For Chef Leonard, it’s not about changing the food you enjoy and making it less tasteful, it’s about redefining what we know about food, what it’s made of, and the right portion for everything. In this blog post, we’ve asked chef Leonard Yap 8 questions so you can get to know him better. Let us introduce Chef Leonard first. Chef Leonard shares his knowledge, passion and skills to participants in our healthy cooking class in Singapore. Leonard Yap is a qualified dietitian who graduated from the International Medical University in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He has practised dietetics both locally and overseas. A self-taught cook, Leonard has worked in several fine dining restaurants. He now focuses his time on combining his dietetics, food science and practical cooking experiences into educating and preparing people to take care of their own health through diet and lifestyle changes to reduce the rates of non-communicable diseases!

What is your favourite part about being a Chef?

The ability to make people smile with my food! In my case, smile in surprise when they find out it's actually healthy too!

What do you eat? What's your favourite dish? Why?

Currently, it's oysters, and no, not that Frenchy imported overpriced ones, local ones from Malaysia that are as huge as my palms, the meat is thick and almost steak-like, on its own or with a little ponzu is a temporary roller coaster ride to heaven.

What was your biggest kitchen disaster?

When I was 15, I made my first bread and told everyone in my class who went on a hike with us the following day that I would supply bread for breakfast. They got bricks instead. We stopped being friends ever since.

What's your secret weapon in the kitchen?

My R2 Takamura Gyuto. No commercial knife in my collection is as sleek as this baby, slice everything like Buttaaaaah.

What’s your guilty pleasure snack while watching your guilty pleasure TV show?

Fried chicken, not 1, not 2, 1 bucket, and yes with all its crispy skin glory and a bottle of hot sauce.

What is your funniest kitchen incident?

Mistaking salt as sugar when baking a cake trying to impress a girl. P.S. It did not work.

If you weren’t cooking, what would you do for a living?

Well, I'd be a dietitian. Oh, wait I am! no, but in all seriousness, I was very close to becoming a medical doctor.

Last weekend on earth – what would you eat?

Fried chicken, truffles and caviar, together.

[See Chef Leonard's upcoming classes]

“It’s not about changing the food you enjoy and make it less tasteful, it’s about redefining what we know about food, what it’s made of, and the right portion for everything” - Chef Leonard Yap