Last year was a pivotal year for the Malaysian restaurant industry. Although things started out bumpy and chaotic with the Covid-19 pandemic still rearing its ugly head, by the end of 2022, the industry was indelibly changed by three key words: the Michelin Guide.
The Michelin Guide debuted in Kuala Lumpur and Penang in December 2022 and although its after-effects will only be fully felt a few years from now, already seismic changes are afoot in the local dining scene, many (but not all) of them directly related to the guide’s presence.
Here are our predictions of what is likely to be big in the F&B industry in 2023.
For years, many of the brightest Malaysian culinary talents looked abroad to expand their horizons, often heading for seemingly greener pastures in Europe, north America or other culinary hotspots in Asia.
Penang-born Mano Thevar for example, now helms the eponymous Thevar, a two-Michelin starred eatery while Malaysian chefs Levin Lau and Adam Wan are the executive chef and head chef respectively at three Michelin-starred Singaporean restaurant Odette, rated one of the world’s best restaurants.
But now that the Michelin Guide has officially entered the Kuala Lumpur and Penang dining scene, 2023 could potentially be the year that many established and experienced born-and-bred Malaysian culinary stalwarts finally return to home ground, now that there is a chance to stand out here.
“Yes, I definitely foresee that some Malaysian chefs based overseas will come back to open up something, because of the Michelin Guide. I have recently heard of many chef friends who say they want to do this.
“In fact, a friend of mine has been a chef in Australia for 15 years and has now had investors approaching him to come here and open his own restaurant. And he wants to come back because now there is an opportunity to shine here,” says Raymond Tham, the chef-owner of Michelin Selected KL restaurants Skillet and Beta.
Mui Kai Quan, who helms restaurants like Shhhhbuuuleee and Chocha Foodstore says that this influx of experienced Malaysian F&B industry heavyweights may not just be limited to chefs.
“In the past, chefs might have wanted to come back to Malaysia to open a restaurant but conditions may not have been very welcoming and the clientele may not have been ready for more inventive fare.
“But now more good chefs will be coming back, and the sort of top end restaurants they are looking at setting up will need equivalent talent in order to up their game, because these are the people who make the game better,” says Mui.More upscale restaurants aiming for the stars
Getting on the prestigious Michelin Guide is often a point of pride, but perhaps more importantly, it has a huge impact on traffic to restaurants bestowed this honour. Tham for instance, reports that since making it onto the Michelin Selected restaurants, both Skillet and Beta have seen a 20% surge in international guests.
So it goes without saying that in 2023, many new restaurant openings will be geared towards recognition in the Michelin Guide.
What this means in reality is that there is likely to be a surge in high-end restaurants offering creative degustation dinners designed to showcase ingenuity and skill. Rumours are also rife in the industry that individuals with deep pockets will be looking at reeling in top international chefs to the country, now that there is a tangible reason for them to come.
“Yes, there are a lot of rumours that Michelin-starred chefs will be coming to Malaysia, so I definitely would see hopefully more chefs come in from overseas and start to teach younger chefs better techniques and start to see cuisines be elevated in the coming years,” says celebrated local chef Darren Chin, whose famed restaurant DC is one of only two restaurants in Kuala Lumpur to earn an elusive Michelin star.
“The Michelin Guide has so much rich history and the first round is to inform the country what the guide represents and that automatically elevates the gastronomy here. So I think chefs here will be definitely inclined to create dishes based on their own convictions – something that is lacking right now.
“So this year, I think we will see a lot of chefs truly expressing themselves,” says Chin.
Even for Chin, there is a strong aspiration to be better and do more. It took him over a decade to earn his first Michelin star and now he is even more determined to improve standards at DC and potentially earn another star in 2023.
“A Michelin star is always a good accreditation to have and it is every chef’s dream to earn that one star. So I need to maintain that and what I have learnt is that having one star gives you confidence and a better understanding about yourself and the direction to go. It gives you a launch pad to further push yourself and look at yourself in terms of the dishes that you represent.
“So that is more challenging than thinking about expanding. So what’s in the pipeline? I would like to push for two stars next year,” he says.
Over the past few years, a number of restaurants have emerged in the vein of Dewakan (like Eat & Cook and Akar Dining), echoing this ethos of modern Malaysian cuisine, or at least the sort of cuisine that propagates the use of local flavours and ingredients fused with European techniques or ideas.
Now that Dewakan has put progressive Malaysian cuisine on the map, it is highly likely that others will look to follow in Teoh’s pioneering footsteps in 2023.
“I think we will be seeing a lot more modern Malaysian restaurants like Eat & Cook and Akar. I don’t know how sustainable these restaurants will be, because Malaysians still balk at paying huge sums of money for local produce when they could get it for far less somewhere else.
“On the flip side, these could be places that potentially drive foreign tourists and help bring local ingredients to the forefront,” says Nicholas Thang, the chef-owner of Honest Butcher by Chef Nickt.
Sustainability has also become a huge driving factor for many restaurant owners and chefs especially given the supply chain upheavals caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, which is why local produce and ingredients are likely to feature more prominently in starring roles in 2023, even on menus that typically would be very import-driven.
“Yes, I definitely can see more restaurants championing local produce. In turn, I hope more local producers can give us better quality produce instead of exporting the best stuff to Singapore, which is what farmers have been doing all this while. We want to support local produce, so if the quality is good, we are willing to pay more,” says Tham.
Other chefs say it doesn’t matter whether people are turning to local produce for the sake of chasing Michelin stars.
The most important thing is that going local is the most sustainable way forward, so if 2023 is the year things start to change – this will be for the collective good of the industry.
“To me, it doesn’t matter whether people are doing it for the sake of Michelin Guide, especially if they are putting a bigger spotlight on local produce. I really think we should be cooking with produce around us – it is our responsibility to highlight that.
“So whether you are a restaurant that cooks local cuisine or European cuisine, it doesn’t stop you from using local ingredients if the quality is good. I have already seen it happening over the past few years in restaurants in KL, so I think it will become more important this year,” says Mui.
You’ve probably noticed in the past year alone that charcoal grilled food has taken off in leaps and bounds. This is a trend that is likely going to grow exponentially in 2023 as chefs look to their roots and heritage for inspiration.
“I think charcoal grilling is going to be more prominent this year, because this kind of cooking exists in every cuisine, so it is very relevant to all Malaysians and I think it will be a very popular cooking method in 2023,” agrees Tham.
Tham’s views are echoed by Mui who says that customers are looking for cleaner flavours that rely less on fancy ingredients and more on pure, old-school cooking methods.
“I think now people are going back to basic cooking. Chefs are saying ‘Let’s go back to our roots and go back to charcoal,” says Mui.
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