James Won

My name is James Won — 文明辉 — and a chef, I have come to believe, is the keeper of something older than himself. Trained in French technique in Paris, in the Lyonnaise bouchon tradition, and in the precision of Japanese yōshoku — and mastered in contemporary and modernist cuisine across fourteen years of Malaysian fine dining — I have carried that craft into the work that now holds me: the conservation and cultural diplomacy of Serumpun Sarawak. France has twice knighted me — Chevalier de l'Ordre des Coteaux de Champagne in November 2014, Chevalier de l'Ordre du Mérite Agricole in 2024. I carry both honours as obligation, not ornament.

I am the Co-Founder and Custodian of Serumpun Sarawak — the cultural-diplomacy movement whose founding year unfolded across Kuching, Osaka, Mulu, and the Kuching Finale, in honour of the thirty-four indigenous communities of Sarawak. It is the work that now holds me.

The work also runs through the restaurant legacy I have led and the maison collaborations that shaped my brand work.

The honours and ambassadorships that frame that practice: Malaysia’s first Krug Ambassade Chef, Gaggenau’s first Malaysian Culinary Spokesperson, and the inaugural ambassador for The Plan luxury kitchen atelier and for Mepra. Beyond these I have carried long-form work with Hennessy, The Macallan, Mortlach, BMW, and serve as Adjunct Professor at Taylor’s Culinary Institute. UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy — Kuching has endorsed the conservation work I lead, in honour of Sarawak’s indigenous gastronomy, food culture, and edible medicinal flora and seeds.

I live in Kuala Lumpur and work around the world.

Paris and Lyon — the foundation, not the destination

The work began in France. Before that, a scientific academic background — a disposition that returned, much later, in the seriousness with which I approach the indigenous medicinal flora of Sarawak. Cooking was not my first formal training; it was the next.

I trained in classical technique in Paris and Lyon — the two cities whose discipline forms the spine of everything that has followed. Paris taught me fine dining; Lyon taught me the bouchon — the family-recipe bistro tradition of the Croix-Rousse that I would carry, twenty years on, into Bouchon Enfin at Pavilion Kuala Lumpur.

Classical was the foundation. It was never the destination. The body of work I am known for — across fourteen years in Kuala Lumpur — is the contemporary and modernist body of work that the classical training made possible. French-classical literacy is what allowed the Krug Champagne work, the Hennessy Cognac work, the Coteaux de Champagne honour to attach in the first place. The mastery is what came after.

The masters who carried that discipline through me — chefs, gurus, and most of all my beloved grandmother — are honoured separately on the Mentors page. That, too, is part of the discipline.

The restaurant years (2013 – 2025)

Across fourteen years I opened and ran six restaurants in Malaysia, each in a different mode.

BadBoyCooks Diner (2013 — 2018), Oasis Square, Ara Damansara — the American diner reimagined for the Asian palate; the casual, family-format room that opened a year before Brasserie Enfin and held queues from start of day to end of service.

Brasserie Enfin (2014 – early 2016), Oasis Square, Petaling Jaya — the founding bistro that earned my first Krug and Hennessy press.

Enfin by James Won (2016 – 2019/2020), Menara Hap Seng, Kuala Lumpur — the contemporary and modernist fine-dining room where I established the Krug Chef’s Table (April 2016) and the Hennessy Salon (November 2016, the world’s only).

Bouchon Enfin (late 2020 – 2021), Pavilion Kuala Lumpur — the Lyonnaise bouchon whose nine-week opening was overtaken by the second pandemic Movement Control Order, and converted into the humanitarian work that followed.

Shin’Labo by James Won (2022 – 2025), Mitsui Shopping Park Lalaport KL, Bukit Bintang — the yōshoku salon Robb Report termed Ryoutei Shin’Labo.

MeatMore (October 2023 – 2024), Bukit Bintang — the SoHo-format steakhouse and cocktail bar that housed a dedicated Mortlach Room, in partnership with Diageo at the time.

By 2025, the restaurants had closed. I turned the work elsewhere.

The 2025 turn — conservation and culinary diplomacy

In 2025 I turned the work from restaurant operations to conservation and cultural diplomacy. Serumpun Sarawak was unveiled in Kuching in July 2025, with a four-part founding year that travelled to Osaka in August, to Mulu in October, and back to Kuching for the Finale in April 2026.

The turn is not a withdrawal from cooking. It is a re-direction — towards the indigenous gastronomy of Sarawak’s thirty-four communities, the conservation of edible medicinal flora and seeds, the curriculum work I carry at Taylor’s Culinary Institute, and the In Motion mentee programme that runs alongside every part of Serumpun. From this study, the French-Borneo cuisine platform I am developing now takes its substance.

The French honours

Two French-state honours have shaped the work most clearly.

Chevalier de l’Ordre des Coteaux de Champagne (November 2014) — the historic French order traced to 1656, founded by the Marquis de Saint-Évremond, recognising distinguished contribution to the cultural standing of Champagne. I was inducted in November 2014 through the Singapore Chapter, with the intronisation held in Singapore, supported by Maison Lanson.

Chevalier de l’Ordre du Mérite Agricole (2024) — the French Republic’s order recognising distinguished services to agriculture, gastronomy, and food culture. The conferral was made by Arrêté du 1er juillet 2024 signed by Marc Fesneau, Ministre de l’Agriculture et de la Souveraineté alimentaire. The insignia were presented at the Résidence de France in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, 13 September 2024 by His Excellency Axel Cruau, Ambassadeur de France en Malaisie.

I am the first Malaysian to hold both. The pair sits on a small list of practitioners recognised at French-state level from outside France.

The maisons that have asked me to think alongside them

Long-form partnerships with European houses, each at the level of Ambassade or first-Malaysian spokesperson.

Krug Champagne — first Malaysian Krug Ambassade Chef, since 2014. The Krug Chef’s Table opened at Enfin in April 2016 and later carried to Shin’Labo in February 2022.

Hennessy Cognac — the Hennessy Salon at Menara Hap Seng (November 2016, the world’s only). Tapestry × Hennessy pairing dinners. Appreciation Grows (2014) with one-Michelin-star Chef Accursio Craparo of Sicily; the Hennessy 250 Collector Blend launch at Brasserie Enfin (2015).

Gaggenau — first Malaysian Culinary Spokesperson; ongoing activations and content.

The Plan — inaugural ambassador for the luxury kitchen and wardrobe atelier (Poggenpohl, Ernestomeda, Sub-Zero & Wolf).

Mepra — inaugural ambassador for the Italian tableware maison.

The Macallan, Mortlach, BMW, Taylor’s Culinary Institute — additional partnerships, ongoing.

The published voice

My work has been carried on the public record by Malaysian, regional, and international press across more than a decade. Tatler Asia, Robb Report Malaysia, Luxuo, Prestige Online, Epicure, FirstClasse, The Star, Free Malaysia Today, Sin Chew Daily, Oriental Daily, Bernama, The Borneo Post, Sarawak Tribune, DayakDaily, Daily Express, India Outbound, Palate Asia — together they constitute the press archive against which the work has been documented.

Two interview frames recur and come closest to the published voice. Culinary storytelling — named in Luxuo’s November 2020 conversation — is about letting the plate carry the story rather than the maker. The future is metta — named by Ethel da Costa in October 2021 — is what came after the restaurants closed, and what continues to guide the work now.

Both phrases are mine in form. Both were given to me by editors who listened well.