Kita Food Festival, an annual celebration of Southeast Asia’s growing culinary culture, is set to return to Kuala Lumpur from September 4 to 8, bringing together some of the biggest names in the culinary scene from across the region. Among them will be two highly acclaimed Aussie chefs, Ben Devlin from Pipit restaurant in Pottsville, and Louis Tikaram from Stanley in Brisbane.
Ben, recognised as a Regional Restaurant of the Year finalist in The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2023, will run a Kitchen Takeover at Yellow Fin Horse, Else Kuala Lumpur. He’ll oversee a plant-forward, meat-free menu featuring native Australian bush foods cooked with Malaysian-grown produce.
Louis, known for his innovative fusion of Fijian, Chinese and global culinary influences, will bring his take on modern Chinese comfort food to Fifty Tales – Kuala Lumpur.
Whether it’s specially curated Kitchen Takeovers like these, masterclasses from world-class experts, an exciting Four Hands dinner or a Big Sunday Barbecue, there’ll be something for everyone at the festival. Following on from this Kuala Lumpur Weekender, the festival will continue in Singapore from January to March 2025.
Kita Food Festival is the brainchild of Darren Teoh, chef patron of Malaysia’s only two-Michelin star restaurant, Dewakan; Leisa Tyler, food journalist and owner of Singapore-based farm-to-table company, Weeds & More; and Adrian Yap, whose companies, Tiffin Culinary and Freeform, lead the way for Malaysia-based F&B-centric pop-up, arts and music events.
Their goal is to highlight Southeast Asia’s emerging culinary scene as well as inspire a new generation of talents by exposing them to a community of chefs, producers, and game changers in the industry. Since its debut in 2021, the festival has hosted events in multiple Malaysian destinations –Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Langkawi and Kuching – as well as Singapore. Co-founder Leisa says their aim this year is to dig deeper into narratives of local, innovation and sustainability.
Malaysia will host dinners focusing on farm-to-table relationships, modernisations of local cuisines, and masterclasses and talks exploring topics such as ancient fermentation techniques. The Singapore leg will be centred around the future of food globally, a nod to its growing status as an international city, but with its roots still very much in Southeast Asia.
Among the Malaysian events you might like to plan for:
*Prin Polsuk of one-Michelin star restaurant and #29 on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2024, Samrub Samrub Thai (Bangkok, Thailand), will bring southern Thai fisherman cuisine to Raw Kitchen Hall.
*Hans Christian of August (Jakarta, Indonesia), #46 on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants, will spotlight New Nusantara cuisine at Akâr Dining alongside Aidan Low.
*A Food Affair will make its debut with keynote talks and masterclasses from the likes of Vanika Choudhary of Noon (Mumbai, India) and Pipit’s Ben Devlin.
*The Big Sunday Barbecue will wrap up the KL Weekender with names like Pete Smit of Dirty Supper (Singapore), 2-Michelin star Dewakan (Malaysia), and home cook internet sensation Anis Nabilah (Malaysia).
Else Hotel, a trendy lifestyle property in Kuala Lumpur’s ChinaTown district, will be the chef hub for the KL Weekender, and is offering special staycation packages.
More information on the Kita Food Festival can be found here.
