In celebration of our 30th anniversary, The Datai Langkawi is delighted to announce the 2023 edition of The Chef Series, the resort’s signature dining experience celebrating the very best in gastronomic talent from the region and around the world. Previous editions have welcomed culinary luminaries such as the late Michel Roux, Nils Henkel and other renowned Michelin-starred chefs to showcase their extraordinary skill and talent for guests of the resort.
The stellar line up of chefs in this forthcoming edition further reinforces The Datai Langkawi’s position as a destination for gastronomic excellence. Each of the resort’s four restaurants offers a unique natural setting to elevate the dining experience, including the award-winning The Gulai House, sequestered within the rainforest. The Datai Langkawi also has a fully stocked wine cellar to complement its celebrated cuisine. Its extensive wine list of over 450 selections has received international recognition with the coveted Wine Spectator award in 2021; just one of over 200 accolades attained by the resort since its inception in 1993.
The 2023 edition of The Chef Series represents a compendium of fine dining, encompassing different cuisines, cultures and styles: haute cuisine from France, contemporary Indian from Singapore, modern eclectic from the UK, new wave cuisine from Malaysia and classic European from the Netherlands. Each Chef will offer specially crafted menus which will also feature sustainable organic produce cultivated at The Datai Langkawi’s zero-waste Permaculture Garden, illustrating a shared philosophy of utilising high quality locally sourced and seasonal ingredients.
The six chefs who will take residence at The Datai Langkawi over the course of 2023 are confirmed as:
- 21, 27-28 December 2022, Tom Aikens from Muse London, UK (one Michelin star)
- 3-5 February 2023, Arnaud Faye from La Chèvre d’Or, Èze, France (two Michelin stars)
- 28-29 April 2023, Darren Teoh from Dewakan, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (one Michelin star)
- 23-34 June 2023, Mano Thevar from Thevar, Singapore (two Michelin stars)
- 12-13 and 18-19 August 2023, Lars van Galen, from 't Lansink, Hengelo, The Netherlands (one Michelin star)
- 14-15 December 2023, Michel & Sébastien Bras from Bras (two Michelin stars)/ Le Suquet (three Michelin stars), Laguiole, France
Each chef will deliver intimate dining events to guests at the resort’s spectacular fine dining venue, The Dining Room, overlooking the main pool. The alfresco dining experience is amplified by the enchanting sights and sounds of the rainforest together with the stunning backdrop of the Andaman sea and the surrounding islands. Certain chef events will also be accompanied by cooking demonstrations and a Masterclass, where guests will be able to enjoy a unique hands-on gastronomic experience with the chef and prepare their very own culinary creations.
Arnaud Girodon, General Manager of The Datai Langkawi, comments: “Exceptional dining in the splendour of the rainforest setting has always been a quintessential part of The Datai experience. With The Chef Series we have been honoured by some of the very best gastronomic talent from around the world, cementing our commitment to providing exceptional dining to our guests. The last few years have seen a sea change in the industry, with a move towards a more natural or conscious approach to dining through emphasising seasonality, provenance, and local produce. Our award-winning guest chefs all advocate the primacy of these aspects - which privilege the quality of the ingredients, imbuing flavours with nuance and subtlety and elevating the richness of the overall experience. Their philosophies resonate very much with The Datai Langkawi’s dedication to sustainability, working in harmony with nature and supporting local and ethical producers and artisans who share our vision”.
For further enquiries or to make a reservation, please call +60 4 9500 500 or email reservations@dataihotels.com
Tom Aikens is the youngest British chef ever to be awarded two Michelin stars at the age of 26. Chef Aikens is the owner and head chef of Muse, an intimate fine dining establishment in Belgravia, London. A year after its 2021 opening, Muse was awarded one Michelin star for its nostalgia-based concept menu. Chef Aikens’ wide portfolio of culinary ventures also includes The Jade Room + Garden Terrace in Tokyo, with another 3 restaurants located in Abu Dhabi, and Tom’s by Tom Aikens in Jakarta, amongst others.
Chef Aikens is a passionate advocate of sourcing the highest quality local produce and provenance driven by seasonality and diversity and was a pioneer of the ethically sourced food movement. At The Datai Langkawi, Chef Aikens will present a degustation menu displaying his characteristic creative flair and verve.
