When a food editor friend from an esteemed magazine in New York asked if I can help feed his pal, Nathan Myhrvold in Makansutra style, when he touches down in Singapore, as usual and in a hearbeat, I complied. We happily owe each other favours. So, I wondered, who’s Nathan Myhrvold.

Next I get a gentle email from Nathan, detailing his schedule and his wishes to be taken on a feisty gastronomic ride, local style. Curiosity dictates that I google him and lo and behold, this guy is a premier league entrepreneur who, among others, has worked with Stephen Hawking on cosmology and quantum field theory. If that’s not impressive, how about “former CTO (chief technology officer of Microsoft), for 13 years” or “CEO of Intellectual Ventures, a patent portfolio developer and broker”, which has raised about fifteen billion dollars and ready to roll, with partners like Microsoft, Sony, Apple and Google on board. To me, that’s all cereal-box-nutrition-facts. What goaded me was that he is also an accomplished photographer (published in National Geographic Traveller, Time and Fortune) and accomplished French cuisine chef (he works part time in a French restaurant in Seattle, his hometown). He has also won top honours at the world barbeque championship in Memphis, Tennessee. But one of his definitive titles, not found on the internet and one which I can truly associate with, is- Chief Gastronomic Officer of Zagat food guides, which he partly owns (one of the publications that inspired Makansutra).

He showed up looking like an event cameraman with a huge lens waist pouch and a professional digital SLR. The revered New Yorker magazine calls him “ nerdy on an epic scale”and kaypoh netizens believe he is personally worth half a billion bucks. He was here on business but our street cuisine was foremost in his mind, humbly submitting “I’ll eat anything you recommend. I’m at your mercy.” So this was the 8 course street makan ride I subjected him to.

1/ 328 Laksa / 216 East Coast Road / 9am-9pm daily

This is the all too popular, version 1.1 laksa all curry noodle virgins should attempt. It is still thick and smoothened with two types of milk, coconut and evaporated. Nathan is a seasoned eater and he knows it was the broth to load up on, not the noodle carbs. He found it appealing yet “complex”.

2/3/ Geylang Lor 29 Fried Hokkien Mee / 1, Lor J (opp Joo Chiat Place), Stall 12, Hostel Food Court./ 11am-9.15pm closed Mondays

Seetoh & Nathan - Nathan liked the fact that the
sotong rings were soft.

They moved out from their previous premises at East Coast Road near Telok Kurau and settled here three weeks ago. It is still the same robustly fried Hokkien prawn noodle that won them our Makansutra Street Food Master Award two years back. Nathan like that fact that the sotong rings were so soft but what made his first “wow” of the night was their fried carrot cake. It came eggy pancake style and gently crispy with soft cakes inside. The sambal, more savoury then spicy, went well with Nathan say “I’ve never had anything like this before” He wolfed the whole plate down.

4/ Wang Wang Curry Puff / #01-26 Old Airport Road Food Centre / 9am-9pm daily

His hot, crispy yet fluffy layered pastry and the moist curried potatoes with chicken agreed so well with Nathan that he downed it in four chomps declaring “ a fantastic snack and only plain water can go with this.” I apologise I forgot to send him a cup of teh tarek.

5/6/ Mattar Road Seafood Barbeque / 01-63 Old Airport Food Centre/ 3pm-11pm/ closed Tues and Wed

This Makansutra Hawker Legend of 2005 flipped Nathan over with his chilli and white pepper crabs. He used a smallish Sri Lanka crustacean filled with meat and roe. I suggested that etiquette can hinder enjoyment of this dish, so he tore right in with his hands like everyone else. He was looking forward to this dish and thoroughly enjoyed it.

7/ Outram Park Ya Hua Bak Kut Teh / 539 Havelock Road / 6pm-2am /Closed Monday

This is the nocturnal sibling that runs this famous bak kut teh stall (the other at Keppel Road) which came to the rescue of Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Donald Tsang when his other favourite stall closed when he last visited. Not much reaction from Nathan and he was not keen on extra servings of soup but artfully placed soy sauced red cut chillis on the soft ribs as he devoured.

8/ Durians at Sims Ave / opposite Lor 13

THE KING OF THE NIGHT: We're referring to the durian of course, which Nathan enjoyed the most.

This one floored him. He was gushing over the D24 which came bitter sweet. He likes durian in general but the creaminess and taste of this one goaded him. Words like “sensational”, “nothing I’ve ever had”, “ fantastic”, “the best” came gushing out like a hot water off a shower head on cold day.