Michelin-star chef Kirk Westaway on fusing British, French and Singaporean flavours

British chef Kirk Westaway has traversed the world, working his way up to be the Michelin-star chef de cuisine of modern British restaurant JAAN in Singapore’s Stamford Hotel. Westaway remembers his introduction to cooking at home with his mother in the family kitchen. “We had a lot of herbs and vegetables in the garden and my earliest memories were just picking vegetables and us cooking as a family and enjoying it,” Westaway says.

It started him on his road to culinary excellence with stints in London, France and South America before he landed in Singapore. “I loved the diversity in the cooking with the Malay cooking and the Chinese cooking and also the expat dining. I felt I could bring my own style and it works well in Singapore,” says the 33-year-old, who has earned a string of culinary awards, including being named the S. Pellegrino Young Chef 2015 for Southeast Asia. 

In an interview with STYLE magazine, on his way to the Asia’s Best 50 Restaurants awards night in Macau recently, the chef shares his love of fresh, seasonal ingredients and his hot tips for Singapore dining.

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