Alicia Thian, executive director of wealth management with a global private bank, loves to eat, and she credits her father for her passionate affair with food.

“My dad threw regular garden parties that even Jay Gatsby would be jealous of,” says Alicia. “He used to engage Shangri-la Hotel to plan the themes, décor and food. There were canopied dining tables, tents overflowing with feast, open bar and live entertainment in the garden. I remembered one year we had giant ice sculptures too! My dad’s friends were mostly Northern Europeans, and I was exposed to German, Swiss and French cuisine at a very young age.”