James Won · 文明辉

Cuisine as heritage,
diplomacy, and soul.

Krug Single Ingredient: Pepper — the official Krug campaign film with James Won
KRUG SINGLE INGREDIENT — PEPPER · 2023
CUISINE AS THE LANGUAGE

Across fourteen years and six rooms, my work speaks the language of memory, respect, and innovation. Trained in French technique in Paris, in the Lyonnaise bouchon tradition, and in the discipline of Japanese yōshoku — and mastered in contemporary and modernist cuisine across fourteen years of Malaysian fine dining. Most recently, I have carried that body of practice into the cultural-diplomacy work through Serumpun Sarawak — a conservation study with Borneo's thirty-four indigenous communities, from which I am developing the French-Borneo cuisine platform.

France has twice knighted me; I carry both honours as obligation, not ornament.

CHEVALIER · 2024 Ordre du Mérite Agricole
CHEVALIER · 2014 Ordre des Coteaux de Champagne
Indigenous Sarawak ingredient — close-up, terroir-led.
NOSE TO TAIL · TERROIR · TERRUÑO

Sustainability, indigenous ingredients, and zero-waste are not trends — they are values that live in every plate.

The same ingredient, finished — Contemporary French execution.
Serumpun Sarawak — Borneo, the work in the field
CULTURAL DIPLOMACY

Serumpun Sarawak

Borneo's thirty-four indigenous communities. The conservation study endorsed by UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy — Kuching. The platform now carrying that work to Osaka and beyond — and the foundation of the French-Borneo cuisine I am building.

Discover Serumpun

Try Krug Chef's Table, Mortlach, Locally Sauced, Mérite Agricole, Ryoutei, or Serumpun Osaka.