Chef Aiken’s ascent in the gastronomic world commenced with positions at La Tante Claire with Pierre Koffman, when the restaurant won its third Michelin star, and the two-Michelin-starred Pied à Terre with Chef Richard Neat, before he moved to France to gain more three-star experience, with Chef Joël Robuchon in Paris and Chef Gérard Boyer’s Les Crayères in Reims. In 1996, Aikens rejoined Pied à Terre in London as co-proprietor and Head Chef before opening the eponymous Tom Aikens Restaurant in Chelsea in 2003. Combining classical French haute cuisine with a touch of modern British sensibility, Tom Aikens Restaurant was awarded two Michelin stars in 2008. The more casual brasserie-style Tom’s Kitchen was launched in 2006, which at its zenith operated five outlets in the UK and one in Istanbul.
Chef Aikens has written three cookbooks Tom Aikens Cooking (2006), Fish (2008) and Easy (2011) and has made multiple television appearances. He has worked with a number of charities including School Food Matters where he taught young children basic cooking skills.
Masterclass at The Dapur on 21 December 2022:
MYR 800* per person
Degustation Dinner at The Dining Room on 21, 27 and 28 December 2022:
MYR 880* per person | MYR 1,350* per person (including wine pairing)
*All prices are subject to 10% service charge.
Arnaud Faye carries the prestigious title of Meilleur Ouvrier de France (MOF) and is the Executive Chef of Château de la Chèvre d'Or, a 5 star deluxe hotel in Eze, French Riviera, France, where he oversees the hotel’s three restaurants including the gourmet La Chèvre d’Or, awarded two Michelin stars. The cuisine at La Chèvre d’Or is inspired by the variegated terroir of the natural surroundings, from the spectacular azure seas of the Mediterrean to the awe-inspiring rocky valleys and hills of the richly biodiverse Mercantour. Chef Faye’s distinctive culinary style embraces a classic mode whilst incorporating the high-quality produce cultivated from the rich surrounding landscape. He attributes his hallmark qualities of knowledge, precision, discipline and pursuit of perfection to working under highly esteemed and renowned Michelin star Chefs Antoine Westermann, Patrick Henriroux and Michel Roth, and is passionate about supporting upcoming gastronomic talent.
Chef Faye’s culinary trajectory began with the acclaimed Relais & Châteaux group in France, at the properties of La Pyramide in Vienne, a two-Michelin-starred restaurant. He then joined Antoine Westermann’s highly celebrated The Buerehiesel before moving to Relais Bernard Loiseau, both three-Michelin-starred restaurants.
In 2007, he joined L’Espadon as head Chef in the renowned Hotel Ritz in Paris, working alongside Executive Chef Michel Roth, with whom he collaborated on a book of the hotel’s haute cuisine recipes. Two years later, the restaurant was awarded two Michelin stars. In 2011, Chef Faye moved as Executive Sous Chef to the newly-opened Palace Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Paris, which was awarded two Michelin stars, less than a year after its opening. In 2012, he was appointed as Executive Chef of the Auberge du Jeu de Paume in Chantilly, owned by His Highness the Prince Aga Khan. In 2013, The Auberge du Jeu de Paume was awarded The Best Restaurant in Europe by the Grand Prix Villegiature, and it obtained two Michelin stars in 2014, 2015 and 2016.
Degustation Dinner at The Dining Room on 3, 4 and 5 February 2023:
MYR 900* per person | MYR 1,600* per person (including wine pairing)
*All prices are subject to 10% service charge.
Malaysian-born Darren Teoh is the Head Chef of Dewakan in Kuala Lumpur, offering modern Malaysian cuisine. The restaurant was recently awarded 1 star by the Michelin Guide 2023 and voted ‘The Best Restaurant in Malaysia 2022’ by Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants. Chef Teoh is famed for his passion for provenance and for building intricate menus around indigenous ingredients which he feels represent the DNA of Malaysia’s terroir. He has painstakingly traced the sources of many indigenous ingredients throughout the country before reinterpreting the flavours in his inimitable style - imaginative, adventurous, and inquisitive.
The restaurant’s name Dewakan is a portmanteau of the words ‘Dewa’ and ‘makan’, in this context meaning food from the gods, and refers to the abundance, uniqueness and diversity of ingredients in Malaysia. By looking at the best seasonal ingredients available and using them without the limitations of a set cultural context, Dewakan takes the liberty of moving the borders of what Malaysian cuisine means.
Degustation Dinner at The Dining Room on 28 and 29 April 2023:
MYR 750* per person | MYR 950* per person (including non-alcoholic beverage pairing) | MYR 1,200* per person (including wine pairing)
*All prices are subject to 10% service charge.
Guests can also experience Chef Darren Teoh’s innovative cuisine at his 1-Michelin starred restaurant Dewakan in Kuala Lumpur. Click here to make a booking.
