KUALA LUMPUR: Singer, author and chef Datuk Fazley Yaakob has done Malaysia proud winning the World's Top Outstanding Master Chef 2019 title.
He received his award from Entrepreneur Development Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Redzuan Md Yusof at the World Top Gourmet Awards 2019 in the Berjaya Times Square Hotel, Jalan Imbi yesterday.
However Fazley, the winner of MasterChef Celebrity 2012 was not the sole recipient of the title. Fellow Malaysian chefs Amy Beh, Valmurugan Subramaniam, James Ho Soon Boon, Bernard Lee, Lim Wai Keong, Yee Weng Ding and Alexander Chong were also named as the World's Top Oustanding Master Chefs.
International chefs Chen Hong (Taiwan), Adam Wong (Hong Kong), Jeeraphon Ritthep (Thailand), Gabriel Bonnin Roig (Spain), David Kim Dong-Hyun (South Korea) and Stefu Santoso (Indonesia) also received the same award.
Fazley who owns SukaSucre Bistro in Jalan Cheras, said his win was a dream come true and a great incentive for him to "aim higher".
“It's a bonus for me, to work much harder as a chef and take Malaysian cuisine to greater heights,” he said in a news report today.
This is the third annual World Top Gourmet Awards, which recognises excellence amongst chefs from various countries. The winning chefs are judged based on their restaurants' menus, customer feedback, customer service, food presentation and food quality.
The established chefs who decided on the winners included Datuk Dr Lum Tuck Loy, Datuk Redzuawan Ismail or Chef Wan, Kent Vatcharavee Visetpohchanatip, Martin Yan and Jeffrey Tan.
Fazley, 41, won Most Admired Leader In Asia 2019 from Herald Global and ERTC Media last Aug 26.
In an Instagram post yesterday, Fazley said: "I want to thank you all for this recognition. It was an amazing experience last night, at Berjaya Times Square Hotel, to see amazing chefs from all over the world including Taiwan, Thailand, South Korea and Spain winning this prestigious award. Thank you Chef Wan for always supporting me, the committee for choosing me, and all my loved ones for always believing in me."
He was congratulated by several Netizens and chefs, including Chef Zam and Zaleha Olpin.
"Congratulations Datuk Fazley," said Chef Zam.
"Tahniah Datuk! Well deserved recognition," said Zaleha.
"Semoga terus maju jaya Datuk," said Reena.
"Well done Datuk!" said Nora.