The Founders of Kita Food Festival – Leisa Tyler, Darren Teoh and adrian yap – are determined to bring International attention to the malaysian culinary scene.
When it comes to gastronomic mastery and quality local produce, there is no disputing Malaysia’s mettle – a point every proud local will attest to. But for all our self-congratulatory applause, there’s a loud, pervasive silence ringing across the global stage that betrays our nation’s untapped culinary excellence.
It’s a decidedly undeserved one that Kita Food Festival’s managing director, Leisa Tyler, took notice of back in 2019.
Hailing from Tasmania, Australia, the veteran food writer’s work has appeared in Time and National Geographic, all while serving on the board of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants for a decade and playing a key role in launching Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants.
Given the repertoire of her life’s work, it’s safe to say that Tyler’s expertise lends weight to her belief that Malaysia boasts some of the best produce she’s ever tasted. It even inspired the writer to strike out entrepreneurially with her own farm collective, growing vegetables in the hills of Cameron Highlands for her clientele of produce-driven restauranteurs; amongst them Darren Chin of Bref and Sricharan Venkatesh of Nadodi.
Image credit: Kita Food Festival
With a passion for local cuisine, it was only a matter of time before Tyler, chef Darren Teoh, and Adrian Yap’s paths forked into one another.
Teoh, owner of the two Michelin-starred Dewakan, was a fierce advocate of indigenous ingredients at a time when they were exclusively intertwined with rootsy cultural events and traditions.
Yap, meanwhile, spearheaded a visionary approach to creativity and gastronomy through Tiffin Culinary In 2016, serving as a platform for multi-layered dining experiences through its Sentul-based food court and thematic pop-up culinary events.
Kindred spirits, the three founders-to-be shared a mutual understanding of Malaysia’s under-appreciation in the global culinary circuit, especially when compared to its celebrated neighbour Thailand. “Not for street food, which has always been quite strong,” Tyler quickly clarified. “But more for its restaurant scene.”
“There were a lot of young chefs in the market who were showing a huge amount of potential and working with a lot of endemic ingredients, but they weren’t getting the marketing that they deserved. We also felt there were a lot of young farmers and produce here that was really high quality.”
From this shared realisation, the seed of an idea took root, leading to the three founders vanguarding the first edition of Kita Food Festival in 2019.
Kita, meaning “us” or “we” in Malay, underscores the festival’s focus on inclusivity and community. The word not only reflects the centrality of communal eating in Asian cultures and traditions, but our collective culpability to ecological sustainability in food production.
Image credit: Kita Food Festival
For the Founders, the overarching goal is to shine a deserving spotlight on Malaysian chefs, producers, flavours, and food innovators, all while inspiring and bolstering up-and-coming talent.
“We wanted to make it a platform that celebrated all of these elements,” Tyler says. “So, everything to do with culinary – whether it be a chef, front of house, someone producing good quality local gin, or farmers growing fantastic tomatoes. We also wanted to use Kita to discuss issues which are relevant to the F&B industry, and how we can come together as a community and strengthen.”
Since then, the festival has grown to include a series of curated dinners, collaboration cook ups at the best restaurants in the region, symposiums, and CSR programmes.
The journey has been both challenging and profoundly rewarding, demanding the combined efforts of countless hands in raising this palanquin marrying food and Malaysian culture off the ground. Such is Kita’s story as it strives to highlight the nation’s culinary landscape; that of lush rainforests teeming with fruit, plants, and herbs; of boats bustling into plentiful straits teeming with fish.
Image credit: Kita Food Festival
Its fourth and latest iteration wrapped up in KL on September 8th of this year, showcasing Four-Hand Dinners and Full Kitchen Takeovers at premier epicurean hubs such as Akar Dining, Entier, Potager, and Hide.
Meanwhile, the team debuted exciting new initiatives to nurture budding chefs and facilitate dialogue on consumption practices and the future of food. Amongst them was A Food Affair, a culinary roundtable featuring keynote speeches from regional food experts, as well as hands-on food and wine masterclasses.
2024 was also the year Kita launched Kita Horizons, a free-to-attend mentorship program for promising young chefs. Once selected, mentees had the rare opportunity to attend farm tours, masterclasses helmed by local experts, study groups, and culinary workshops across Malaysia.
If you’ve somehow missed out, fret not, as their Kota Kinabalu Weekender is just around the corner on November 9th and 10th. The celebration will then make its way down to Singapore from January to March 2025. Tickets available from 4 October on Kita Festival’s website.
“Hopefully, we can become an annual food festival that people from around the world travel to Malaysia and Singapore to visit,” Tyler remarks with a twinkle in her eye.
A delicious prospect to be sure.
Also read:
Kita Food Festival 2024: Your Ultimate Guide To Event Highlights, Schedules, & More
