After completing National Service, “I made a very conscious decision, together with my parents, to formally pursue a career in the culinary arts. My parents raised us in a fairly hybridised home, ostensibly Asian in the best ways but with the freedoms of western doctrine. They saw the passion I had for cooking and sent me to get a formal education at the Culinary Institute of America, in New York.”

Acknowledging that he feels “extremely privileged” for the opportunities he’s had, Foong credits his parents for encouraging him to choose a career path that diverged from his peers’. 

Hyperlink to article “A Singaporean is the new head chef of world-famous restaurant Noma in Denmark” by May Seah for CNA Lifestyle

When I was told by my friend that a Singaporean was now the head chef of Noma, I was very pleasantly surprised, and proud for the chef who had achieved this particular accolade. Noma has been listed as the World’s Best Restaurant multiple times, and while I’ve never eaten there, the episode on Chef’s Table featuring René Redzepi and his restaurant, Noma, surely brought this culinary institution to more mainstream consciousness.

The article by May Seah for CNA Lifestyle features an interview with the new Noma head chef, Kenneth Foong, who strikes me as a very grounded and self-aware person, and this particular sensitivity possibly contributed to the decisions he took to achieve what he currently has. For instance, he very clearly brought up the hybrdised upbringing that he’s had, of both European liberalism and Asian pragmatism.

This negotiation of cultures and ideas seems like the necessary recipe to thrive in today’s complex and borderless world, and I can’t help but wonder how many of us miss out on opportunities because we prefer clear compartmentalisations over a blended spectrum.