Cover Story: Su Kim Hock of Michelin-starred Restaurant au Jardin is Tatler Dining's Chef of the Year

In this excerpt from our February 2023 cover story, Su Kim Hock reaps what he’s sown as he makes his mark on Malaysia’s flourishing fine dining scene

Su Kim Hock of Penang’s Restaurant au Jardin is Tatler Dining’s Chef of the Year, and for good reason. The accolade is awarded to the chef who has made significant impact on the country’s dining scene over the past 12 months, and there is no one more deserving than Su, who is widely recognised for his willingness to share knowledge and support the local community.

When asked about this, Su laughs, before humbly responding: “When you grow, you don’t grow alone. On a smaller scale, this applies to a restaurant team, but on a larger scale, this applies to the whole industry.”

Penang’s fine-dining scene, which has blossomed over the past decade thanks to collaboration between industry players, is a prime example. “If one wants to grow a market, you don’t build one successful restaurant,” explains Su, his shoulder-length hair tied up in a bun.

“We work together [with our peers] while providing healthy competition, so everyone is constantly pushing boundaries. Only then does [public] education kick in, increasing appreciation.”

Su, who has worked with many of his current team for nearly 10 years, feels a responsibility to be actively involved in the local dining scene: “There needs to be someone in the industry who takes up the role to build the community. We are the next generation, and we have to step up.”

Above Su's Restaurant au Jardin is also one of Tatler Dining's Top 20 Restaurants (Shirt: Acme De La Vie from Mind/Kind, Lalaport KL)

It might seem that Su—who has worked alongside some of the UK’s most acclaimed chefs, placed as a semi-finalist in the San Pellegrino young chef competition, and is now chef-proprietor of one of Malaysia’s first Michelin-starred restaurants—was always destined for this job. However, this is not the case.

“To be honest, I didn’t always know I wanted to cook,” Su admits. While chefs often refer to memories of family members in the kitchen sparking inspiration for their career, Su’s first experience in hospitality was after he left school in 2004, post Form Six.

“I was a front-of-house staff, doing hotel check-ins and check-outs. I worked my way up the ranks, but I felt I was easily replaceable.”

Above Su once moved his entire team to Taipei (Shirt: Acme De La Vie from Mind/Kind, Lalaport KL)

He decided instead to pursue work as a chef, heading to the UK in 2008 to take up a course in hospitality management and culinary arts and gain some work experience. “Even though I was in university, I spent more time working at a pub than at school,” says Su with a laugh.

This pub happened to be The White Hart at Lydgate, near Manchester, run by head chef Michael Shaw, who had worked as Gordon Ramsay’s pastry chef at the latter’s London restaurant Aubergine before helping the team at Gilpin Lodge secure a Michelin star.

“Seeing how dedicated I was, [Shaw] referred me to his protégé, Steven Smith, who was about to open a gastropub called The Freemasons Arms at Wiswell, up north [in Lancashire].” Alongside three other chefs, Su and Smith pushed to make the restaurant a success, and attained their first Michelin star after two years.

See also: A food lover's guide to London

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Su moved back to Penang in 2012 and opened a pastry and bonbon shop, Les Macarons de Valérie. With the island’s food scene beginning to blossom, business was bustling. “We were riding the wave back then,” he recalls.

With the funds earned from the pastry shop, they were able to open their first proper restaurant, Basil, Le Bistrot, in Penang. The French bistro was so successful that Su and his team moved the restaurant and team to Taipei, remaining in Taiwan for four years. It was during this tenure in 2016, that Su placed as a semi-finalist in the San Pellegrino competition.

Though the venture in Taipei was undoubtedly lucrative, Su could not deny the pull of home and eventually shuttered the restaurant before moving back to Penang in 2018 to raise his one-year-old son. “Both my parents are from here, so it is the first place I identify as home. The priority was that our child grew up in an environment surrounded by family.”

Back at home, he opened a small, 14-seater restaurant, Restaurant au Jardin; last December, the venue was awarded a Michelin star, one of the first four restaurants in Malaysia to be recognised by the famous guide.