Chef Ivan Yeo, 42, started his apprenticeship with Movenpick in 1983, and after 23 years in the F&B industry, was recently appointed Director of Culinary Arts & Services at Carlton Hotel.

Chef Ivan travels extensively and is always in search of good food and restaurants so as to expand his culinary repertoire. He has received numerous accolades including Gold medal awards from Food & Hotel Asia. He has also won several championships, such as the World Cup Luxembourg and Black Box Culinary Challenge. Chef Ivan was also the Coach for the Singapore Chef Association Team in IGEHO in 2005.

Who was your biggest culinary influence?
Max Chong. He was the chef at the Movenpick Restaurant when I first started my career in 1983.

He was a very committed chef and always willing to share his culinary knowledge with me. Perhaps if I had not met him at that time, I may not be a chef now.

Right now, Max Chong is in Australia running a restaurant with his wife and doing very well. The other person is of course Chef Otto Weibel. He has been my mentor since the day I worked with him from 1986. We have been chefs together for 19 years. He really supports our local chefs, and inspires us to become better chefs.

Also, should there be a new restaurant or a new concept, it will make me excited. I will go and check it out to see what others have done. This also fuels my passion for my job because we have to be ahead of what others are doing, otherwise we will fall back and remain behind our competitors. We can't change everything but we still can see what is their kind of quality and also learn and improve from others.

When did you decide you wanted to become a chef?
In 1983 when I started my career at Movenpick and when Chef Max Chong gave me all the support.

What was your Big Break?
When I won the Norwegian Salmon competition in the year 1989 with a $25,0000 prize. Even though I was only a Chef De Partie (Section Chef) at that time, I beat all the other leading chefs in Singapore.

What makes a good chef?
Being a chef is not easy because of the long hours, and the pay is not very attractive when you first start out. But if you know what you want, have a passion for food, and are willing to work hard, then you can make it in this industry.

I'd like to see more passion in our younger chefs and hope that they will not treat the profession as just another job.

The art in cooking is to consistently produce the same quality. If you make one mistake, then you must ask yourself which part went wrong and to want to constantly improve till you get it right. Once you get it, it becomes a skill that no one can take away from you. You must not take a short cut or replace something of different quality. The result will not the same. Never! You must also be brave to try different things or do things differently.

How would you describe your cooking style?
I would sum it up with two words - simplicity and freshness. Also, focus on the composition of the whole dish. Do not mix too much flavour in one dish. Whatever is written on the menu must be accurate.

Do you have a signature dish?
My signature dish is the Pan-fried tiger prawns and seared scallops with parsnip puree, sauteed leek, served with crab essence-butter sauce. The sauce really compliments the seafood. I like to work with fresh seafood and Singapore is known for its seafood. When people eat this dish, I'd like them to remember Singapore and me.

I created that dish when I was a chef at Compass Rose. During that time, it was my most popular dish. I am happy to say that after three years, this signature dish is back at the Equinox Complex.

What is unique about this dish is that the sauce is made from the reduction of crab essence and butter, lots of butter. As I was trained in the Western kitchen, I cannot cook without butter. It has a wonderful taste and smell. I love butter and fresh tomatoes when I cook.

What is your most essential kitchen tool and why?
Sharp knives. Sharp knives makes your job easier and faster and it is also a essential skill to handle and manage different knives for cutting fish, meat or vegetables. It is also an important part of kitchen safety to use sharp knives; blunt knives are a kitchen hazard.

What are the must-haves in your fridge at home?
Fresh cut fruits. Everyday, my wife will ensure my children eat their fruits without fail. So she will also have cut fruits in the fridge ready for me to eat after my meal or when I am thirsty after work. The other important thing is the Mineral Water from China, it can really quench my thirst. This is a must-have after a hard day's work. It also helps to 'cool' my body down.

When you do cook at home, what do you usually cook?
Honestly I don't cook at home after working in the kitchen the whole day. If I have to cook, it will be my Maggie noodles - just to fill up my stomach.

What is your favorite local dish? Why and which stall you go to?
My favorite local dish is chicken rice. My youngest son, 7, can eat one plate or more of a standard portion by himself. The one we usually patronize is the one at East Coast Road 5-Star Chicken Rice.

However, in the morning, I prefer to have yu char kueh with coffee at Bedok South wet market. Sometimes we will go to the Old Airport Road market for wanton noodles.