Media Release
BCCK APPOINTS NEW EXECUTIVE CHEF
14 December 2020
The Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) has appointed Chef Tawfeeq Seow as executive chef, where he will be heading the BCCK’s culinary department, comprising of the culinary production teams in the Centre as well as The Raintree Restaurant.
Malaysian-born, Chef Tawfeeq completed his professional chef training in Kuala Lumpur before beginning his career, where he gained experience in food safety management, high volume catering, fine dining and restaurant management.
Chef Tawfeeq has built a career spanning three decades in countries across the map, gathering experiences in Malaysia, Russia, France, Uzbekistan, Brunei, Singapore and various provinces in China. He brings with him the rich and unique tastes from his experiences throughout Asia and Europe.
As the largest convention centre in Sarawak, BCCK has created a reputation for serving high quality fares for high volumes of guests within the centre and through offsite catering, while also providing fine dining options within The Raintree Restaurant.
During the 1998 World Youth Games in Moscow, the predecessor of the Youth Olympic Games, he oversaw the production over 18,000 covers a day for the athletes and their teams. He went on to continue providing for high volume guests over the years, making him a seasoned veteran in this area, never compromising the quality of his food for quantity of his patrons.
His expertise lies not only in catering to large crowds, but also in fine dining. In 2005, Chef Tawfeeq was a chef at Le Céladon, a Michelin star restaurant located in the bustling rue de la Paix in Paris, France.
During his career, Chef Tawfeeq has also cooked in restaurants in major hotel franchises across the globe such as Hyatt Hotels, Ritz-Carlton, Marriott, and Shangri-La.
BCCK is a unique Convention Centre, the only of its size and kind not only in Kuching but in Sarawak. The Centre’s location is also exceptional in itself, being situated on the Isthmus just fifteen minutes from the Kuching city centre while also being surrounded by greenery unique to Borneo.
Chef Tawfeeq intends to bring out an authentic character to match the unique identity of the Centre, through food.
“I would especially like to focus on highlighting local ingredients, while also revitalising well known and well-loved cuisine in a modern and trendy way that is appealing to everyone,” Chef Tawfeeq stated in his interview.
Eric van Piggelen, CEO of BCCK said, “We are pleased to welcome Tawfeeq to Kuching, and to our team here at BCCK. Food has been a cornerstone of our Centre for many years, and we look forward to the amazing new innovations and creative cuisines that Chef Tawfeeq will be bringing to the table.”
The Borneo Convention Centre Kuching is certified Halal by JAKIM, is ISO 22000 certified for food safety management standards. During this time, the Centre and The Raintree Restaurant and will continue to enforce social distancing and other precautionary health and safety measures.