We speak to the sous chef of Dewakan about how he delved into entrepreneurship
“Every chef needs a knife,” says Wayne Wong. It may sound obvious, but the sentence is why Wong started Masaru Knives, which imports premium Japanese knives and matches them with consumers. Trained in the culinary arts, Wong began his career in Malaysia and faced a dilemma when purchasing his first knife.
“Other than American and Japanese websites, there weren’t any physical stores or platforms I could consult,” he recalls. “I bought my first knife online and ended up spending a large sum picking something that did not suit me.”
Wong found himself having purchased a knife that was too long for tasks he needed: “There was no interaction or consultation, let alone being able to hold or have a feel of the tool.” As such, he was inspired to close the gap between knife producers and buyers, preventing others from making the same mistake he did.
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Wong began Masaru Knives during the pandemic, a time when Japanese blacksmiths were also on the hunt for new partners: “The restaurant business was slow at the time, so with free time on my hands, I decided to take a chance and delve into entrepreneurship.” While he now spends most of his free time running Masaru Knives, it is not Wong’s main job—he works as the sous chef at Dewakan.
Since he was young, Wong has always been skilled in handicrafts and sensory subjects, from arts to music. “I pursued a culinary course at Taylor’s Culinary School and furthered my studies in Toulouse, in the south of France,” he smiles. While Wong toyed with the idea of remaining in Europe, he realised that while he was trained in French techniques, he knew next to nothing about Malaysian heritage food. “It struck me that I was learning to cook based on other cultures without even being familiar with my own roots,” he tells me.
