How did you get started in cooking?
I’ve cooked for about 30 years. I just like it – because I like to eat! When I cook for myself, I like it simple – seafood and vegetables.

What’s special about Tse Yang?
I think that for the restaurant everything is special – good food, good service. It all comes together. Tse Yang is a chain, and in different countries we tailor the menus to where we are – so in Thailand there are so many Chinese people, but here I think there aren’t that many, so we make a few dishes that don’t use all the Chinese flavours. I came here, and in the beginning I’d go to some restaurants, checking the food, seeing what the people liked. And after I made the menu for this Tse Yang, I tried to give it a little bit of everything, like some spicy and some sweet, but I’m starting to introduce the big Chinese flavours again now.

There are a lot of Chinese restaurants – why is Chinese food so popular?
You know for the Chinese food, there are so many items, so many different sauces, from dim sum to barbecue. It’s just the variety that makes it popular, I think.

You won Best Newcomer!
I’m very happy we won.

What’s your favorite dish on the menu?
For me, I like everything on there. But I think the the Peking duck is my favourite.