sole Mio.' I thought, 'This is crazy.' A restaurant has to have some soul. The whole make-believe world has to have some basis in reality." [5] M at the Fringe was successful in attracting a loyal and famous clientele including guests like Pierce Brosnan and Kate Moss. At the time, Hong Kong dining was mostly based on Cantonese cuisine, but M at the Fringe was considered a pioneer in European fine dining.[6] Twenty years later, the building was forced to undergo extensive renovations to meet government standards so Garnaut had to relocate M at the Fringe to a different location. Currently, M at the Fringe is still looking for an appropriate location.[6]
M on the Bund
Garnaut expanded her M Restaurant Group company to the city of Shanghai by opening M on the Bund in 1999.[7] Inspired by her stint as a guest chef making western food at the famous Peace Hotel near the Bund, Garnaut decided to establish a restaurant overlooking the Huangpu River and Pudong.[8] Garnaut opened M on the Bund during a time when the Bund was not nearly the attraction it is today to the Chinese or tourists though. Because the Bund was void of the numerous restaurants, luxury stores, cafes, and bars of the present day, Garnaut's choice of location for her Shanghai restaurant was surprising. As Garnaut said in a 2004 interview with The Wall Street Journal, "People said I was crazy. The Bund was dark and dingy. This was a real risk." [9] Though critics predicted the failure of the venture, many bars, clubs, and restaurants also found homes on the Bund and Garnaut's decision to establish her restaurant on the Bund paid off.[5] Like M at the Fringe, M on the Bund found popularity with the social elite including celebrities like Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe, supermodel Tyra Banks, the Ferragamo family, the United Kingdom's Prince Edward, media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, the queen of Thailand and prince of Holland.[10] M on the Bund also found success with a variety of year-end awards from the Miele Guide, Zagat, and Conde Nast.[11]
The Glamour Bar
In 2006, Garnaut established The Glamour Bar on the floor above M on the Bund in the Nissin Shipping Center. The bar serves as a lounge as well as a venue for literary events that the M Restaurant Group hosts.[12]
Capital M
Capital M, established in 2009 in Beijing, is Garnaut's newest addition to the M Restaurant Group.[13] Located in Qianmen, an area designed to look like a pre-Communist era square, Capital M overlooks the north end of Tiananmen. Garnaut spent more than seven years negotiating with officials and bidding on the Qianmen location. Garnaut pushed to have the restaurant open before the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but the construction of Qianmen was delayed, pushing the restaurant opening back. Even after opening, Capital M faced another challenge as it was forced to shut down for one week during the celebration for the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China.[5] Garnaut said in an interview with The Australian, "You have to roll with the punches in China. If you lose your temper, they just don’t care. That’s how it is." After overcoming the obstacles, Capital M, like its predecessors, went on to win year-end awards including multiple wins in The Beijinger's Reader Restaurant Awards in 2011.[14]
Shanghai International Literary Festival
In 2002, Garnaut founded the Shanghai International Literary Festival. The 2-3 week-long festival takes place at her M Restaurant Group locations M on the Bund and the Glamour Bar. The festival has continued to draw well-known authors including Gore Vidal, Amy Tan, and Thomas Keneally.[15]
Philanthropy
Garnaut served as the director of Care for Children's Hong Kong branch which provides family care to orphans and children with disabilities.[15] Garnaut has also led Hong Kong's International Coastal Clean-up since 2004. She is also active in the Heep Hong Society, Greenpeace Hong Kong, Amnesty International and the Jane Goodall Foundation, among others.[15] Currently, she is involved in the Village People Project which creates community bathhouses to improve the welfare of rural Chinese women.[16]
Awards and Achievements
Garnaut won the Entrepreneur of the Year award at the 2003 International Woman of Influence Awards and the Business Entrepreneurial Award from the ANZ Australian Business Awards.[15]
References
- ^ [1] BloombergLink.com: Michelle Garnaut
- ^ a b c [2] The Age: Michelle Garnaut interview
- ^ a b [3] HK: Michelle Garnaut
- ^ [4] Mietta's: Greg Malouf
- ^ a b c d [5] TIME: "The M in Stamina"
- ^ a b [6] Luxury Insider:"Hong Kong's M at the Fringe Bids Farewell to The Fringe"
- ^ [7] Shanghai Eats: M on the Bund
- ^ [8] The Australian: Chinese Cracker
- ^ [9] Ron Gluckman interview with Michelle Garnaut
- ^ [10] CNNGo.com: Where the Celebrities Eat in Shanghai
- ^ [11] Your Ultimate Guide to Beijing: M on the Bund
- ^ [12] Shanghailander: Glamour Bar
- ^ [13] CNNGo.com: Capital M opens in China's (northern) capital
- ^ [14] The Beijinger: 8th Annual Reader Restaurant Awards
- ^ a b c d [15] Cartier Women's Initiative Awards: Michelle Garnaut
- ^ [16] TEDxBeijing, Theme: Double Lives
Categories:- Australian chefs
- Australian restaurateurs
- Living people
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
