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WGA 2021 E-Booklet

Honouring our Lifetime Achievement Award Recipients

  • Name
    Lim Wei Kiat
  • Organisation
    GEMMA Steakhouse
  • Description
    Singlehandedly raised by his mother, Chef Wei Kiat witnessed her toiled for hours to make ends meet. He believed that cooking was the one avenue that he could have control of fully and made life more meaningful. The feeling of accomplishment sparked an epiphany to put serious thought on his culinary journey. Straight out of secondary school, he went to Shatec to embark on his career to become a chef.
    After national service, Chef Wei Kiat worked in Gattopardo under Chef Lino Sauro and Kenneth Oh (Previous Rising Chef). His hunger to learn and better himself landed him at Bistecca Tuscan Steakhouse, where working with Chef Fernando Arevalo provided him invaluable foundation for his current work at GEMMA.
    Yearning to understand the prestige pegged to French cuisine, he immediately grabbed the opportunity when there was an opening at Joël Robuchon. His time at Joël Robuchon made him realised that immense amount of self-discipline and finesse is required to meet the high standards of a two Michelin star restaurant when the first local Michelin guide came out. Two years in, he was headhunted for a Sous Chef position at the Atlas Bar, working alongside Chef Daniele Sperindo (Previous Rising Chef/ Group Executive chef for ilLido Group).
    More than just skills, discipline and personal standards, Chef Wei Kiat kept personal relationships as a testament to his interpersonal skill which are equally if not more important in keeping a tight kitchen team. He kept in touch with colleagues turned friends despite having left for San Francisco for a year working at In Situ, a one Michelin star restaurant under Chef Corey Lee’s group to gain more experience and character. Additionally, he was required to work front of the house service to better understand a consumer’s standpoint and the restaurant business.
    Having had the experience of foraging for food by the beaches in Half Moon Bay, out at the Pacific Ocean and in the Yosemite National Park heighten his appreciation for fresh and seasonal produce as key to creating the best dishes. The whole year was an experience that majority of the Singaporeans would not have. The above experiences have shaped him with the foreign skills and knowledge. Following a brief stint at Ma Cuisine (1 Michelin star) as an interim Junior Sous Chef, he was roped in by Chef Daniele (Previous Rising Chef/Group Executive Chef for ilLido Group) to open GEMMA alongside Head Chef Miller Mai (previous rising chef semi-finalist), coming back a full circle with a widen eye.
     
    Past Experience Awards:
    Gemma Steakhouse                                   
    Sous Chef                                   
    Oct 2020 - Present                    

    Ma Cuisine
    Junior Sous Chef (Interim)
    May 2020 – Oct 2020

    In Situ (San Francisco, United States)
    Chef De Partie
    Feb 2019 – Feb 2020

    Atlas Bar
    Sous Chef
    Apr 2017 – Jan 2019    		 NIL