Taking The Stage With Confidence

At the tender age of 26, head chef Ernest Toh helms the kitchen at NKU Firewood in Taiwan, cooking up a storm with local ingredients while staying true to his identity.

- Heidi Chan

LOSS AND GAIN. I have been cooking since 11, but believe it or not, my time in the Food and Beverage Industry started because I wanted to shed some weight. As an overweight kid in secondary school, I was desperate for a change in lifestyle and was determined to enhance my knowledge for a healthier life. I then decided to take on Nutrition in polytechnic and lost 20kg in 22 weeks.

LOVE THY JOB. I participated in a cooking contest, judged by chef Emmanuel Stroobant, and was offered an internship at his restaurant, Saint Pierre. It was then that I realised I could see myself putting in that kind of time and effort and not feel like it is a job. Upon completing my National Service as an Infantry Officer, which taught me discipline and teamwork, I decided to enter the workforce instead of continuing my studies.

GO-GETTER. After Saint Pierre, I worked at The Kitchen at Bacchanalia and Nouri in Singapore. I then went on to intern at Relae and Amass in Copenhagen. Instead of taking the conventional route, I invested my time to gaining knowledge through experiences. One amazing trip was when I went backpacking in Europe. There, I knocked on the doors of various food service shops and asked if I could learn their skills during my, albeit limited, time in each city.