Fine dining with a pinch of passion 25 Feed your curiosity 26 Refining the traditional 27 Street food to fine dining 28 Where my carnivores at? 29 BiG’s Black Book

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Fine Dining with a Pinch ofPassion

In recent times culinary maestros specialising in a broad range of cuisines have taken to providing personalised experiences to clientele through their catering gigs. These special occasions can vary from large scale corporate events, to a mid-size bash for family and friends, all the way down to the intimate dinner for two. Regardless of the scenario in play, at the end of the day the secret ingredient of importance toward a successful tasting and event overall is – who exactly do you have in the kitchen?

Jia Ying Chia

When Muris Uhn began his journey into the world of culinary arts, it was an unexpected avenue of nutrition and meal preparations in his fitness regime that sparked his joy and interest. A former wedding photographer, Muris combined his passion for crafting images alongside his growing repertoire of kitchen skills and dishes to digitally archive his progress on the Instagram platform. There is a distinct minimalist approach to Muris’ plating that is wonderfully juxtaposed by his use of ingredients with bright pops of color to create stand out dishes like the ‘Tarung Betunu’ dish he spearheaded with Chef @U’zaiz for Brunei Gastronomy Week 2022. He also credits a yearlong work stint in Vietnam and his voracity for trying new foods, for igniting his hobby into the fine dining venture it is today. Muris says he also has the ability to breakdown a dishes flavour profiles from tasting it - an innate but crucial skill for people who love to cook. He is also known particularly for his succulent steaks and personalised fine dining degustation menus that also focus on the experiential aspect of a meal.

What was the dish or moment in Vietnam that further sparked your passion and interest for experimentation and creativity of cooking?

MU: It was Banh Mi. A simple Vietnamese street food with a lot of interesting history and culture put into it. Working in Vietnam opened my interest of how (they have a) cuisine that often uses fresh ingredients with interesting elements and colours. It’s also somewhat influenced by French cuisine with their own delicate yet interesting palate. From there, I’ve became more adventurous and like to feed my curiosity to learn more on both worlds’ dishes. I’ve learnt more about fresh herbs, nutrients and colours as well.

Feed your Curiosity

Is there anything that you miss making as part of your nutritional fitness approach, or don’t miss eating at all? Do you still look at prep and recipe formation with the ideas of nutrition first in mind?

MU: Well, I do miss making weekly meal prep for myself. That’s how all these things really started actually and yes, I still use the same prep routine and recipe formation with ideas of nutrition (especially for those with a certain diet requirement). I’ve had a few clients who are into Keto and healthy eating but still want to enjoy a fine dining experience with friends. I have to say, these recipe formations do come in handy.

Coffee makes a regular appearance on your IG page. Do you consider yourself a barista in hiding, or just a passionate coffee nerd?

MU: I love coffee so much! I brew my coffee every morning before work using my handy-nofuss Kalita pour over (No, I’m not a barista). Once in a while I do enjoy going to cafés - usually on the weekend or when I run out of beans. From the usual Latte, or a Cortado if I’m feeling extra. My go to places would be Piccolo Cafe and Batches since it’s convenient for me, and I know the Barista and their beans as well.

Muris Uhn IG: @muris

Refining the Traditional

At 26 years old, Wiqa is one of the youngest participants to be invited to the Brunei Gastronomy Week’s annual Taste of Brunei event that sees the most promising culinary talents working together to showcase their skills in the fine dining style. She is unabashedly forthcoming about the ups and downs of working in the kitchen yet there seems to be a refreshingly endless amount of optimism from this young woman with a passion for transforming traditional recipes into refined concepts. From school days in Singapore to working in a five-star property’s pastry kitchen, Wiqa is one star to watch.

You have been baking for almost a decade, what did you find interesting about baking and pastry in comparison to cooking back then, and is your heart still firmly drawn to the beauty of sugar and desserts? How did this journey begin?

