Chef Joon's Biography (Write-up by Gusto Italiano SG)
Proud to be one of three Asians featured by Gusto Italiano SG! Chef Joon Kian Pow, never enrolled in a culinary school – but his food odyssey was sparked at an early age. As a small boy, he learnt the basics by watching his grandmother cook, picking up a few Asian recipes on his own. In 1999, the Malaysian-born Joon packed his bag to start a career in the Swiss Merchant Court in Singapore, where he spent 2 years building his foundation, undertaking cold kitchen duties to western cuisine. He joined Fullerton hotel under the wing of an Italian Executive Chef to hone his skills in pasta, grilled meat and seafood before returning to Malaysia in 2003, leading a new local restaurant as head chef. However, the cheeky wide-eyed grin Joon was always hungry to learn. His curiosity to know the culinary style behind a fine dining scene eventually led him back to Singapore to hone his skills. In 2004, Joon finally joined Les Amis Group as a Chef de Partie in Au Jardin, learning the ropes of French fine dining for 3 years. He joined the award winning Iggy’s for 1 year afterwards as their Chef de Partie to broaden his knowledge of styles and seasons of cooking from other reputable brands before re-joining the group in 2008 as Sous Chef at Les Amis. Finally before returning to Malaysia early this year, he took up the challenge of being head chef of the group’s new Italian trattoria, La Strada. With a range of experiences under his belt, Joon believes that in order to grow, you have to take risks and experiment – like cooking meat as it is tricky to adapt to different ovens. Each chef has their own personal style of cooking, so always keen an open mind. His passion in cooking comes from the satisfaction he gets when seeing a happy customer enjoy the fruits of his labor. When he is not cooking up a storm in the kitchen, the fun-loving chef enjoys a casual get-together with other chef friends, many whom have worked with him during a milestone of his 15-year career. They exchange ideas, share tips, and enjoy a beer or two. Chef Joon had appeared in many SG food bloggers, ‘Wine & Dine SG’ magazine and various publications and he is known by many social elites from various countries like Hong Kong, Philippines, Jakarta etc. Bienvenue Restaurant
Our aim since the opening of this restaurant has always been providing high quality food, only using mainly imported ingredients without MSG and any other additives. The catch is the pricing to enjoy all these food is kept at a minimal so that everyone will be able to have a taste of fine dining without splurging thousands. Here at Bienvenue, we provide catering services, private/public dinner events, supplying food to cafes and restaurants and most of all, due to Chef Joon’s experiences in F&B, he is more than capable of providing F&B consultation to those who are interested in investing or coming into the F&B industry. If you are interested in any of services above, call or email us and let us help you. There is no harm in making new friends!
