Chef Wan facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Yang Berbahagia Datuk Chef Wan PMW DSAP
Chef Wan in 2019
Born	Redzuawan bin Ismail (1958-01-06) 6 January 1958 (age 66) Colony of Singapore
Nationality	Malaysian citizenship
Education	California Culinary Academy
Occupation	Chef television host actor restaurateur entrepreneur
Years active	1990–2023- retired
Television	Best Wan (Asian Food Channel) Usik-usik Chef Wan (TV9) Famili Ceria (ntv7)
Spouse(s)	Norhayati binti Ayub
Children	Serina Redzuawan, Muhammad Zainudin Redzuawan (Chef Riz)
Parents	Ismail Mohd. Nor (father) Noraini Abdullah (mother)

Datuk Redzuawan bin Ismail, PMW, DSAP (born 6 January 1958), better known by his stage name Chef Wan, is a Malaysian celebrity chef, television host, actor, restaurateur and entrepreneur.

Personal life

Chef Wan is a second generation Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) settler who was born and raised in a poor family at Sungai Koyan Felda, Lipis, Pahang.

In an interview in February 2010, Chef Wan said that he is of mixed ancestry; his father has Malay ancestry from Indonesia while his mother has Chinese and Japanese ancestry. Chef Wan has two children. One is Serina Redzuawan, an actress who has appeared in several Malaysian drama series; Chef Wan's son, Muhammad Nazri Redzuawan who is commonly known as Chef Riz, is following in his father's footsteps by becoming a chef as well.

Career

Chef Wan's early career was as an accountant. He says after seeing the popularity of many types of Asian food in Western countries he decided to promote Malaysia and other South East Asian countries using their food.

Chef Wan has an associate degree in Professional Chef Training and Hotel Management from the California Culinary Academy and a Ritz Escoffier Diploma from the Hôtel Ritz Paris. In 2009, he won the Best Celebrity Television Chef of the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards.

Chef Wan is a Tourism Malaysia culinary ambassador. He is currently a brand ambassador for AirAsia.

In 2005, Anthony Bourdain introduced Chef Wan to American audiences during his trip to Malaysia in season one, episode five of No Reservations. In 2009, Chef Wan appeared in Episode 3 of Rick Stein's television series Far Eastern Odyssey (BBC).

On 26 July 2018, Chef Wan's Kitchen at Esplanade Mall ceased operations after only a year. Chef Wan said, "It's not because the cooks are not good, and neither are the staff to blame. The culinary team just did not follow my recipes... and as a result, many diners were not satisfied... It's better to close it than to invite further criticism from guests who enjoy what I cook."

Chef Wan was the recipient of THE 2019 Felda Icon Award at Felda Settlers Day in 2019.

In March 2021, viral YouTube comedian Nigel Ng, better known as Uncle Roger, visited Chef Wan's restaurant for a video shoot. Chef Wan mentioned how he was offered to be on Gelak Gempak Selebrity, a new stand-up comedy show, but declined the offer, stating that he preferred to be "spontaneously funny" and "didn't have much confidence in the field of stand-up comedy".

Filmography

Film

Television

Honours

Honours of Malaysia

•  Federal Territory (Malaysia) :
  • Commander of the Order of the Territorial Crown (PMW) – Datuk (2010)

•  Pahang :
  • Knight Companion of the Order of Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang (DSAP) – Dato' (2016)