With The Best Of Them

The Triumph Of Asia’s Best Female Chefs Signals The Arrival Of A New Dawn Of Cooking—And A New Mindset.

- Jaclyn Clemente-Koppe

Their studies abroad could very well allow them to be anything they wanted to be and yet they chose a frantic, high-stress life in the kitchen. They all came from comfortable backgrounds and yet they chose a job that couldn’t be any more uncomfortable. Still, they emerged at the top of their game and are ready for more challenges. Meet Asia’s top female chefs who lent their talents and star power for a good cause.

BO SONGVISAVA ASIA’S BEST FEMALE CHEF 2013

Unlike the three best female chefs that came after her, Songvisava knew from a young age that she wanted to be a chef. “Since high school, I already knew that’s what I wanted to do,” she says. Her well-meaning mother, perhaps not fully convinced that it was not a fleeting dream of a fickle-minded teenager, urged the young Songvisava to get a bachelor’s degree first. After studying hotel and restaurant management in Australia, she returned to Thailand thinking she could finally go to culinary school but her mother had other plans. “My mom said, ‘You need to take your master’s degree first,’” Songvisava exclaims with a laugh. So she accomplished her master’s degree in gastronomy, which was probably enough proof for her mom that her heart was indeed set on becoming a chef.

Songvisava gives full credit to Australian chef Amanda Gale for giving her that elusive break she needed. “Nobody wanted to hire me when I returned [from Australia], but luckily Amanda took me in. I’m quite sure I was hired simply because I spoke English,” the chef says, smiling.