DATUK REDZUAWAN ISMAIL, more popularly known as Chef Wan, was beaming when we met recently. And the celebrity chef, with numerous best-selling cookbooks and hit cooking shows, has every reason to smile.
His restaurant De.Wan 1958 by Chef Wan, opened on April 17 on the second floor of The LINC KL, is a hit with food critics, bloggers and diners, the latter of which includes the prime minister.
The 61-year-old Chef Wan spoke about his success to theSun in this exclusive interview, while also serving us dish after delicious dish from the De.Wan 1958 menu:
What motivated you to start your restaurant?
“I never dreamt of having my own restaurant. I know that running a restaurant requires a lot of hard work and commitment.
“In my early years, I was constantly travelling overseas to do cooking shows. I would not have been able to give my full attention to a restaurant then.”
What changed your mind?
“I have one business partner. His name is Andre Shum. He has 20 years of experience in the food and beverage industry; I can trust him to run the restaurant efficiently when I’m not around. He makes sure the quality is maintained.
“Now that I am older, I also want to leave something to my two children (actress Serina Redzuawan and celebrity chef Muhammad Zainudin Redzuawan aka Chef Riz), and this restaurant will be perfect. I can also pass my recipes to the younger chefs working under me.”
What is your biggest challenge in running the restaurant?
“Finding the right chef. It’s only when you find the right chef that you can maintain the quality of the food. Currently I have 22 chefs, and for three months prior to opening my restaurant, I trained them personally.
“The most important quality I look for is a willingness to learn. I [fired] at least seven chefs during the training session.
“If you think [the TV show] Hell’s Kitchen is hell, wait till you work in mine. I put Gordon Ramsey to shame!”
What are your plans for the restaurant?
“Now I am looking to open a second restaurant in Langkawi in a tropical/herb garden, and where customers will be entertained with cultural Malay music. There are plans to bring De. Wan to other parts of Malaysia and Singapore.
“I also plan to start a Western restaurant ... Over the years I have collected a lot of western recipes from my travelling; it will be a waste if I do not use them.”
What’s the best compliment you have received for De. Wan?
“It was from our prime minister, Tun Mahathir Mohamad. He came with his wife and children for his wedding anniversary. He loved every dish.
“His son, Mukhriz, said: ‘My father cannot stop praising the food’. The next day, someone from the Prime Minister’s Department called and asked me to cook for the president of Indonesia when he visited Tun Mahathir in Putrajaya.
“I was very honoured to be given the chance to serve these two leaders.”
Tell us about your upcoming cooking shows.
“I have just completed a show in Peru, Cuba and Mexico, where I cooked [dishes from those countries].
“I also have [a] proposal for a cooking show called Jangan Dapur Tak Berasap where I will teach people who have never cooked anything before.
“I want to make this show fun so that it will appeal to the young.”
Your cookbooks are bestsellers. Your cooking shows are hits. Does everything you touch turn to gold?
“Not everything. I’ve had failures. I started my own brand of sauces, and sold knives under my name. Those didn’t work.
“I trusted the wrong people. I have learnt not to trust people so easily.”
What’s your opinion of modern cooking shows?
“Today, anyone can be an ‘instant celebrity chef’ with their own cooking show. They [need not] have proper training, nor have gone to culinary school.
“What they have is [that they won] a reality cooking show, or [started] a cooking blog. This is why you find some making big blunders on the shows.
“I went to culinary school and worked for 14 years in America as a chef, before I had my first cooking show, Kuali.”
What is the biggest change you’d like to see in the food industry?
“We have an obesity problem here. Something is wrong with our eating habits. We should teach people, especially children, to make wise food choices.
“For instance, take nasi lemak; you shouldn’t eat it every day. You can eat it perhaps twice a week. And choose grilled food instead of fried.
“The government should also control the fast food chains. Processed food is never good for you.
“Personally, I believe we need a Food Ministry to look into these things, and to promote our dishes overseas.
“It can also teach children to choose the right foods, as well as to plant vegetables so as to have a connection with the food we eat.”
Describe your childhood years.
“My late father was a military man who taught me to be a kind person. My mother taught me how to cook.
“My childhood was not a bed of roses. I helped my mother to make kuih and sell them so that we could put food on the table.
“I was bullied in school. I am not angry about my difficult childhood, as [it] motivated me to make my life better.
“I have become self-driven. What does not kill you only makes you stronger.”
