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[SINGAPORE] The attrition of Michelin-starred restaurants in Singapore continues, with two Japanese sushi bars and one modern European restaurant closing down for reasons ranging from lease expiry to chef movements.

Shinji by Kanesaka at Carlton Hotel and Oshino in the Raffles Hotel Shopping Arcade have closed, and will reopen under different names and chefs in the middle of April. Each of them held one Michelin star, along with Restaurant Poise, which announced its immediate closure in an Instagram post on Mar 18.

According to Joni Ong, managing director of Shinji by Kanesaka, Oshino’s head chef Koichiro Oshino had served notice and left the restaurant on Feb 25 when its lease expired. He had already been in Singapore for 15 years, first arriving as the head sushi chef at Shinji by Kanesaka when it opened in Raffles Hotel in 2010. 

He left the Kanesaka group to partner with Ong to open Oshino in 2020, earning his first Michelin star in 2021. He has since relocated to Taipei, where he will run a new restaurant with different business partners. 

The space vacated by Oshino will be retained and renamed Ishizawa for Takahiro Ishizawa, the former head chef of Shinji by Kanesaka at the Carlton Hotel. Like Oshino, Ishizawa was a disciple of sushi master Shinji Kanesaka in Tokyo before he was dispatched to Singapore to work. Chefs trained by Kanesaka are obliged to work for him for at least 10 years before they can leave to start their own restaurants. 

Ishizawa had “earned his independence” from Kanesaka at the end of 2024, and gave notice to leave by end-March 2025, said Ong. “It was a no-brainer to partner him to open his own restaurant at Raffles Hotel, taking over the space vacated by Oshino.” The restaurant will open on Apr 19, and serve fine dining sushi priced from S$160 to S$330 for lunch, and from S$230 to S$550 for dinner. 

However, his departure meant that the sushi restaurant in Carlton Hotel would not be able to continue under the Shinji by Kanesaka brand if he were not replaced by a similar chef from the Tokyo mothership. Due to a lack of suitable sushi chefs in his stable, Kanesaka decided to consolidate his Singapore operations into his remaining outlet at the St Regis Singapore. However, this restaurant currently does not have a Michelin star, having lost it in 2023. 

Still, rather than close the Carlton Hotel restaurant and have to lay off a team of 12 loyal staff, Ong – who continues to be partners with Shinji Kanesaka for his Singapore operations – said she decided to rebrand the restaurant in order to keep them employed. Now called Keijo, it serves sushi at a more accessible price point, with lunch priced from S$98 to S$168, and dinner from S$198 to S$398. 

Helming the restaurant is a new sushi chef, Naoya Nakamura, who previously worked at Hide Yamamoto and most recently at Aoki. He will be supported by a team that was previously trained by both Ishizawa and Oshino, said Ong, adding that a steady stream of regular customers has helped to take the sting out of the challenges faced by the food and beverage industry, especially Japanese restaurants.

But while the two restaurants are being rebranded, Steve Lancaster, chef-owner of Restaurant Poise, said that high operating costs made it untenable to continue after the lease expired in mid-March. Unable to negotiate a lower rental with the landlord, “we decided to call it a day”, he said, adding: “We had a good run, and we achieved everything we set out to do.” The restaurant, which opened in 2022, first earned its star in 2023.

Lancaster said that his team has since gone on to other jobs. He will remain in Singapore for now as he explores other opportunities, although with “the operational, food and staff costs still going up, it becomes less appealing”. He is also looking outside Singapore, which he feels has more potential from the cost aspect. 

The closures of Shinji by Kanesaka, Oshino, Restaurant Poise and Sushi Kimura last year add up to four casualties out of the 38 one-starred eateries that are on the latest Michelin Guide list. Other one-star closures include Sommer, La Dame du Pic, Matera and Basque Kitchen by Aitor. The Singapore guide also includes three restaurants with three stars, and six restaurants with two stars.