On Honour and Acknowledgement

Recognition is not the work. It is the public-record acknowledgement that the work has been carried, by the right hands, with the right care, over the right span of years. The honours gathered here are surfaced once at fuller depth — not because they are the work, but because they are the formal acknowledgement that the work has met the standards of the institutions that conferred them.

The discipline of this page is restraint. Each credential is named once, dated, and explained at the depth it requires. The honours speak for themselves; the page does not need to speak for them.

The French knighthoods

France has twice received me into its orders. I am the first Malaysian to hold both.

Chevalier de l’Ordre des Coteaux de Champagne (November 2014)

The Order of the Coteaux de Champagne is the historic French order founded in 1656 by the Marquis de Saint-Évremond, recognising contribution to the cultural standing of Champagne. The order today acknowledges practitioners whose work has carried Champagne’s heritage into new cultural and gastronomic territories — sommeliers, chefs, restaurateurs, scholars, ambassadors of the region.

I was inducted as Chevalier in November 2014 through the Singapore Chapter, with the intronisation held in Singapore. The induction was supported by Maison Lanson, with patron acknowledgement carried by Anton Hobbs on behalf of the maison. The honour came on the back of years of Champagne-led pairing work — culminating that year in the Krug Ambassade Chef designation in June 2014, the first such recognition for any Malaysian chef, and in the early Champagne work at Brasserie Enfin — work that had begun to place Champagne at the centre of the Malaysian fine-dining conversation.

Chevalier de l’Ordre du Mérite Agricole (1 July 2024)

“You are the only Malaysian chef in the 21st century to have received this award.”

— H.E. Axel Cruau, Ambassadeur de France en Malaisie · at the investiture, 13 September 2024

The Order of Agricultural Merit is the second-oldest civilian order of the French Republic, founded by decree on 7 July 1883, and recognises distinguished services to agriculture, gastronomy, and food culture. The order honours practitioners whose work has advanced the cultural and economic standing of agriculture and food.

The honour was conferred by Arrêté du 1er juillet 2024 portant promotion et nomination dans l’ordre du Mérite agricole, signed by Marc Fesneau, Ministre de l’Agriculture et de la Souveraineté alimentaire. The insignia were presented in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, 13 September 2024 at the Résidence de France, conferred by His Excellency Axel Cruau, Ambassadeur de France en Malaisie.

The Mérite Agricole conferral made me the first Malaysian to hold both French knighthoods. Surfaced once each, at this depth, and not repeated.

The maison ambassadorships

Four inaugural or first-Malaysian roles place me on the formal record of European luxury houses whose disciplines I have been honoured to carry into Malaysian fine dining.

Krug Ambassade Chef — first Malaysian (June 2014)

The Krug Ambassade is the global community of restaurants and chefs recognised by Krug Champagne for the depth and discipline of their work with the maison’s cuvées. I was inducted as Krug Ambassade Chef in June 2014 — the first such recognition for any Malaysian chef. The Ambassade status preceded — and earned — the Krug Chef’s Table programme that opened at Enfin (Menara Hap Seng) in April 2016, with Krug Echoes — Single Ingredient as its founding pairing programme. The Krug Chef’s Table later relocated to Shin’Labo by James Won in February 2022 as Asia’s only Krug Chef’s Table at the time.

Gaggenau — first Malaysian Culinary Spokesperson

Gaggenau is the German maison whose kitchen architecture has set the standard for European fine-dining and private-residence culinary precision. I am the first Malaysian Culinary Spokesperson — an ongoing partnership across activations, content, and cultural programmes.

The Plan — inaugural ambassador

The Plan is the luxury kitchen and wardrobe atelier representing Poggenpohl, Ernestomeda, Sub-Zero & Wolf, and other European maisons in the Malaysian and regional markets. I am the inaugural ambassador.

Mepra — inaugural ambassador

Mepra is the Italian tableware maison whose flatware and serviceware sit at the highest tier of European fine dining. I am the inaugural ambassador for the maison’s regional presence.

