Executive Sous Chef Yi-Fan Chu (Class of 1999)

EXECUTIVE SOUS CHEF YI-FAN CHU- Southwestern Academy Class of 1999 

Originally from Taiwan, raised in America, Executive Sous Chef Yi-Fan Chu discovered his passion for the culinary world at an early age when he helped his mother in the kitchen. He spent part of his childhood in school [at] Southwestern Academy in San Marino CA where he loved to cook for other students. His friends always asked for advice on recipes. “I only have noodle & eggs. What can you do for me?” he recalls one of his classmates asking.

Chef Yi-fan went on to study at the Le Cordon Bleu Culinary program at California School of Culinary Arts, where he began his love affair with food and service. Encouraged by his family and friends, he quickly learned that his passion centred on high quality standards and creative cuisine. Chef Yi-Fan started off his career in the food industry with one of Germany’s Top well known Chefs Marcus Lubke in Heringsdorf. He then moved back to California where he worked his way up in several restaurants before partnering up with his friend to open his own called Brenart Restaurant & Wine Bar, which was one of the filming locations of the famous Hollywood movie, Die Hard: With a Vengeance.

Always eager to learn, Chef Yi-Fan’s culinary adventure brought him to Phuket in 2011 where he spent his days learning its culture, cuisines, and cooking techniques as well as exotic ingredients never seen in the West.  He learned to bridge the gap between the two worlds. With the ability to mix and balance complex flavours, Chef Yi-fan loves to create an east-meets-west cuisine.

Prior to  joining The Diamond Cliff Resort & Spa in Phuket, Chef Yi-Fan was Executive Chef at Dusit D2 (Dusit Thani Brand), Executive Sous Chef at Angsana Laguna (Banyan Tree Brand) and Executive Chef at Climax Restaurant of Absolute Bangla Suites and Brush Restaurant & Lounge. In his current role as Executive Chef at The Diamond Cliff Resort, he overseeing the culinary program of all seven outlets and supervising a team of over 60 people with 330 rooms and 9 villas.

Chef Yi-Fan is always pushing himself to the next level. While he was working for Angsana Laguna, he got an opportunity to compete on The Iron Chef Thailand, [where the] 1^st battle was a battle of queen crab, which he lost by half a point. [However], he got invited for a 2^nd battle which was the battle of Mango, where Chef Yi-Fan showcased his skills and passion and was able to finish the battle with a Tie. After the Iron Chef battle, Chef Yi-Fan married on December 8^th, 2016. His wife Pattaraporn “Taan” is always impressed by Chef Yi-Fan’s passion and love towards to hers and his cooking. On Aug 25, 2017, Taan gave birth to a healthy boy named Ethan Robert Chu.

Chef Yi-Fan works with a great deal of energy and has a profound passion for his profession. He is inspired to not only feed his guests, but to leave them feeling restored and refreshed. “A chef and a doctor are the same,” he says. “Cooking is like a medicine… For the Love of Food” will be his philosophy towards cooking.

 *Bio and pictures provided by Yi-Fan CHU. Written by Yi-Fan from previous work.