What do Singapore chefs' dogs eat? Organic quinoa, homemade ice cream and three-layer cakes, that's what

Recently, I met a culinary operations director who told me his dog enjoyed a top-quality raw diet rich in protein, nutrients and fibre. Meanwhile, his children ate processed chicken nuggets.

It’s increasingly common to hear the phrase, “My dog eats better than I do”. “Pawrents” are insistent on giving their “furkids” nothing but the best. You have only to look at the increasing rise of pet-friendly dining venues, staycations and malls to confirm that people are spending more time, money and effort on their pets than ever before.

Naturally, I looked at my sad grab-and-go sandwich and wondered: What about dogs whose humans are chefs? Wouldn’t they eat like proverbial kings? Here’s a glimpse into the lifestyles of Singapore chefs’ pampered pooches.

NADINE TAY, HEAD CHEF AT HABIBI-SAN AND LI'L HABIBI

Nadine Tay’s five-year-old Singapore Special, Jonas, was underweight for the first three years of his life as food wasn’t all that interesting compared to long walks and digging up gardens. After a lot of experimentation, she figured out a menu he wouldn’t turn his nose up at: Cooked minced beef or chicken with sweet potatoes for lunch, and salmon with rice for dinner.

At the same time, he’s also developed a gourmand’s palate. "He loves beef the most and knows when it’s of good quality. He will not eat cheap beef and would rather starve. If it’s wagyu, he gobbles it up in an instant.”

In an effort to find creative ways to change up Jonas’ meals so he would eat more, one of her first creations was a bowl of “ramen” in 2023. To make the noodles, she blended chicken with egg, then piped the mixture into boiling water in long strips.

“I often get told Jonas is lucky to have a chef as an owner as he gets fed good food and his birthday cakes are always homemade,” she observed.

“My favourite cake I’ve made for him is his fourth birthday cake that was made in the shape of fried chicken drumsticks with a side of purple sweet potato fries.”

Tay, who used to bake for friends and family and learned how to pipe, assemble and decorate cakes, now puts her effort into creating special-occasion cakes for Jonas.

“For Chinese New Year, I made him a meat-based “pineapple” tart. And, I made him a meat-based mooncake treat during the Mid-Autumn festival,” she recalled.

The cakes are made by steaming meat like chicken breast or lean minced beef, then blending it up with steamed vegetables like purple sweet potato or pumpkin and combining it with an egg to form a dough. Ground oats can also be added to firm up runny dough, she shared.

The most elaborate of her creations was a rainbow meat-based cake with three layers of different colours for Jonas’ third birthday that took two and a half hours to make.

“Each layer consisted of three different vegetables mixed with meat: pumpkin, purple sweet potato and broccoli. The frosting for the cake was made out of steamed Chinese yam blended to a smooth consistency. I boiled blue pea flowers to extract their natural blue dye and mixed it with a small portion of the blended Chinese yam for piping blue rosettes as decorations, and to write his name on the cake.”

It’s all worth it when Jonas cleans his bowl, she said. “It makes the time and effort I put into making his treats very worthwhile. Sometimes, I make these treats for his doggo friends too, and their owners update me that their dogs love it, which makes me very happy, too.

“Jonas licking his bowl clean and tapping me aggressively with his paw for seconds is the best review ever. The worst review would be him acting like I am trying to poison him when I add any leafy greens to his meals. But, dude has zero issues eating grass like it’s a free salad buffet.”

MICHAEL WILSON, CHEF-OWNER OF MARGUERITE

Utter the word “cheese” in the Wilson household and you’ll have two highly energetic dogs on your hands (relatable). Michael Wilson of Michelin-starred Marguerite is dad to nine-year-old Golden Retriever Milo and three-year-old miniature Dachshund Maggie.

Milo, in particular, seems to know his fine dining. He “loves a bit of peanut butter toast, especially on the Marguerite sourdough. If he sees me take the bread out of my bag when I get home, he gets very enthusiastic.”

Both dogs get home-cooked meals of kangaroo and vegetables, a diet arrived at after a long process of trial and error.

“We avoid meat and fish reared using antibiotics and use lean meat instead, as it has less calories. This way, they can have a larger portion as well,” Wilson said.

To cook the kangaroo meat, “we simply chop it up and pressure cook it all together with some turmeric, carrots, green beans, pumpkin and bell peppers. It’s a very efficient way to make it, and it lasts about four days in the fridge.

“Ever since their diet has been primarily kangaroo, their weight has been far easier to control and allows them to indulge in some nice treats and snacks.” These include yoghurt and fruit such as watermelon, apples and blueberries, and, of course, cheese.

For special occasions, “I like to give them a grilled steak. My wife also makes them ice cream from yogurt and berries, with no sugars added.”

Neither dog is a picky eater, but “Maggie has a stronger food drive than Milo. She will stare at you till you share what you have, whether it’s an apple or cucumber. After her meal, she’ll also walk over to Milo’s bowl to make sure its licked clean.”

Still, they can easily tell the difference between food cooked on the same day and food that has been in the fridge for a day or two. When served a just-cooked meal, “Milo will come to me after and do a little burp to say thank you.”

