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I vowed to work hard to become a chef of a Michelin-starred restaurant one day. It was when I was studying in Paris that I began to understand and appreciate more deeply the honour a Michelin star brings, as well as the expectations that come with it. At that point, my father was the reigning Iron Chef Chinese so I spent a lot of time around set and that was my first awareness of the MICHELIN Guide, and the concept and prestige behind it. My first encounter with the MICHELIN Guide was when I was in high school while watching the Iron Chef programme. What was your first encounter with the MICHELIN Guide? Here, he shares about what it was like when Shisen Hanten in Singapore received two Michelin stars for the first time. Having honed his skills working alongside his father and garnering experience in Sichuan restaurants in the Sichuan province in China from 2005 to 2008, Chen Kentaro has imbued his own culinary style to the cuisine at Shisen Hanten, while keeping true to its Japanese Sichuan roots. Shisen Hanten at the Mandarin Orchard Singapore was the chain’s debut outside of Japan and set the stage for third-generation chef Chen Kentaro to continue his family legacy.
#Chef chen kenichi series#
His eldest son, Chen Kenichi, found fame on the hugely successful television series Iron Chef and expanded the family business. Shisen Hanten was started in 1958 by the late Chen Kenmin, a Sichuan native who migrated to Japan and began sharing the delicacies of his hometown at his restaurant. Shisen Hanten in Singapore was to be led by his son, Chen Kentaro, who’d followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, bringing their brand of Sichuan cuisine to a wider audience. In 2014, Shisen Hanten opened in a swanky space at Mandarin Orchard to much fanfare - it was the first overseas outpost of Akasaka Szechuan Restaurant helmed by Japanese celebrity chef Chen Kenichi with 14 branches in six cities across the country.