Gala Charity Dinner for Hua-Ting Master Chef's First Cook Book

The highly anticipated cookbook, commissioned by Hong Leong Group’s Executive Chairman, Mr Kwek Leng Beng, will be out for sale in Singapore stores soon. This is the first time Millennium & Copthorne (M&C) Hotels have produced a cookbook for one of its restaurants in over 90 hotel properties worldwide.

Featuring some of Hua Ting Restaurant’s Master Chef Chan Kwok’s best recipes, the glossy coffee-table book “Chan Kwok – A Culinary Genius” was commissioned by Mr Kwek after Orchard Hotel’s Hua Ting won double awards at the 2005 World Gourmet Summit (WGS). 

A Gala Dinner has been planned on 23 January 2006 as the occasion to officially launch the book. Donation tables of S$5000, S$3000 and S$2000 each have been snapped up by generous donors and well-wishes. The Hong Leong Foundation will also be matching dollar-for-dollar the nett proceeds from the table sales. The group hopes to raise more than S$100,000 for the Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund (STPMF) from this event.

“I am very pleased to see this book project come to fruition so splendidly. Chef Chan and his team at Hua Ting have worked hard through the years and deserve a well-earned pat on the back. This book, being a first for our hotel group, I thought it presented a special and excellent opportunity to continue this relationship with STPMF. The proceeds will help to make a difference in the lives of the needy school children,” said Mr Kwek. 

Mr Kwek wanted to dedicate the book project to charity, and chose to raise funds for the STPMF, a charity that the five Singapore M&C hotels have adopted last June with a special “A Thought for $2” project.

The featured menu for the Gala Dinner on 23 January is specially designed by Chef Chan, and will showcase some of his favourite recipes featured in the book. The evening promises to be one of revelry, and a fitting opportunity to celebrate the coming Chinese New Year, the Year of the Dog, with friends and associates.

The programme will feature two talented young Singaporeans - Abigail Sin, a 14-year-old child prodigy pianist who has won international accolades and awards, as well as Nathan Hartono, also 14 years old, and an up-and-coming teenage Jazz singer who sounds uncannily like a young Michael Buble. Both are firm supporters of the STPMF, and performed in aid of the fund at the recent Child Aid concert in December 2005.

“This cookbook represents the wonderful team effort and spirit that drives Hua Ting Restaurant. Many of the recipes I chose for this book have not been seen in print before. I hope the readers will be tempted to try them out for themselves. I am very grateful to Chairman Kwek for this opportunity to reap the fruits of our labour, and at the same time share with those who are in need,” said a beaming Chef Chan.

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