The UNESCO endorsement

UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy — Kuching has endorsed my efforts in the conservation and promotion of Sarawak’s indigenous gastronomy, food culture, and edible medicinal flora and seeds. The endorsement places the Serumpun Sarawak work on the institutional record of the city’s Creative Cities of Gastronomy designation — a designation that links Kuching to a global network of cities recognised for their gastronomic heritage and contribution to UNESCO’s wider cultural-policy framework.

The endorsement is distinctive. It is not a personal award — it is an institutional acknowledgement that the work serves the wider cultural-conservation purpose for which UNESCO’s designation exists.

France has twice received me into its orders. I am the first Malaysian to hold both.

From the public record

Recognition from the trade and the press

Beneath the institutional honours sit the recognitions earned in the rhythm of restaurant life — the awards conferred by the trade, the listings carried by the dining press, the citations from the bodies that watch the work from year to year. These are surfaced once, in chronological order of conferral, with the care the work has asked for.

Tatler Malaysia Best Restaurant Guide (2015 and 2016)

Enfin by James Won — the flagship at Menara Hap Seng — was carried in the Tatler Malaysia Best Restaurant Guide across two consecutive editions in 2015 and 2016, with a 4.5 out of 5 rating in the publication’s review. The Guide placed the restaurant among Kuala Lumpur’s defining dining rooms of the period.

Time Out Kuala Lumpur — Best New Opening (2016)

Time Out Kuala Lumpur’s Food and Drink team named Enfin by James Won Best New Opening for 2016, the year the restaurant established its full programme at Menara Hap Seng. The award marked the restaurant’s arrival on the public dining conversation of the city.

A.A. Taste Awards — Two Stars (2017)

Enfin by James Won received Two Stars at the 9th edition of the A.A. Taste Awards in 2017, conferred by the Anti Additive Clean Label Organization. The body evaluates culinary operations whose work prioritises clean, additive-free cooking without compromising flavour. The recognition met the farming and clean-food work we were carrying out at Enfin at the time — among them the house fermentation of koji and rice wine to reduce reliance on chemical processing and standard food additives, and the early sustainability work that would later inform the Serumpun Sarawak conservation programme.

Tatler Asia — 50 Groundbreaking Gastronomes (November 2018)

In November 2018 Tatler Asia named me among its 50 Groundbreaking Gastronomes — a regional profile distinction recognising those whose work has shaped the food culture and gastronomy of the region. The profile was carried in the publication’s Malaysia edition of the index, alongside the other Malaysian practitioners selected for the year.

Tatler Dining Guide — Shin’Labo by James Won (2023)

The Tatler Dining Guide carried Shin’Labo by James Won in its 2023 edition, featured among the best Japanese-influenced dining experiences in Malaysia. Shin’Labo opened as a French-Japanese practice rooted in yōshoku technique, single-origin sourcing, and the Krug Chef’s Table programme that relocated to the room in February 2022 — Asia’s only Krug Chef’s Table at the time of the move.

HAPA Awards 2023-2024 — three accolades

The 2023-2024 cycle of the Hospitality Asia Platinum Awards carried three recognitions across the work:

The HAPA Special Recognition — Culinary Achievement Award was conferred personally, recognising the cumulative span of the culinary practice. The HAPA Best Restaurant of the Year and the HAPA Best Service Excellence awards were both conferred on Shin’Labo. Together the three accolades placed the work on the regional industry record across both chef-level achievement and the restaurant’s operational standard.

What recognition has asked for

Each credential carries an obligation. The Coteaux de Champagne honour asks me to carry Champagne’s cultural standing in good faith. The Mérite Agricole honour asks me to advance the standing of agriculture and food culture. The maison ambassadorships ask me to honour each house’s heritage with the care the house was built on. The UNESCO endorsement asks me to serve indigenous gastronomy as conservation work, not as ethnographic exhibition.

The credentials are not the work. The obligations they create are.