Kuala Lumpur – Kita Food Festival is returning to Malaysia this month through November, which will excite lovers of all things food and drink! The 2022 festival, which made its debut in December 2021, offers fresh perspectives from chefs based in Southeast Asia, while continuing to highlight Malaysia’s emerging culinary scene. This year, Kita Food Festival will introduce an illustrious star-studded calendar across three states – Langkawi, Penang and Kuala Lumpur.
As a champion of Malaysia’s emerging culinary scene, Kita Food Festival aims to draw attention to Malaysia’s rising status among the global restaurant scene while highlighting the importance of the country’s culinary heritage and ethical producers, providing inspiration and training for the next generation of food producers, and building a platform for thought leadership and community.
Highlights include exceptional dining experiences, masterclasses, TED-like talks, and forums with some of the world’s finest chefs, winemakers and food thinkers.
What’s Happening
September 23 – 25: Langkawi
Where: The Datai Langkawi
Kita Food Festival 2022 launches at The Datai Langkawi, one of the country’s foremost luxury resorts, featuring three acclaimed chefs – chef Prateek Sadhu, previously of Mumbai’s famed restaurant, Masque, Asia’s 50 Best Restaurant Dewakan chef Darren Teoh and The Datai Chef de Cuisine Chai Chun Boon.
September 23: A 6-hand dinner with the three chefs, with each chef cooking two dishes from their respective cultures.
September 24: The second night features a fine dining dinner by chef Prateek who showcases his distinctive approach to Indian cuisine in a degustation menu at The Dining Room.
The weekend will come to a close with a masterclass by chef Darren Teoh. A group of eight will be on a tour with chef within the permaculture gardens at The Datai Langkawi. Harvest from the tour will be used for a practical cooking class at The Dapur, which will culminate with lunch at The Gulai House.
October 14 – 16: George Town, Penang
Where: Gēn, Restaurant Au Jardin, Chinahouse
October 14: Chef Johnson Wong of Gēn paired up with Andrew Martin from Bangkok’s 1-Michelin star 80:20 at Gēn.
October 15: Au Jardin’s chef-proprietor Kim Hock Su will team up with Aitor Jeronimo Orive of Singapore’s 1-Michelin star Basque Kitchen by Aitor for a sumptuous spread that draws from both chefs’ expertise in analogous French and Basque cuisines at Au Jardin.
October 16: The Great Mezze at George Town’s popular art gallery cum cafe-bar ChinaHouse ! All four chefs, alongside a coterie of Penang’s finest chefs, including Mathijs Nanne of Suffolk House, Nurilkarim Razha of Jawi House, Tan Hong Tat (aka Wagyu) of Communal by Gēn and CC Lee of JuJu Lounge & Restaurant will be joining forces for The Great Mezze, serving a selection of hot and cold mezze from locally sourced producers against a buzzing backdrop of art, cocktails and a live band.
November 19 – 28: Kuala Lumpur
Where: Akar Dining, Dewakan, Ember, Entier, Hide, Joloko and Shhhbuuuleee.
Be ready for a jam packed schedule for the final two weekends of Kita Food Festival. Guest chefs include Rishi Naleendra from two-Michelin star Cloudstreet, Ivan Brehm from one-Michelin star Nouri, Jeremy Gillon from one-Michelin star Restaurant JAG, Eelke Plasmeijer and Ray Adriansyah of Bali’s hyper-local Locavore and Jordy Navarra of Manila’s Toyo Eatery, #94 on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants.
A number of ticketed masterclasses and workshops will also be released. Masterclasses like Ancient World Wine, Home Fermentation Techniques to ‘Conversations’, a series of TED- style talks and panel discussions by innovators and business leaders in the food and beverage industry. Each will be led by subject-matter experts and encourage attendees to pick up new knowledge and perspectives.
As an annual ritual, keep a lookout for Big Sunday Barbecue, where a star-studded lineup of chefs co-create innovative dishes from their respective grilling stations.
Co-founder of the Kita Food Festival and head chef of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurant Dewakan, Darren Teoh, says, “The goal of Kita has always been about building community. We set out to connect as many people as we can through this festival; chefs, guests, vendors, restaurateurs, and even those on the fringes of the industry. We believe that no one should operate in a silo.”
We want to build something for our future and it takes a village to raise one. So in this second year, we continue to work towards strengthening this small community that we are raising, to build better relationships, to build wider relationships and to have fun doing what we do as a craft.
How to book your tickets
Langkawi and Penang events may now be booked at www.kitafoodfestival.com. Penang tickets are selling fast and stay tuned for Kuala Lumpur, which will be released soon.
Follow Kita Food Festival on Instagram for latest updates.
About
In 2021, Kita Food Festival celebrated Malaysian indigenous ingredients and culinary culture; hosting events in Penang and Kuala Lumpur, it shone a spotlight on the country’s avant-garde food and beverage scene. More than 30 chefs and industry experts participated in 18 masterclasses and dinners, closing with the Big Sunday Barbecue, where an all-star contingent of chefs were split into groups, each creating chargrilled specialties which they served to an eager crowd of nearly 300 diners.
Alongside the schedule of dining events, masterclasses and talks, Kita Food Festival presents Horizons, a mentorship program which will see a selection of handpicked junior chefs guided through a series of skill expansion activities. Over the course of three months, 12-15 promising young chefs who have shown commitment to their profession will be introduced to a series of experiences and mentors designed to inspire, evolve and broaden their horizons.
The 2022 Program is now closed. Head over here for more information.
