Press Kit

This page consolidates the materials most often requested by journalists, broadcasters, and editors. The short biography, the long biography, the institutional record, the maison list, the photograph and brand-mark request channel, and direct contact for media enquiries.

Short biography — single paragraph

James Won (文明辉) is a Malaysian chef and cultural strategist, Co-Founder and Custodian of Serumpun Sarawak. Trained in Paris and Lyon, in the Lyonnaise bouchon tradition, and in the precision of Japanese yōshoku — and matured in contemporary French cuisine with Modernist techniques across twelve years of Malaysian fine dining. France has twice admitted him to its orders: as Chevalier de l’Ordre des Coteaux de Champagne in November 2014 and as Chevalier de l’Ordre du Mérite Agricole on 1 July 2024 — the first Malaysian to hold both. He is Malaysia’s first Krug Ambassade Chef and Gaggenau’s first Malaysian Culinary Spokesperson, and the inaugural ambassador for The Plan luxury kitchen atelier and Mepra. UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy — Kuching has endorsed his conservation work in honour of Sarawak’s indigenous gastronomy. He is Adjunct Professor at Taylor’s Culinary Institute, and lives and works in Kuala Lumpur.

Press Assets

Portraits, brand marks, and the biography. Use is by written permission only; the rights below apply to every file on this page. High-resolution images and the document password are issued with authorisation.

Image rights & usage

These photographs and marks are the intellectual property of James Won. Any reproduction, publication, broadcast, or use in any form requires his prior written permission and authorisation. Unauthorised use is an infringement of intellectual-property rights and will be pursued in earnest, to the full extent of those rights. Requests: [email protected]

Portraits

Brand marks

Biography

Biography — one page (PDF)
Password-protected. The password is issued with authorisation, on request.
Download (password-protected) Request password

Long biography — three paragraphs

The training, the mastery. James trained in classical technique in Paris and Lyon — the two cities whose discipline forms the spine of everything that has followed. Paris taught him fine dining; Lyon taught him the bouchon. Across twelve years and six rooms in Kuala Lumpur — Brasserie Enfin, Enfin by James Won, Bouchon Enfin, Shin’Labo by James Won, MeatMore, and BadBoyCooks Diner — he developed the practice into contemporary French cuisine with Modernist techniques. Classical was the foundation, never the destination.

The maisons, the honours. James is Malaysia’s first Krug Ambassade Chef (since 2014); Gaggenau’s first Malaysian Culinary Spokesperson; the inaugural ambassador for The Plan luxury kitchen atelier and for Mepra. He has carried long-form work with Hennessy Cognac (the world’s only Hennessy Salon, opened at Enfin in November 2016), The Macallan, Mortlach, and BMW; and he is Adjunct Professor at Taylor’s Culinary Institute, part of Taylor’s University. France has twice admitted him to its orders: as Chevalier de l’Ordre des Coteaux de Champagne, inducted through the Singapore Chapter in November 2014 — a confraternity traced to 1656, founded by the Marquis de Saint-Évremond and governed by the Conseil Chapitral in Reims; and as Chevalier de l’Ordre du Mérite Agricole on 1 July 2024, by Arrêté portant promotion et nomination dans l’ordre du Mérite agricole, signed by the Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty — a state honour of the French Republic founded by decree of 7 July 1883, with appointment published in the Journal Officiel de la République Française.

The 2025 turn. In July 2025, James launched Serumpun Sarawak — a cultural-diplomacy and conservation initiative honouring Sarawak’s thirty-four indigenous communities. The founding-year arc travelled from Kuching to Osaka (August 2025), to Mulu (October 2025), and back to Kuching for the Finale in April 2026. UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy — Kuching has endorsed the conservation work. From the indigenous knowledge accumulated through the study, James is now developing the French-Borneo cuisine platform — the next chapter of the practice.

The institutional record — quick facts

French-state honours

• Chevalier de l’Ordre des Coteaux de Champagne (November 2014) — historic French confraternity order traced to 1656, founded by the Marquis de Saint-Évremond, inducted through the Singapore Chapter under the authority of the Conseil Chapitral in Reims
• Chevalier de l’Ordre du Mérite Agricole (1 July 2024) — state honour of the French Republic founded by decree of 7 July 1883, conferred by Arrêté portant promotion et nomination dans l’ordre du Mérite agricole of the Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, République Française, published in the Journal Officiel de la République Française
• The first Malaysian chef to hold both honours

Maison ambassadorships and firsts

• Krug Champagne — Malaysia’s first Krug Ambassade Chef (since 2014)
• Gaggenau — first Malaysian Culinary Spokesperson
• The Plan — inaugural ambassador (luxury kitchen atelier; Poggenpohl, Ernestomeda, Sub-Zero & Wolf)
• Mepra — inaugural ambassador (Italian tableware)

Cultural-diplomacy and conservation

• Serumpun Sarawak — Co-Founder and Custodian, founding-year arc 2025–2026
• UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy — Kuching — endorsement of conservation work
• Taylor’s University — adjunct professorship in culinary sustainability and restaurant entrepreneurship

Restaurant lineage (2014 – 2025)

• Brasserie Enfin · Enfin by James Won · Bouchon Enfin · Shin’Labo by James Won · MeatMore · BadBoyCooks Diner

Headshot and brand-mark requests

For high-resolution photography of James Won, the JW monogram in vector and raster formats, and approved brand assets:

• Editorial portraits and working images can be requested directly via email
• The JW monogram is available in PNG (transparent) at multiple resolutions
• Specific event or maison photography may require maison co-approval (Krug, Hennessy, Gaggenau, etc. — handled on request)

Press contact

For all media enquiries — interviews, profiles, broadcast appearances, photo requests, brand-mark requests, and press fact-checking — please write to:

[email protected]

Where the enquiry is time-sensitive (live broadcast, deadline-driven feature, breaking news context), please include PRESS — URGENT in the subject line.

Anchor interviews

Two interview frames recur and come closest to the published voice:

• “Culinary Storytelling — A Conversation with Chef James Won” — Luxuo, 19 November 2020
• “The Future is Metta” — Ethel da Costa, 4 October 2021

For the full press archive across English, Chinese, and Bahasa Malaysia — more than a decade of features, profiles, interviews, audio segments, video pieces, reviews, and news items — see the Media Centre.