Precision. Legacy. Roots.
Where French classical rigour holds the living wisdom of Borneo — in conversation, in discipline, in every plate.
Every element on the plate must earn its place. Not through effort, but through necessity. It must contribute to flavour, texture, or the aromatic architecture of the dish — or it does not belong.
A dish by James Won operates through two or three elements in dialogue. Texture against softness. The brightness of fermentation against the depth of fire. A foraged medicinal flora against the honesty of a single primary ingredient. The plate breathes. Nothing is wasted. Nothing is surplus.
“The plate is not a canvas for self-expression. It is a promise to the person seated before it.”
— James Won
01
Cuisine as national representation. From Expo 2025 Osaka to state-level cultural programmes — gastronomy in the service of heritage, identity, and soft power.
02
Krug Ambassade. Gaggenau Culinary Spokesperson. Hennessy. The Macallan. BMW. The Plan. Maison narratives told at the table — in the register each house was built to command.
03
Serumpun Sarawak. Indigenous knowledge elevated, documented, and returned. Biodiversity as culinary heritage. The forest as the oldest kitchen we have.
04
Asia’s only Krug Chef’s Table — conceived in dialogue with Maison Krug. A singular dining platform that redefined the intersection of champagne individuality and culinary precision , and set a benchmark the region still measures against.
05
Adjunct Lecturer, Taylor’s University. Serumpun Mentee Programme. Passing the craft forward — not as instruction, but as formation.
06
Hotel, resort, and airline menu architecture. Government cultural programmes. Culinary advisory rooted in integrity, provenance, and enduring design.
Honouring the custodians of the forest. Inspiring the architects of its future. A structured, long-term conservation movement at the intersection of indigenous knowledge, scientific research, and contemporary gastronomy — documenting and elevating the food culture of Sarawak’s 34 indigenous communities.
Endorsed by UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy — Kuching. Presented at Expo 2025, Osaka. Adopted by Sarawak Cultural Village as a permanent culinary platform, April 2026.
Shin’Labo by James Won — the first restaurant in HAPA history to win three awards in a single ceremony: Best Restaurant of the Year, Best Service Excellence, and Culinary Achievement Award.
“Perhaps Malaysia’s best-known chef.” Ongoing editorial presence across Tatler Asia and Tatler Philippines since 2013.
Enfin by James Won. Tatler Malaysia rated 4.5 / 5 stars, Best Restaurant Guide 2016.
Sustainability recognition for additive-free culinary practice at Enfin by James Won.
Krug Ambassade Chef · First and Only Malaysian Member of the Global Krug Ambassade Network
Inducted 12 June 2014. Twelve years of continuous creative collaboration. Established Asia’s only Krug Chef’s Table, first at Enfin, then at Shin’Labo. Participates in the Krug Single Ingredient programme annually since inception.
Culinary Ambassador · The Only Chef Invited Back Across All Editions of the Hennessy X.O Gastronomy Series
2014: Co-created Appreciation Grows gala at Carcosa Seri Negara with 1-star Chef Accursio Craparo. 2016: Curated Odyssey dinner series with Chef Nurdin Topham (NUR, Hong Kong). Appointed Hennessy Chef Ambassador for H-Gourmet, Vietnam. Co-hosted Paradis Imperial Dinner with Maurice Hennessy, 8th generation. Enfin by James Won housed the world’s only dedicated Hennessy Salon.
First Malaysian Culinary Spokesperson · Founded Gaggenau, Germany, 1683
The appointment was inaugurated at the Inspirational Haus showcase in Kuala Lumpur, October 2024. Won’s mantra — Precision. Legacy. Roots. — maps onto Gaggenau’s own language with unusual exactness. Gaggenau holds a formal partnership with the MICHELIN Guide as its Official Home Kitchen Appliance Brand, and its global chef community — the Black Jacket Society — includes Daniel Humm, Eric Ripert, Daniel Boulud, and Jean-Georges Vongerichten.
First Malaysian Ambassador · Lumezzane, Brescia, Northern Italy · Founded 1947
A third-generation Italian family house. First manufacturer of 18/10 stainless steel flatware in Lumezzane. The STILE collection was co-designed with Pininfarina and won the Red Dot Design Award. Won is Mepra’s first Ambassador in Malaysia and Southeast Asia.