Originally from Penang, Mano Thevar is the Chef owner of the recently awarded two- Michelin-starred modern Indian restaurant Thevar, in Singapore. Traditional flavours and heritage are preserved by giving them new life through incorporating new culinary techniques. With his culinary training in the French tradition, Thevar has reinvented Indian cuisine, artfully infusing classical French techniques with Japanese produce and Malaysian Indian flavours to create a novel fine dining experience. Thevar stresses the importance of ingredients, emphasising seasonality, as well as craftsmanship derived from patience, care and attention to detail in his quest to reinvent a cuisine that is over 8,000 years old.
Chef Thevar began his career at Guy Savoy and Waku Ghin in Singapore, before leaving for Netherlands to further his professional skills at the two- Michelin-starred Pure C in Zeeland. Thevar was launched in 2019, bringing to fruition the Chef’s life-long interest in remixing influences, textures and flavours, and his experience working with different cuisines and techniques.
Chef Thevar constantly strives to expand his knowledge on Indian food and has conducted visits to the Indian sub-continent, experimenting with ingredients such as spices that are more prevalent in this region and less common in Singapore and Malaysia. Whilst the focus at Thevar is more on North Indian food, Chef Thevar is currently experimenting with tangier spices of South Indian food.
Degustation Dinner at The Dining Room on 23 and 24 June 2023:
MYR 800* per person | MYR 1,000* per person (including non-alcoholic beverage pairing) | MYR 1,300* per person (including wine pairing)
*All prices are subject to 10% service charge.
Lars van Galen is the owner and Head Chef of 't Lansink in the historic district of Tuindorp in The Netherlands. A year after he joined 't Lansink, the restaurant was awarded one Michelin star. The highly-awarded Chef van Galen describes the basis of his cuisine as classic although employing a modern presentation, with a meticulous attention to detail where “colours and flavours jump out at you.” He strongly emphasises high quality local produce and “cooking with the seasons”, which he believes imbues more flavour to the dish, as well as a highly refined sense of craftsmanship. Chef van Galen is also known for his strong operational ethic and for his focus on hospitality, evinced by the restaurant’s reputation for its character and warmth as well as its exceptional service.
Chef van Galen’s career trajectory includes several prominent restaurants in the Netherlands such as Restaurant Onder de Boompjes and Château Neercanne in Maastricht during his training with the Guild of Dutch Master Chefs. Upon completing his training, he later returned to Château Neercanne where he worked for five years as a Sous-Chef. In 2007, he joined De Bloemenbeek in de Lutte as Chef de Cuisine where was able to fully develop his cuisine style. The restaurant obtained a Michelin star in 2011 and in the same year Chef van Galen won the coveted International Prix Culinaire by Le Taittinger, an international gastronomical contest held and judged by professionals. In 2012 Chef van Galen moved to t’Lansink, after which the restaurant was awarded a Michelin star in 2013.
Michel and Sébastien Bras are the revered father and son duo behind the highly esteemed restaurants Le Suquet and the eponymous Bras, both in Laguiole, France, as well as Toya in Hokkaido in Japan and the La Halle aux Grains in Paris, which recently opened to much fanfare. The celebrated Le Suquet embraces the rich terroir of their native Aubrac and has held three Michelin stars for 18 years, whilst the two-Michelin-starred Toya recreates the cuisine of Aubrac through the rich bounty of Hokkaido; and La Halle aux Grains transports guests from the Aubrac region to Japan to Paris on a unique journey using plant-based food as its starting point.
The Bras describe nature as their essence. In their native Aubrac, they champion local produce in their cuisine, particularly the use of indigenous vegetables, and work with sustainable and ethical producers to preserve the natural world and conserve traditions. Their commitment to nature is reflected in their exceptionally crafted cuisine. Highly experimental in their approach, the Bras are constantly innovating and reinventing their cuisines through ingredients and techniques. They have developed their own repertoire of flavourings, termed as ‘Niacs’, which “animate, structure, provoke and question,” ultimately bringing out the intensity of the dish.
Michel’s first foray into restaurant ventures began in 1968 when he took over the running of his parents’ restaurant in Laguiole. He crafted his cuisine which has been described as both “refined and audacious” and “a transcription of nature and a contemporary reflection of Aubrac”. He launched Le Suquet in 1992, with Sébastien joining the restaurant in 1995 initially as a pâtisserie Chef following several internships at celebrated restaurants including the eponymous three-Michelin-starred Michel Guérin, one of the founders of Novelle Cuisine and Cuisine Minceur. Le Suquet received its third Michelin star in 1999. Toya was launched at Hotel Windsor in Hokkaido in 2002 and La Halle aux Grains, located at the Bourse de Commerce which houses part of the Pinault Collection, in 2021.