ALYSIA CHAN, EXECUTIVE CHEF AT THIRD FLOOR SOCIAL

Alysia Chan’s nine-year-old silver toy poodle, Smudge, a rescued ex-breeding dog, benefits from her human’s exacting standards when it comes to ingredients. “She eats the same quality of food that I do, like hormone-free, antibiotic-free chicken; organic quinoa, and so on,” Chan said.

Although Smudge isn’t particularly fastidious about food, the worst review she’s given is to walk away after one sniff of the food. “More heartbreaking than any bad media review I have ever received,” Chan quipped.

Smudge’s meals consist of a protein that changes on a weekly basis – minced pork, beef and chicken, of which she likes chicken best – and offal, usually chicken liver. There’s also diced carrot or pumpkin, quinoa and spinach in her bowl, mixed with some kibble, powdered probiotics and multivitamins.

Smudge also gets homemade biscuits on a regular basis. To make the treats, Chan blends one part pureed liver to three parts grain-free flour. The mixture is rolled out and cut into shapes, which are baked at 150°C for 30 minutes, then flipped and baked for another 20 minutes. “I haven’t met a dog who doesn’t adore these.”

Smudge, of course, goes to town on them. “She may look like a lady but she does not eat like one. She eats like it's going out of style.”

DREW NOCENTE, CHEF AND FOUNDER OF CENZO AND IL TORO

At his Italian-Australian restaurant Cenzo and woodfire grill restaurant Il Toro, chef Drew Nocente satisfies diners with his hearty cooking. But, at home, it’s his four-year-old Cavadoodle, Enzo, he has to please.

“When he was younger, we tried home-cooking for him and, without realising it, we probably turned him into a fussy eater,” he recalled. “Every time he rejected a meal, we'd worry he was hungry and end up offering something different. As pawrents, it's hard not to!”

Over time, Enzo developed stomach sensitivities, and after speaking with the vet and doing their own research, they decided to switch to packaged, cooked food from a local brand. Kangaroo and venison meats have worked well for Enzo. “Since then, we've kept his diet consistent and his tummy has been much happier.

“One thing we like about his current food is that we can actually recognise the ingredients in it, rather than seeing a list of things we don't understand. Most importantly, he's doing well on it. He enjoys his meals, hasn't had any digestive issues, and his overall health has been great, which is probably the best indicator for us.”

In addition to his regular meals, Enzo insists on a late-night snack every evening. At 10pm, “He’ll start hovering around the kitchen and giving us ‘the look’ until someone gets the hint. We usually give him one of our homemade biscuits before bed. It's become part of his nightly routine, and he takes it very seriously.”

To make the biscuits, Nocente combines egg yolks with full cream milk powder, extra virgin coconut oil or home-ground peanut butter, chia seeds and whole wheat flour. “We mix everything into a dough, roll it out, cut it into bone-shaped biscuits, and bake until crisp. They're Enzo-approved and have become his favourite bedtime snack.”

You know he likes what he’s eating “when he immediately wants more and suddenly becomes willing to perform every trick he knows. Sit, stay, paw, chin, spin — he'll do his entire repertoire without being asked twice.

“His worst review is much more dramatic. He'll sniff the food, slowly back away from the bowl like Michael Jackson doing the moonwalk, then give us a look that says, ‘Are you kidding me?’ It's an incredibly judgemental expression, and unfortunately, we know exactly what it means.”

PRISTINA MOK, CHEF AT FRAGMENT DINING

Ten-year-old toy poodle Pebble is a guest greeter at private dining outfit Fragment Dining, which her human, Pristina Mok, operates out of her home in Clementi.

“Pebble is a super picky eater. It took a lot to experimenting to figure out what she liked and what was good for her health,” said Mok, who honed her craft at three-Michelin-starred restaurants Odette and Zen. “When she was younger, we used to feed her kibble and cooked minced pork with broth and vegetables. But, she was never really excited to eat.”

Mok tried giving Pebble home-cooked beef and pork with carrots and broccoli, as well as packaged, cooked meals from a local brand. Her birthday cakes included homemade creations of minced beef, sweet potato and carrots.

But, Pebbles remained a difficult customer. “She would pick out things she didn’t like from her bowl and put them on the ground, like duck heart, liver and carrots. To combat that, I minced everything up so she couldn’t pick them out!”

As Pebble started ageing, “I decided to change her diet to a raw meat diet after doing some research”, Mok said. She orders the raw meals from a local pet food brand, “making sure I get the dog meals from a reputable company as when you’re feeding them a raw diet, it could lead to health issues if the ingredients are not sourced and processed properly.”

As for the choice of protein, “I switch between raw kangaroo, duck, pork, beef and turkey so that she can have a good variety of vitamins and nutrition. On top of that, I add blueberries, pumpkin, broccoli and carrots.” Additionally, Pebble also gets salmon oil, multivitamins and supplements for joint health.

And, occasionally, “if I am cooking steak, salmon or duck for myself, I set aside a small treat for her.”

Source: CNA/my