五
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WWW.ASIACUISINE.COM
The No-Holds-Barred Visionary
Banker-turned-chef Han Li Guang, 32, started
picking up cooking and baking while he was a
university student majoring in accounting and
finance in London. “I’ve always liked eating and
I was born in the industry with a restaurateur
grandfather and a hotelier father. But it never
occurred to me to cook professionally. The
Singaporean society back then was such that if you
did well in school, you’d never have to learn to pick
up a knife.” Unlike his fellow university students
back then, Chef Han realised that he could do a
lot of things more efficiently and grasp cooking
concepts quicker. “I started to work in a bank and
the dream of being a chef was tucked away. I chose
to leave it aside as a passion. It was easy to impress
girls though,” he laughs.The Free Spirited Leader
Easy going Australian–born chef Jake Kowalewski,
31, fell into the kitchen job. He tells us, “I didn’t
know what I wanted to do. At 21, my friend who
was a chef got me a job as a kitchen hand and it
was my first time in a commercial kitchen. I liked
the atmosphere and the intensity. I was drawn to
it.” Chef Kowalewski did his apprenticeship and
then went on to join the Luke Mangan chain for
four years while in Sydney. He was pushed and
mentored by Chef Joe Pavlovich. “He pushes people
quite aggressively. We all understand though, that
it’s in the heat of the moment during service. He
gets us to get things done.” Getting offered the job
of head chef at Salt Grill & Sky Bar was the biggest
turning point in his career as well as opening one of
Luke Mangan’s restaurants in Maldives. Not content
with what he has achieved so far, Chef Kowalewski
hopes to open his own restaurant five years from
now. In Singapore, he has learnt to manage people
and has adapted Asian influences into his cooking.
He leads by example in the kitchen and makes it
a practice to do mise-en-place with his team. “I’m
very hands-on and I think the guys appreciate it
more – it’s give and take after all.Just me helping out takes a load off their shoulders.”
He firmly believes that consistency is the best way
to go – he checks and gets his sous chef to check
the items in the kitchen as well. Chef Kowalewski
hopes to gain more experience to continue to be
a hands on leader and to always lead by example.Lead by example. If you want it,
you have to work hard and
push – it will happen.
Jake Kowalewski2017