Press kit
Biographies, the record of honours and maisons, and a direct contact for press enquiries.
This page gathers what journalists, broadcasters and editors ask for most often: the short and long biographies, the record of honours and ambassadorships, the list of maisons, how to request photographs and brand marks, and who to write to.
Short biography (one paragraph)
James Won (文明辉) is a Malaysian chef and cultural strategist, and Co-Founder and Custodian of Serumpun Sarawak. He trained in Paris and Lyon, in the Lyonnaise bouchon tradition and in the precision of Japanese yōshoku, then spent twelve years in Malaysian fine dining cooking contemporary French cuisine with Modernist techniques. He holds two French knighthoods: Chevalier de l’Ordre des Coteaux de Champagne, the Champagne confraternity, in November 2014, and Chevalier de l’Ordre du Mérite Agricole, a French state order, on 1 July 2024. He is the first Malaysian to hold both. He is 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. UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy Kuching has endorsed his conservation work on 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. Every file on this page may be used only with written permission, under the rights set out below. High-resolution images and the document password are issued once use is authorised.
Image rights and usage
These photographs and marks are the intellectual property of James Won. Any reproduction, publication, broadcast or other use needs his prior written permission. Unauthorised use infringes his intellectual property rights and will be pursued in earnest, to the full extent of those rights. Requests: connect@chefjameswon.com
Portraits
Brand marks
Biography
Password-protected. The password is issued with authorisation, on request.
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Long biography (three paragraphs)
James trained in classical technique in Paris and Lyon, and those two cities shaped everything that followed. Paris taught him fine dining. Lyon taught him the bouchon. Over fourteen 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 took that training into contemporary French cuisine with Modernist techniques. The classical work was where he started, never where he meant to stop.
James is Malaysia’s first Krug Ambassade Chef (since 2014), Gaggenau’s first Malaysian Culinary Spokesperson, and the inaugural ambassador for The Plan luxury kitchen atelier and for Mepra. He has done sustained 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. He holds two French knighthoods, one of them a state order. In November 2014 he was made Chevalier de l’Ordre des Coteaux de Champagne, inducted through the Singapore Chapter. The confraternity is traced to 1656, was founded by the Marquis de Saint-Évremond, and is governed by the Conseil Chapitral in Reims. On 1 July 2024 he was made Chevalier de l’Ordre du Mérite Agricole by Arrêté portant promotion et nomination dans l’ordre du Mérite agricole, signed by the Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty. The order is a state honour of the French Republic, founded by decree of 7 July 1883, and the appointment was published in the Journal Officiel de la République Française.
In July 2025 James launched Serumpun Sarawak, a cultural diplomacy and conservation initiative in honour of Sarawak’s thirty-four indigenous communities. Its founding year went from Kuching to Osaka (August 2025) and 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 gathered along the way, James is now developing the French Borneo cuisine platform, the next chapter of his practice.
The record in brief
French knighthoods
- Chevalier de l’Ordre des Coteaux de Champagne (November 2014). A historic French confraternity 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). A 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, and 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 2025 to 2026
- UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy Kuching: endorsement of the conservation work
- Taylor’s University: adjunct professorship in culinary sustainability and restaurant entrepreneurship
Restaurants (2014 to 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 photographs of James Won, the JW monogram in vector and raster formats, and other approved brand assets:
- Editorial portraits and working images can be requested by email.
- The JW monogram is available as a transparent PNG at several resolutions.
- Some event or maison photography may need the maison’s approval as well (Krug, Hennessy, Gaggenau and others), which we arrange on request.
Press contact
For interviews, profiles, broadcast appearances, photograph and brand-mark requests, and fact-checking, please write to:
If the enquiry is time-sensitive (a live broadcast, a feature on deadline, a breaking story), please put PRESS — URGENT in the subject line.
Anchor interviews
These two interviews come closest to how James speaks in print:
- “Culinary Storytelling — A Conversation with Chef James Won”, Luxuo, 19 November 2020
- “The Future is Metta”, Ethel da Costa, 4 October 2021
The full press archive, in English, Chinese and Bahasa Malaysia, holds more than a decade of features, profiles, interviews, audio, video, reviews and news. It is in the Media Centre.
I cook. I think alongside the people who grow what I cook with. I try to listen first.
The disposition
The work speaks for itself. This page is here to make it easier for those who write the public record to speak about it.