A Path Of His Own

Tyson Gee, Executive Chef of ATAS at The RuMa Hotel & Residences, shares his culinary journey with The Peak.

- Christy Yoong

There are four siblings in our family and my mom was there for the first 12 years or so of my life, so we very well looked after. She then felt we were old enough and decided to go back to work. She’d always leave food for us but, sometimes, we just wanted something different. So, we’d go to the fridge, pull stuff out, cut them up as best as we can and threw it all into a pan! Slowly, we got better and the things we cooked started tasting better.

I was quite fortune as my school in Vancouver offered a culinary arts programme. It was very, very basic: you learn the basic mother sauces, cutting techniques and really simple cooking techniques. And that really hooked me.

I decided I wanted to cook and everyone in my family was totally against it. It got to the point where I actually got sat down with my school counsellor by my parents, who were so concerned that their son was making the worst choice in his life! Even my mentor at that time, my culinary arts teacher, was against it. They talked about the low pay and long hours, and having to work on birthdays and weekends, but I didn’t care – I still wanted to do it.