Su Kim Hock, the executive chef of the "Michelin one–star restaurant" Au Jardin French Cuisine Restaurant in Penang, originally made his way in Taiwan's catering industry and once represented Taiwan in the international young chef competition, but his heart belongs in Malaysia. He closed the restaurant in Taipei, returned to his familiar hometown of Penang, and started from scratch. 

In the "Michelle Guide Malaysia" released last week, Au Jardin French Cuisine Restaurant located in Penang Xing Bus Gallery won the "Michelin One Star Restaurant" award. However, many people do not understand that the "helm" of Au Jardin French restaurant, Su Kim Hock, is only 35 years old, and he is an authentic Penangnite. 

Su Kim Hock shared his story, that he studied hotel management, and later worked as a front desk receptionist when he worked in a hotel. When serving at the counter, he was a little envious of the chefs working in the kitchen. At least they learned a craft, and the counter staff only relied on their mouths. 

"In this way, I transferred from the front desk to the hotel lobby to the kitchen of the hotel to learn from a teacher." 

Su Kim Hock went to UK to further his studies, and continues his hotel management course. At that time, he worked part–time in a bar while studying to accumulate cooking experience, and he even met a good local chef. He was recommended by the chef and successfully studied in this new restaurant, to gain more experience. Later due to health problems, he needed to return to China for treatment and gave up the opportunity to develop in UK. 

After recovering, he continued his journey. Su Kim Hock & his shareholders opened a restaurant called "Basil Le Bistrot" in Penang. Due to the excellent business, Su Kim Hock & his shareholders branched out of Malaysia with the intention of opening a branch in China and Taipei. They even closed the restaurant in Penang, to put their focus in the other branches.

The Taipei restaurant was very popular, and would receive an average of 700 customers. 

Su Kim Hock revealed that during his stay in Taipei, he had the opportunity to represent Taiwan in the S.Pellegrino Young Chef competition. However, he began to think, that as a Malaysian – why is he representing Taiwan in international competitions? 

Due to the exhaustion of the busy work in Taipei, he reconsidered the future direction of the restaurant. Moreover, the birth of his child made him feel strongly about returning home to his hometown in Penang. After much consideration, he decided to close the restaurant in Taipei, and move the core team back to Penang. 

"I started to operate the Au Jardin restaurant in 2019. At that time, I also decided on the direction of the restaurant, that is not focusing on quantity, but instead focusing on quality. Hence, I do not want to become a big brand, just a small product." 

He said the restaurant currently only serves 20 customers during lunch and 45 customers in the evening. During dinner time, they also deliberately stagger the time of the customers to avoid the restaurant being too crowded. 

Although it is a French cuisine restaurant, Su Kim Hock said that 80% of the ingredients he uses are from local sources, and the other 20% are imported ingredients. 

French cuisine has strong local elements. Even in mainland France, there are considerable difference between northern and southern French cuisine, that is, chefs can use local ingredients to cook dishes. 

Su Kim Hock explains that some of the ingredients are not available in Malaysia, or the quality of Malaysia is not good enough, hence foreign ingredients must be used, so that the dishes can be prepared to meet the standard.