W: I find pastry easier to learn than cooking. I’m really good at following instructions, so when I see a baking recipe (it felt convenient to me) that everything has its set measurements compared to cooking, which is mostly according “to taste”. Yes, my heart is fully, wholeheartedly drawn to pastry and baking. I only touched raw meat and fish later in life, and only a handful of times since then. I’ve never cooked a full meal and prefer the smell of pastry kitchens more than anything. My dad has been cooking for the family ever since I could remember. It amazed me how food could be served on a table and everyone in the house would get together and bond over it. Since I couldn’t get the hang of cooking and my

father didn’t bake, I would try out recipes like ones I’d see in magazines and make desserts for my family. They never came out right the first few times, but there was always something that amazed me when I baked. Either the smell of it, or the colours that I could experiment with, how different combinations creates different experiences.

Tell us how Taste of Brunei was like? How did you get involved, and what was the thought process behind that gorgeous coconut udon and gula Melaka consommé dish?

W: My dish was Cendol. I don’t remember a lot of it now, but if I’m not mistaken, we were asked to create a fine dining dish using local ingredients. For me, it’s a refreshing drink with pandan jelly bits. The main flavours are coconut, gula Melaka and pandan. I used fresh coconut milk from the market to make jelly strips that resembled udon and a cold pandan gula Melaka syrup to complement the noodles. This dish was inspired by Chef Jason Licker’s, winner of Iron Chef Thailand Pastry Edition, Vanilla Udon with Strawberry Consommé.

Female chefs don’t seem to be as visible or celebrated in the eye of mainstream social media, including here in Brunei – do you agree with this at all?

W: I think traditionally, men dominated the kitchen. Back then, men were preferred over women because stereotypically they were stronger and this was a big advantage in the kitchen when there’s a lot of heavy lifting needed – especially in mass production. Men were also preferred because kitchen staff need to be on their feet at least seven hours a day, and with girls getting their period once a month, cramps are a nightmare when you have to be on your feet for that long. But as with most industries nowadays, women aren’t seen as weak anymore. Gender discrimination isn’t something our society normalises anymore, and I thank so many girl bosses and women in history for making that possible for future generations.

Wiqa IG: @_sanctu0ry

Street Food to Fine

Dining

Chef Wong Chen Yap has been quietly forging his own path in the local food and beverage industry for the last two decades - an illustrious history that spans a variety of working experience in hospitality, fine dining and private catering. His style is positively versatile as he provides highly personalised menu items, often unique recipes suited to each request, for Muslim and non-Muslim clientele alike. Although Yap loves creating unique dishes that are truly his own, he is always partial to the universality of street food.

You’ve been working in the food and beverage industry for a long time. Give us the highlight reel of the Chef Yap biopic.

WCY: I started working in the area of fine dining about twenty years ago. That was my dream. I love that it’s fancy and everybody likes to look at the food. I’ve been cooking for about 25 years in total. At home when I was younger, I’d started to cook already and during the school holidays I’d go help out at my friend’s shop preparing things and as a helper. My parents also owned an economy rice restaurant. I planned to go to culinary college in Kuala Lumpur, after that I went to the United States, for training at a hotel in New Orleans. After coming back to Malaysia, I worked at the Mandarin Oriental in Kuala Lumpur for two years and that was the start of my journey into cooking as a real job. Decided to come to Brunei after the second year and ended up working at the Charcoal restaurant for almost 15 years. In 2021, I branched out to open my own place and that’s when the pandemic hit. It was really bad timing but I’m lucky I had clients who would ask me to cook for them at their house because they didn’t really want to go out and eat anyway at that point. At first it was more of a fun thing, but (my catering) built up slowly from there as they would always invite friends around. fresh beef, vegetables and fruit, to cook with.

Is there anything you were able to cook there that you can’t quite replicate back here in Southeast Asia, and miss?

WCY: Shrimp Gumbo. New Orleans is influenced by French cuisine so they have a lot of their own style of dishes like the crawfish boils, po’boys, jambalaya. I find that people here don’t really like to eat that kind of food though. They might try it once or twice but they’ll usually go back to Asian food.

What was it like jumping from Southeast Asia to New Orleans? Their food culture and history is very important to them; was there anything that was particularly memorable to you?

WCY: I’d say their barbecue pork ribs, their smoked meats were the most memorable to me. Currently I'm making my version of that and trying to market that here. American cuisine doesn’t have a lot of different cuisines so Asian cuisine is more exciting in that sense. In the States, they have a lot of ingredients, like

What’s the ultimate comfort street food or economy rice set meal for you?

