Maryjoy Lim is 27, holds a diploma in Marine Engineering, and runs the dining room at Restaurant JAG, the one-MICHELIN-starred restaurant at Robertson Quay. This year she picked up the MICHELIN Guide Singapore 2026 Service Award, which makes her a name to know before anyone books a table there.
On 6 October 2026, the restaurant set out how it now runs under Maryjoy and Executive Chef Laurence Tan, two leaders who both rose through JAG’s own ranks. For anyone in Singapore who has side-eyed fine dining as stiff, hushed theatre, the interesting part is how much of that stiffness the pair have thrown out.
Engineering Diploma, Then an Espresso Machine
Her bio calls her entry into hospitality serendipitous, and that’s fair. After completing her diploma in Marine Engineering she had pictured a very different career, until an F&B (food and beverage) opportunity after the pandemic put her behind the counter as a barista at Hathaway.
According to the restaurant, that’s where she discovered the fulfilment of connecting with people and shaping how a guest’s visit feels. The same curiosity took her to Restaurant JAG, where she started on the floor as a Guest Service Captain, determined to master how great service works.
Anyone who has drifted away from what they studied will recognise the shape of this story, and it’s a comforting one. A diploma can be a starting line, and hers led somewhere nobody would’ve guessed!
A Year of Cheese, Every Day
What she did next deserves the applause. Maryjoy learnt service, food, and wine on the job, went on to become JAG’s sommelier, and then picked a side quest most people would only daydream about.
She spent a year tasting cheese daily while studying where each one came from and how it was made. Her bio says she memorised the Oxford dictionary of cheese along the way. She eventually took over JAG’s cheese programme alongside her sommelier work.
Her own rule for all that swotting is that knowledge only counts once it turns into an experience that feels natural to the guest. Nobody books a tasting menu hoping for a lecture, and she clearly knows it.
In 2025 she was promoted to General Manager, a job that covers operations, finances, private events, partnerships, and guest relations. She is responsible for growing the floor team too, including Restaurant Manager Yong Siang Neo and Assistant Manager Ang Kai Meng.
That is the work behind the Service Award, the one that goes to the person not cooking your food. The MICHELIN Guide presented it to her for her skill, attentiveness, and genuine sense of hospitality.
Personal Beats Perfect
JAG’s founder and owner Anant Tyagi describes the restaurant as being in the “business of accommodation”, and Maryjoy has built her service around that phrase. Preferences and dietary needs are noted from the moment a reservation is made, menus can be individually customised, and the pacing shifts to suit each table’s personality.
“The goal is never to make service feel perfect,” she says. “The goal is to make it feel personal.” Swap perfect for personal and fine dining starts sounding like somewhere you’d happily linger.
Her bio credits her with removing much of the rigidity historically associated with fine dining and encouraging more natural conversation at the table. The playlist mixes local and regional artists with timeless classics, which is a relief for anyone put off by the atas (Singlish for posh) hush of a white-tablecloth room. If even that sounds like too much ceremony, there are premium casual restaurants in Singapore to warm up on first.
She credits her leadership style to Anant, her career mentor, and one piece of his advice has stuck: “Be a flamingo, not an ostrich.” It means standing tall, staying aware of what’s around you, and facing a problem with composure instead of burying your head. That’s advice worth stealing for any job!
Vegetables Get the Lead Role
The kitchen half of the duo is Executive Chef Laurence Tan, 33, who joined in November 2020 as a Chef de Partie. He became Sous Chef in January 2022, held full culinary direction of the kitchen from October 2023 to September 2024, and has been Executive Chef since January 2025. JAG retained its One MICHELIN Star in the 2026 guide under him.
The restaurant opened in 2018 and has held a star since 2019, on the belief that vegetables deserve the reverence usually saved for luxury ingredients. Produce is picked at its seasonal peak, with the restaurant naming green peas in spring, tomatoes in summer, chestnuts in autumn, and root vegetables in winter. It’s served raw, cooked, or turned into elixirs and teas.
Vegetable-centric doesn’t mean meat-free here. The restaurant says produce is the centrepiece of every dish, complemented by proteins from suppliers that share its values on ethical cultivation and animal husbandry. Laurence’s cooking stays rooted in classical French technique, applied in a way he calls “minimally intrusive yet impactful”, and it draws increasingly on the flavours and ingredients of Southeast Asia.
“We do not cook merely to impress. We cook to move people,” he says. That’s a big ambition from a chef whose bio traces his start to experimenting with chicken nuggets and eggs as a child, and it’s all the more likeable for it.
The Goodie Bag Is Vegetables
The best detail in the announcement comes after the meal. Guests who live in Singapore leave with a selection of seasonal vegetables, plus a private QR code with simple suggestions for eating them raw or with minimal cooking. Travellers flying out get the restaurant’s seasonal scent in a hand sanitiser instead.
The restaurant says guests have since started telling the team how they prepared their haul at home, and each one is personally invited back for the following season. The hope is that diners experience JAG across all four. As loyalty schemes go, a bag of produce beats a stamp card!
Before You Book
Restaurant JAG sits within the STPI Creative Workshop and Gallery, a restored 19th-century warehouse where floor-to-ceiling windows look out over the Singapore River.
The restaurant says natural light fills the room during the day, which makes lunch the smarter first visit for anyone curious about tasting menus but wary of the ceremony. Check the current season’s menu and prices with the restaurant before committing, since the produce changes with the time of year.
📍 Location: STPI Creative Workshop and Gallery, 41 Robertson Quay, #02-02, Singapore 238236
🍽️ Lunch: Wednesday to Saturday, 12pm to 3pm (last reservation at 1pm)
🌙 Dinner: Tuesday to Saturday, 6pm to midnight (last reservation at 9pm)
🚪 Closed: Sundays and Mondays, except for private event bookings
👔 Dress code: Smart casual, with shorts and flip flops not recommended
👶 Note: Children aged 10 and above only
📞 Reservations: +65 6304 3047 or reservations@restaurantjag.com
A Marine Engineering diploma didn’t predict any of this, and that’s the best reason to go and see what Maryjoy Lim has built. Book through Restaurant JAG’s website, by phone, or by email, and follow @restaurantjagsg on Instagram and TikTok to catch each new season’s produce before it lands on the menu. Go hungry, go curious, and save room for the cheese!
Photos and Visuals courtesy of Restaurant JAG.
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