Breaking Bread

On this week's show, we have Darren Teoh, who’s perhaps the most well-known figurehead driving forward Malaysian fine dining on the world’s culinary stage. His restaurant, Dewakan, has appeared in Asia’s 50 and 100 Best Restaurant list multiple times, and has left an indelible mark on Malaysia's dining scene, and continues to do so. So on this episode, we’ll find out about the growth and evolution of Dewakan, explore some local ingredients, and hear about Darren's perspective on Malaysia’s dining scene.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week's show, we speak with Mandy Goh, who’s the Executive Chef at The St. Regis Langkawi. Chef Mandy has worked in several countries across Asia, and even competed in the prestigious Bocuse d’Or competition in the Asia Pacific region. Now, she’s heading up the restaurants at the St Regis, including the crown jewel Kayu Puti restaurant. On today’s show, we’ll find out about Mandy’s food journey, wax lyrical about some of her dishes, and chat about the Malaysian f&b industry at large.image source: St. Regis LangkawiSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Breaking Bread, we speak with Johnson Wong, the chef-owner of two restaurants in Penang, Gen and Communal Table. Gen is one of the three Malaysian restaurants that graced the prestigious Asia’s 100 Best Restaurants list in 2021. So on today’s episode, we’ll hear about his story, get his perspective on the Malaysian food industry, and get a aural taste of Gen’s best dishes.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week's show, we have Nicholas Ng, a food writer, restaurant critic, bar reviewer, and travel blogger based in KL. Nicholas has over a decade’s experience writing and traveling for food, and now runs his own online food publication, Food for Thought. We’ll hear about his story, talk shop, and learn a thing or two about appreciating fine food.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week's show, we have Lincoln Lee, the co-founder of The Rice Inc, a social enterprise that's looking to start a rice revolution around the world, improving the livelihood of farmers and upping the sustainability of the rice industry as a whole. We'll be hearing from Lincoln about how Rice Inc started, the good work that they're doing with farmers in Southeast Asia, and what the future holds for them.--(This is the last episode of Breaking Bread for this year. We will be taking a 3-month break and will resume with a fresh new season in January 2022.)IMAGE SOURCE: Rice Inc / FACEBOOKSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week's show, we have Angeline Tan, the owner of Maria's Steak Cafe and Maria's Signature, a restaurant that bills themselves as the best steakhouse in KL, with 5 outlets around the country. Despite their lofty proclamations though, Maria's started as a humble, family-run business from Ipoh, catalysed by Angeline and her family's love for food!IMAGE SOURCE: Maria's Steak Cafe / FACEBOOKSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week's short episode, we'll be speaking with Adrian Lau from The Posh Egg, a business selling ready-to-eat kodawari onsen eggs. Adrian started his small business over the pandemic, cooking and selling eggs from his home kitchen, and like many small businesses, it has done well in the past months with the rise of online sales over the MCOs we've had. And on the show, we'll find out about his business and what makes his eggs special.IMAGE SOURCE: The Posh Egg / INSTAGRAMSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week's show, we have Chong Chooi Yau and Tan Chien Yin, the co-founders of Nom Studio, a tableware and ceramics brand that started over the pandemic. Nom Studio's products come at a time when Malaysians are cooking more and caring more about the aesthetics of food than ever before, and so they've gone from strength to strength with their taste in ceramics and a pretty ingenious direct-to-consumer business model.IMAGE SOURCE: Nom StudioSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week's show, we have Bryan Loo, the founder and CEO of Loob Holding, the company that owns many food brands, including the well-known and well-loved bubble tea brand, Tealive. On the episode, Bryan tells us about some of the food aid efforts Loob Holding has been a part of, and sheds some light on how food businesses can go about helping their community in a more sustainable, long-term way.IMAGE SOURCE: Loob HoldingSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week's show, we have Zoee Wong, the project lead of the Food Relief Project, an initiative under Food Aid Foundation. Zoee is a chef who earned her stripes in fine dining restaurants across the world, and now that she's back in Malaysia, she started Food Relief Project to connect restaurants and donors to communities in need, providing food and meal kits to them through a well thought-out model for food aid. For more on Food Relief Project, whether you'd like to donate or join the project, visit here.IMAGE SOURCE: Food Aid Foundation / FACEBOOKSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the coming weeks, we're using this show as a platform to lend more eyes and ears on some small food businesses that are struggling over this tough lockdown period. If you have the capacity to do so, I would highly encourage you to support your neighborhood restaurants, and donate resources or provide food aid to organisations around you that are helping those in need. But on our show this week, we're highlighting The Nasi Lemak Company, or Nale for short, a restaurant that's bringing a new groove to nasi lemak.IMAGE SOURCE: NALE - The Nasi Lemak CompanySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week's show, we have Jack Chong, the CEO of BaWangChaJi, a tea brand originating from Yunnan, China, that's looking to bring a greater appreciation to teas in Malaysia. Many of us are probably familiar with the craze around bubble tea back in 2017 and 2018, but BaWangChaJi has positioned themselves as a more holistic, healthier, and also more intentional tea brand,with a deeper appreciation and philosophy around tea-drinking that they'd like to spread to more Malaysians.IMAGE SOURCE: BaWangChaJi / FACEBOOKSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.