Inaugural Brand Ambassador
Through The Plan’s association with Poggenpohl, Ernestomeda, and Porro, Won’s role reflects a clear idea: the kitchen is not only a place where food is prepared, but a space where hospitality, design, and intention meet. The same discipline that governs a plate also governs a hospitality concept or an institutional F&B strategy.
Brand Collaborator
Launched Malaysia’s first Mortlach Room at MeatMore (October 2023). Signature: 35-day Mortlach whisky-aged USDA prime steak. Exclusive whisky-pairing dinners at Shin’Labo.
A 2,700 sq ft reservation-only dining laboratory fusing Japanese Yōshoku cuisine, classical French technique, and Malaysian indigenous ingredients. Four spaces: Shin’Lounge, Maison du Caviar, Shin’Kappō, and the Krug Ryōutei. Philosophy rooted in the Five Elements and wabi-sabi aesthetics. HAPA Triple Award winner 2023–24.
Kuala Lumpur’s first dedicated meat specialist restaurant, opened by HRH Sultanah Kalsom. In-house butcher, binchōtan grill, parrilla, smoker, and open spit. Halal-certified. Houses Malaysia’s first Mortlach Room.
Won’s biodynamic farm supplying 60–90% of fresh produce to his restaurants. Grown in soil, harvested at peak. The material expression of his conviction that how food is grown is inseparable from how it tastes.
Flagship fine-dining, Menara Hap Seng 1. Asia’s only Krug Chef’s Table. Malaysia’s only Hennessy Salon. Time Out KL Best New Opening 2016.
Inaugural restaurant. First Malaysian inductee into the Krug Ambassade network (12 June 2014). Tatler Malaysia 4.5/5 stars.
Malaysia’s first 360° motion-sensitive projection dining experience. Presenting partner: Hennessy.
French bistro at Pavilion KL. Community meals for B40 communities during MCO 2021.
Pandemic-era luxury delivery service. Featured in Robb Report Malaysia.
American-style casual dining. Two outlets: Oasis Ara Damansara and Setiawalk, Puchong.
For five years, Won volunteered with Kechara Soup Kitchen during night distribution rounds, bringing food directly to the urban poor on the streets of Kuala Lumpur. He did not speak publicly of this work during that time. It was not a campaign. It was a practice.
Served as Committee Member. The 2023 edition raised RM5 million for 13 charities and NGOs across Malaysia.
During Malaysia’s Movement Control Order, Won directed Bouchon Enfin at Pavilion Kuala Lumpur to distribute free daily meals to B40 communities — without announcement, as a matter of course.
Training indigenous chefs to carry their own food heritage forward. Knowledge is returned to the communities that created it, not retained by the individual who documented it.
Teaches culinary arts, restaurant entrepreneurship, and sustainability. Shapes curriculum on cultural storytelling in cuisine and the integration of indigenous ingredients into contemporary cookery.
“Own Your Journey” — on perseverance, authenticity, and building a luxury brand through conviction.
Curated the exclusive Friends of WGS private dinner for international VIP guests. Live cooking demonstrations and farm-to-table philosophy.
Enfin by James Won participated in the French Republic’s global Good France programme. Won collaborated in the organisation of Goût de France activities across Kuala Lumpur in 2019, co-creating programme materials pairing visiting French chefs with local produce.
Krug Single Ingredient. Original recipe contributed to the global collaborative publication.
75 cultural interpretations. Original recipe.
18 Ambassade chefs, three continents. Original recipe.
Inaugural Single Ingredient publication. Original recipe.
Co-authored publications with the Sarawak Tourism Board and Ministry for Expo 2025 Osaka.
Column: French discipline applied to Malaysian gastronomy.
“Chef James Won on Designing a Kitchen” — kitchen functionality, workflow, and design principles.
The work spans gastronomy, diplomacy, conservation, and design — but the question at its centre has never changed: what honours the past while designing the future? Every plate, every partnership, every programme is measured against that single standard.
James MF Won
Chevalier de l’Ordre du Mérite Agricole
Chevalier de l’Ordre des Coteaux de Champagne
Kuala Lumpur · Borneo · Paris