September 11, 2023, Malaysia:  Renowned Australian and New Zealand chefs have confirmed that they will be joining the  Kita Food Festival  which will be held in Singapore and Malaysia in October this year.    Tickets for all festival events are now on sale and can be booked directly from the websitewww.kitafoodfestival.com

The line-up of Aussie and NZ chefs bringing their talents to the SE Asian food festival include:

PENANG 

Friday October 13 | Au Jardin

New Zealand’s Vaughan Mabee, MasterChef judge and Chef of the Year, from Amisfield will collaborate with Malaysian Kim Hock Su at Michelin starred Au Jardin. The dinner will showcase the two chef’s culinary skills using fresh artisanal produce.

SINGAPORE

Thursday October 19, Friday October 20 | Four-hand dinner at Marguerite, Singapore

India’s Prateek Sadhu will join forces with Australian chef Michael Wilson from Marguerite in Singapore for a four-hand dinner. The two chefs will create a thoughtful tasting menu based on Prateek’s quest to discover the lost ingredients of India, with Michael’s worldly cuisine.

Friday October 20, Saturday October 21  |  Four-hand dinner at Underdog Inn

Australian chefs  Matt Stone  from Mosey on Inn  (@ciaomate & @youbeauty2479) and author of The Natural Cook, along with Peter Smit from Underdog Inn  will combine their unique Aussie  talents to create lunch and dinner feasting menus across two days.

Saturday October 21 | Six-hand lunch and dinner at Kubo, Singapore 

Avant garde Filipino chefs Ross Magnaye from Serai Kitchen in Melbourne, John Kevin Navoa from Hapagin Manila and  Kurt Sombero from Kubo in Singapore at Kubo join hands  for a six-hand Filipino lunch and dinner feast. The three chefs are in the vanguard of a New Filipino food movement emerging, one which takes the flavours of the archipelago and presents them in a new and more modern light.

Monday October 23 | Kita Conversations, Singapore

Kita Conversations is a series of TED-style talks with an on-going dialogue on all thing’s food including its production, history, and consumption in Southeast Asia.  Australian speakers include:

• Australian Matt Stone, arguably the leading sustainable chef in Australian dining and author of ‘The Natural Cook’.
• Australian Pete Smit from Underdog Inn is known for his ‘nose-to-tail’ approach to cooking using open fire grilling and smoked goods techniques.

KUALA LUMPUR

Monday October 30 |Kita Conversations: 

Kita Conversations is an on-going dialogue on all thing’s food including its production, history and consumption in SE Asia. The goal is to build an open platform for everyone working in the food and beverage industry.  Australian speakers include: 

• Australia’s David Thompson is owner/chef of numerous restaurants including Long Chim Perth, Long Chim Sydney, Aaharn Hong Kong and Aksorn Bangkok.
• Malaysian born, Australian resident chef and MasterChef winner (Season 9) - Diana Chan  Since winning, Diana has worked  with some of Australia’s leading hotels and developers in SE Asia. She is also a regular face on Australian television food shows on SBS and Channel 10. 

Kita Food Festival is a series of dining events and food celebrations to be held from September 27 (Kuching), October 13 – 16 (Penang), October 19 - 23 (Singapore) and October 26 – 30 (Kuala Lumpur). The festival will feature over 70 Michelin and Asia’s 50 Best chefs from around the world for a series of fine dining and casual dining events, along with two Big Sunday Barbecues and The Great Mezze. It will also include a series of TED style talks and symposiums titled Kita Conversations with discussions from chefs, food producers, historians, anthropologists, and food suppliers all talking about what is pertinent to the industry here and now, such as sustainability, food waste, and how to make a business profitable.

The Kita Food Festival is an annual event to celebrate Southeast Asian culinary culture. The festival showcases an array of experiences with some of the finest chefs, winemakers, and food

thinkers from around the globe. The goal is to put a spotlight on Southeast Asia’s emerging food scene and to also offer inspiration for the next generation of food producers.

The Kita Food Festival was founded by Malaysian-born chef Darren Teoh who is the head chef of fine dining restaurant Dewakan in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; along with Australian-born food and travel journalist Leisa Tyler who has been based in Asia since 1998 and sat on the board of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants for 10 years and was part of the team for Asia’s 50 Best; and also Malaysian-born Adrian Yap, the founder of Tiffin Culinary who hosts F&B centric pop-up events and food hall Tiffin at the Yard; he is also the founder of Freeform which runs Malaysia’s longest-running creative arts festival Urbanscapes. Together they have more than 50 years’ experience in food, festivals, media, and business.

For more information about the Kita Food Festival and to stay up to date with news and events  visit Kita Food Festival or follow us on social media:  Facebook  Instagram and  Linkedin

To download the full  Kita Food Festival press kit with images and chef/ speaker bios visit  HERE   

For media enquiries or to arrange interviews please email  media@kitafoodfestival.com  or contact:

Donna Campbell | Campbell PR |  Email:  donna@campbellpr.com

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About Kita Food Festival

Kita Food Festival (KFF) is an annual food event bringing together leading chefs and culinary minds from around the world.  The event was created to put Southeast Asia on the gastro-tourism map while creating a community of people who appreciate good food and where it comes from   The event also aims to give the Southeast Asian dining scene a yearly event to look forward to, while offering inspiration and skills for the younger generation of food producers – and a platform for discussing food consumption and the restaurant industry. Kita means “us” or “we” in Bahasa Malayu. This appreciates that in the act of eating, the production of food and caring for a sustainable future, the festival’s main themes, go beyond race, colour, creed and socio-economic status.