Description
Vivian Wee, Chef Owner of Comida Mexicana Singapore, grew up in a non-Food and Beverage industry but found her passion in culinary arts in her twenties by chance. A natural born foodie, Chef Vivian always loved and enjoyed eating growing up but never explored a career in the kitchen. Born to a housewife and a bank messenger, Chef Vivian fondly remembers hearty Chinese meals cooked with love by her parents. Her only culinary background then, was helping in the kitchen whenever her mum needed help with preparation. Taking the conventional route in her younger days, Chef Vivian explored a career in the finance industry as well as Public Relations which lead her discovery to Margarita’s at East Coast Road and a world of Mexican Cuisine. A chance opportunity carved an entrepreneurial journey for Chef Vivian as she learned the ins and outs of running a restaurant. From manpower problems to no shows in the kitchen, Chef Vivian made a promise to herself to learn the trade, and to learn it well. She went through 16 hours work days and learnt how to manage front of house to the kitchen, all this and more while juggling her role as a Single mother.
As the years goes by, she refined her culinary skills from cooking, testing and creating new recipes for the restaurant. She grew to find that she had a love and talent for the culinary arts. Chef Vivian’s ability to have foresight, ideas and techniques in her creation stems from being a chef that has compassion, empathy and grind and a passion for the heritage of the cuisine. Running the restaurant for 23 years as a Chef Owner of Margarita’s at East coast gave her the confidence and with a leap of faith, rebranded Margarita’s to Comida Mexicana Singapore. Since it’s rebrand in 2017, Chef Vivian has led the restaurant to the widely acclaimed Singapore’s Top Restaurants 2018/2019 by Wine and Dine. Chef Vivian is also the semi-finalist of Top Female Chef of the year by World Gourmet Awards and has been featured in numerous publications such as The Straits Times, Wine and Dine Magazine, The New Paper and more. Chef Vivian also believes in giving back to the society by her philanthropy efforts and opening doors to those around her.
