Cover Executive head chef Davide Bizzarri of Prego, whose culinary career has been inspired by his father (Photo: Fairmont Singapore)
Executive head chef Davide Bizzarri of Prego, whose culinary career has been inspired by his father (Photo: Fairmont Singapore)
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This Father’s Day, we ask some of Singapore’s top chefs how the most important men have shaped their careers in the kitchen
Our parents are often our first role models, and with Father’s Day swiftly approaching on June 16, it’s high time to remember just how much our dads have done for us and inspired us. It’s no different for the top chefs in Singapore, who take the love, memories, and skills given by their dads into their dishes, imbuing them with a deeply personal connection. Whether their dads were culinary mavericks or not, we asked chefs how their dads have inspired them in the kitchen—heartwarming stories ahead.
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1. Francisco Araya
Above Francisco Araya (left) and his father (Photo: Courtesy of Francisco Araya)
Francisco Araya (left) and his father (Photo: Courtesy of Francisco Araya)
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“My father, a truly unique inspiration, was the first person I remember seeing cook, besides my grandmother and the other women in our family. This memory, from when I was around four years old, stands out as a testament to the deep bond we shared.
We lived on a farm in the countryside where we cultivated tomatoes, corn, and carrots, and raised rabbits, chickens, cows, and other animals. My father taught me how to select a chicken and prepare it for cooking. He also showed me how to plant, grow, and harvest tomatoes and other vegetables, make salads, and even enjoy tomatoes straight from the vine. The same went for grapes and other crops. He was the first to show me the process of making wine. My father’s teachings inspired my passion for ingredients, farm life, and respect for products and their origins because I understand how hard it is to produce them.
My father often cooked rice in the Malayan style, similar to paella; it was his signature dish and a culinary masterpiece. He also made stew and salads, like tomato salad with green chilli, onions, olive oil, and a little oregano, served with grilled chicken from our farm. The grilled chicken, prepared with butter and parsley over charcoal, was fantastic. To this day, I still follow his recipe, savouring the memories with every bite.”
—Francisco Araya, executive chef of Araya
2. Akane Eno
Above Chef-owner Akane Eno’s father (right) (Photo: Courtesy of Akane Eno)
Chef-owner Akane Eno’s father (right) (Photo: Courtesy of Akane Eno)
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“When my father was young, he was a backpacker and travelled all over the world by himself. Despite not being naturally talkative, I think my father really enjoyed communicating with people from different cultures and learning new things. After his travels, he worked for a trading company and eventually started his own business.
When I was a kid, he was not always with the family as he was mostly overseas. Our family leisure activity often involved going to Narita Airport to see my father off. He also had overseas guests, and sometimes I accompanied them, always excited to try the unfamiliar foods they brought as souvenirs. My father always bought small souvenirs from his business trips, and their unusual designs or tastes always intrigued me.
The foundation of my creations as a chef of Japanese cuisine is rooted in using seasonal ingredients to capture the essence of each season. However, I believe all these small experiences with my father made me open-minded and developed my ability to embrace new and interesting ideas, which is a vital part of my culinary creations.
I attribute my openness to innovation and my passion for exploring new flavours to these unique experiences with my father.”
—Akane Eno, chef-owner of Ichigo Ichie
3. Will Goldfarb
Above Michael Goldfarb carrying a baby Will Goldfarb (Photo: Courtesy of Will Goldfarb)
Michael Goldfarb carrying a baby Will Goldfarb (Photo: Courtesy of Will Goldfarb)
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“My dad has inspired me in my entire life, by choosing to follow his passion for taking care of people in his own way. Although he never got a chance to see our first days of Room4Dessert in Ubud, his spirit is always coursing through as we approach our 10th anniversary.
His passion was to create opportunities for developmentally disabled people to live with dignity. My pursuits are much more humble but are guided by the underlying principle that everyone deserves access to opportunity. Whether to learn, to teach, be engaged, simply be left alone, or to have the privilege to enjoy a delightful moment, each moment of interaction with our community and our surroundings are in pursuit of similar regeneration and restoration, in our case, with dessert, medicinal plants, and celebration of traditional wisdom.”
—Will Goldfarb, chef-owner of Room4Dessert (Bali) and Air Restaurant (Singapore)
Read more: Why Air is one of the most exciting nose-to-tail restaurants to open in Singapore this year
4. Petrina Loh
Above Chef-owner Petrina Loh (right) with her father as a child (Photo: Courtesy of Petrina Loh)
Chef-owner Petrina Loh (right) with her father as a child (Photo: Courtesy of Petrina Loh)
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“My late dad (he passed away when I was 15, 26 years ago in 1997) was an avid and good cook. Since I was 4-5 years old, he would take me to markets and teach me how to pick out fish and vegetables, and I got to know a lot of ingredients because of that. He instilled in me that one cannot be picky with food, although at that age I hated eating some stuff but was forced to, such as ginger, cilantro, bittergourd—now they have become my favourite ingredients.
His logic was that you need to eat [ingredients] to know what it tastes like and form a palate for it. I would always spend time with him in the kitchen [on Sundays], which is a precious bonding time since he was quite the busy man. Some of his signature dishes I learnt how to cook would be kiam chye ark soup, braised pork belly, and steamed fish with various types of styles like the Teochew kiam chye salted plum style to the Hong Kong soy style just to name a few. He took me to so many different hawker stores after school and taught me to drink black coffee from a saucer at the Yakun at the old Lau Pa Sat, and brought me to eat Teochew food at the old Ah Orh at Ellenborough He had some close Korean and Japanese friends and they often brought back raw fish and squid with kimchi, and I ate it with the adults with wasabi and all. Eating silver skin fish from a young age developed my love for them, like saba (mackerel) and sanma (Pacific saury). He is of Hing Hwa descent, so I also learnt some cultural food from him such as mee sua.
Having that exposure, and being able to eat both at very local places and fancy places with him, really formed my palate and love for food. But I don’t think he would have ever imagined me to be a chef eventually!”
—Petrina Loh, chef-owner of Morsels
5. Davide Bizzarri
Above Executive head chef Davide Bizzarri (right) with his father, ‘Babbo’ Fulvio, at an outdoor barbecue (Photo: Courtesy of Davide Bizzarri)
Executive head chef Davide Bizzarri (right) with his father, ‘Babbo’ Fulvio, at an outdoor barbecue (Photo: Courtesy of Davide Bizzarri)
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Like many Italian chefs, new Italian chef Davide Bizzarri of Prego discovered his love for cooking from his dad and grandparents. In fact, it was his father (affectionately known as “Babbo”) who was mostly in the kitchen, as his mother’s work shifts ended late in the afternoon.
Fond of the barbecue whenever the weather was right and possessing culinary mastery, the younger Bizzarri remembers enjoying his dad’s signature dish, seppie in umido, or braised octopus with Swiss chard in tomato sauce. It has inspired him so much that he has included the dish in Prego’s Father’s Day brunch menu, exclusively available on June 16.
—Davide Bizzarri, new Italian chef of Prego
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About
Ethan is a dining writer with Tatler Singapore. Trained in literary arts and filmmaking, their work has previously been published in Esquire Singapore, Men's Folio, and with the Asian Film Archive and the Singapore International and Film Festival, across a wide range of interests from gastronomy to fashion and arts criticism.
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Ethan writes about exciting news in the F&B industry, specialising in fine dining, exclusive spirits launches, and new restaurants. They are always looking for riveting voices to bring something fresh to an already-dynamic industry.
Follow them on Instagram at @faustiangourmand.