WCY: For street food I’m always looking for something with ice; I like cendol, ABC, that kind of thing, to cool me down especially when I’m in the kitchen and it’s always hot. Probably the wild boar meat with sauce and rice at an economy rice restaurant - it’s nothing fancy but it’s really the best to me.

Chef Yap IG: @chefyup

Where my Carnivores at?

Starting out as a William Angliss Institute graduate a decade ago, Jason Lew has had his fair share of experiences in the industry. His days learning the ropes as a Chef de Partie in veteran Melbourne restaurant, La Camera Southgate, instilled the discipline and knowledge to forge his own path in our local food scene. Once ‘The Fat Chef’ who stole the nation’s hearts and stomachs with his delicious Aussie-styled shrimp and chip fry ups, Jason went on to manage his own 1950’s style restaurant Burger and Grills, for a number of years prior to its recent closure, as well as the kitchen of the Pusat Insani building it is located in. His private catering menus often feature fresh, high quality imported ingredients like Australian Beef Steaks or fresh Pink Salmon, and reflect a refined and nourishing approach to food.

You cook a lot of meat, particularly steaks, in your private catering gigs; besides your own, what’s the best steak you’ve ever had and where did you have it?

JL: This would probably be during my last trip to Melbourne. We had lunch at Dinner by Heston, and they had a Blackmore Wagyu MB9+ Sirloin. I just had to have it on top of everything else we ordered. Beautifully seared which locks in the flavours, bone marrow to accompany and a beef jus to tie it altogether. It’s pretty hard to top but steaks should never be complicated. Season it right, sear it good and just enjoy. Bliss!

You’re a very busy man. What’s your go-to meal in the kitchen when you don’t have time but want something delicious and quick to make?

JL: It used to be just plain white rice and two fried eggs. That would give me enough fuel to last through service and eat while I work. Nowadays, I have a lot of pasta. Some grilled chicken, sautéed garlic and broccoli, tossed together with some lemon and EVOO. Tasty, relatively healthy (compared to what I used to have), quick and easy.

You first ventured into owning a business with your debut brand The Fat Chef – what advice would you give your 23-year-old self about what was to come? Will we ever see a return or version 2.0 of those glorious prawn and chip takeaways?

JL: I would tell my 23-year-old self to be grateful every single day and to appreciate everything that we had. I would also tell myself to be more thankful for the help that the family has given. It didn’t sound a lot back then but thinking about it now, it’s a mountain that they helped me climb over. Take every single opportunity, and do it to the best of your abilities. Never be afraid to give your best and last but not least, always be humble. There was almost a rebirth of that business quite some time ago but let’s see, we’ll never know for sure what’s coming. All we can do is keep moving forward.

Jason IG: @jayyyylew

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Tired of scrolling endlessly to find what you need for your event? We've curated a list of our favourites to completely sort you out from venues to decorations so you can organise stress-free!

Venue

Gardens Veranda

Rimba Garden Central 127, Kg. Rimba, Gadong, BSB (673 2424128, 673 7288889)

The Event Space Brunei Unit 18, Block A, Bangunan Han Mau Yong, Kg. Kiulap, BSB (673 7271193) @tinyspacebn Spg 34, Unit 12, 2nd Floor, Taman Alam Building, Jalan Telanai, BSB (673 8288897)

@adventurelandbonappetit Unit 2&3, Bangunan PSI, Spg 363, Kg. Tungku Gadong, BSB (673 2449009, 673 7317099)

Ikigai Lounge Unit 39, Block C, 2nd Floor, Spg 21, Bangunan Gadong Central, Jalan Gadong, BSB (673 8975255)

@theblueroom.bn Spg 217-5-54, Gadong BE119, BSB (673 8168775)

The Box Brunei

Spg 175, Jalan Telanai, Kg. Telanai, BSB (673 7133343)

@eventdeco.bn For birthday parties corporate events & table decorations (673 8978600)

quadravision decoration Helium balloons, balloon bouquets & decorations (673 8368844)

@dreamsandparties Party kits, event decorations & bridal showers (673 8906114)

@dvoted_events Event planning, wedding decors, DJ & Emcee (673 8738184)

@theotherpicnic.co Pop-up picnics & themed decorations (Visit their IG for more info)