Tony Tan

Tony Tan describes his earliest, formative food education as an explosion of flavours and ideas akin to a culinary tsunami. Growing up in Kuantan, on the east coast of Malaysia, the son of Hainanese immigrants - a father who ran a rest house and a mother who was an accomplished, endlessly curious cook - he was blessed with an open mind, attentive parents and a dynamic ever-evolving diaspora around him. His Malay neighbours taught him to cook beef rendang, his Peranakan neighbours gave him an...See more

Tony Tan describes his earliest, formative food education as an explosion of flavours and ideas akin to a culinary tsunami. Growing up in Kuantan, on the east coast of Malaysia, the son of Hainanese immigrants - a father who ran a rest house and a mother who was an accomplished, endlessly curious cook - he was blessed with an open mind, attentive parents and a dynamic ever-evolving diaspora around him. His Malay neighbours taught him to cook beef rendang, his Peranakan neighbours gave him an appreciation of chicken cooked with buah keluak, and his Indian-Tamil friends showed him how to eat rotis and chapatis. Across multiple subsequent decades in Australia, the UK and France, through studies of history, language and food, his own restaurants, cooking schools, and food tours, Tan has continued a journey of learning and discovery that endears him to all who know him - and never ends. He lives in the central Victorian town of Trentham, where he runs legendary cooking classes and inspires the next generation of cooks. See less