Celebrity Chef Nancy Silverton Shares Her Style Secrets

In this exclusive interview, Nancy Silverton talks about developing her personal style, why she doesn’t dress like a typical chef and what diners can expect from Mozza’s new tasting menu.

By Renee Batchelor - published 21 Mar 2025

Celebrity chef Nancy Silverton may be best known as the queen of sourdough and for her legendary La Brea Bakery, popularising artisanal breads in the US. You might also recognise her from her appearance on Chef’s Table. But beyond the culinary delights that she has introduced to the gastronomic world, Silverton is also widely recognised for her quirky signature style. A lover of brands like Marni, Issey Miyake and Comme des Garçons, and a champion at accessorising, this is one chef who is never seen in boring chef’s whites.

We met Silverton at her restaurant Osteria Mozza in the Hilton Singapore Orchard to experience her new Signature Tasting Menu, which combines traditional Italian cuisine with a Californian twist. The five-course dinner features dishes like Smoked Burrata & Peas, Chargrilled Porcini-Rubbed Short Ribs served with scallion salad and salsa verde, and Torta della Nonna, a tart recipe that was passed down from Silverton’s grandmother. Everything that Mozza does, it does well, from its freshly made pasta to its bright and scrumptious pesto sauces.

In our interview, Silverton also took the opportunity to show us how she prepares her restaurant’s Mozza Caprese—a dish so famous, it appears on the cover of her cookbook—while sharing the personal styling tips and lessons she has learned through the years.

How did you develop your personal style?

I think one develops their personal style gradually. It’s not something that happens overnight. Personal style really reflects who you are. So when you get up in the morning, what you put on says who you are, rather than who you would like to be, or who you wish you could be. When you dress that way [the latter], it’s more like you’re in a costume, rather than in something that’s very natural. So as far as my style, it was very gradual, putting on things that felt right, materials that spoke to me; styles that were not only the way I like to dress, but the way I like to cook.

What’s a styling tip you’ve carried with you through the years?

Make sure that you feel comfortable in what you’re wearing. I know sometimes when I put on the wrong mix, I go out, and within minutes, I don’t feel right, and I return to my house and I work it out so that I feel comfortable throughout the day.

And not only is it what I’m wearing, but what my plans for the day are, and how that outfit will work. So for instance, if I know that I’m going to be jumping on a plane, and as soon as I get off the plane, I need to go to an appointment, I don’t want to wear something that wrinkles really easily, because I know that when I get off the plane, I’m going to feel like a mess.

Why do you dress up when you cook?

I’m very lucky in the sense that I wear “street clothes” when I cook. The reason is that when I opened Mozza 18 years ago, the job that I gave myself in the kitchen was working at the mozzarella bar. So I didn’t have any heat and grease... I didn’t have food flying. And I realised I could wear whatever I wanted. So I started wearing street clothes with an apron on top, and I felt so much better. And I felt like my food actually tastes better when I was able to wear the clothes that make me feel so good and are so much more like me. When I started wearing my street clothes with an apron on top, it kind of became a signature, and people expected me to be wearing a nice outfit underneath my apron. And once I started that, I couldn’t turn back.

Where do you shop while in Singapore?

So there are actually two key places when I come to Singapore. I love to go to Takashimaya, to the counter that sells all the beautiful hair barrettes. They always have something new to add to my collection. The other place I love is MUJI, because I love to stock up on all the bottles and the containers that I can’t get in the States or in Los Angeles.

What do you have to eat when you’re in Singapore?

The first time that I came to Singapore, which was many years ago, all I ever heard people talk about was either the black pepper crab or chilli crab. And so when I think of Singapore, I still think of those giant seafood houses where you can’t believe they’re feeding so many people at such large tables, and everyone is eating together and having a great time, and everybody’s very messy.

Nancy Silverton’s Signature Tasting Menu
Photo: Courtesy of Hilton Singapore Orchard

I think a tasting menu needs to speak of what the restaurant is about. With Mozza, it’s all about food that is recognisable, accessible and flavorful and not really pushing the envelope. The dishes that are going on that menu are, first of all, favourites; but the customers also want to see a few things that are new. So that menu will change quite often, and we’ll be able to put in some new dishes, but all under that same kind of feeling and flavour profile that is signature to Mozza.

The Signature Tasting Menu is $138++ and is available at dinner service at Osteria Mozza, Level 5, Hilton Singapore Orchard.