The chef who trained his boss: A culinary legacy comes full circle at Singapore’s Shisen Hanten

Experiences Hiroaki Suzuki trained under the founder of Japanese-Sichuan restaurant Shisen Hanten before mentoring his grandson, Chen Kentaro. Now, three generations of chefs are coming together for a special dinner in Singapore. Hiroaki Suzuki (left) trained under Shisen Hanten founder Chen Kenmin before mentoring his grandson, Chen Kentaro (centre). Together with Yuya Hayashi (right), they continue the restaurant’s culinary traditions. (Photo: Shisen Hanten by Chen Kentaro) New: You can now listen to articles. This audio is generated by an AI tool. When chef Hiroaki Suzuki joined Shisen Hanten in Tokyo in 1982, he trained under its founder, the late Chen Kenmin, widely regarded as Japan’s “father of Sichuan cuisine”. “He never hid his cooking skills,” the 62-year-old recalled in an email interview with CNA Luxury. Today, Suzuki is the restaurant group’s culinary director in Japan, passing on what he learnt from Kenmin to younger chefs, including the founder’s grandson, Chen Kentaro.In an interesting reversal of roles, the 46-year-old Kentaro is now Suzuki’s boss, despite having learnt his craft from the older chef. Their relationship is a reminder that in a family business, traditions need not be passed down through bloodlines alone. Long-serving employees like Suzuki can become custodians of the family’s knowledge and values, helping to preserve its legacy across generations.Come Nov 6, diners in Singapore will have a rare opportunity to taste that legacy when Suzuki and Kentaro join another of their proteges, Yuya Hayashi, for a one-night-only six-hands dinner at Shisen Hanten by Chen Kentaro. Together, the three chefs will present an eight-course menu tracing the evolution of the restaurant’s distinctive Japanese-Sichuan cuisine.FAMILY TIES As Shisen Hanten’s culinary director in Japan, Hiroaki Suzuki continues to uphold the exacting standards instilled in him by the restaurant’s founder, Chen Kenmin. (Photo: Shisen Hanten by Chen Kentaro) Shisen Hanten was founded in 1958, when Chen Kenmin, who had moved from Sichuan to Japan six years earlier, opened the restaurant in Tokyo. There, he developed Chuka Szechwan Ryori, a distinctive style of cooking that combined the bold flavours of Sichuan cuisine with Japanese ingredients and techniques.His son, the late Chen Kenichi, subsequently expanded the family business and became a household name as one of Japan’s original Iron Chefs. Kentaro, who joined the restaurant at 21, eventually took over the reins, opening Shisen Hanten by Chen Kentaro in Singapore in 2014. The restaurant earned two Michelin stars in 2016 and currently holds one. Through it all, Suzuki has remained a constant presence.“I have known chef Kentaro since he was a child,” Suzuki recalled. “He loves having fun, has a slightly mischievous side, and is a very playful and cheerful person.” Kentaro remembers Suzuki as a demanding perfectionist. “What always impressed me most is his uncompromising attitude towards taste,” he said. “Even with the smallest difference in heat, seasoning or flavour, he would always ask, ‘Why did this happen?’ and ‘How can we make it even better?’”That insistence on understanding why something works has shaped Kentaro’s approach to cooking. “To me, he is much more than a senior chef who taught me cooking techniques. He showed me, through his actions, what it truly means to be a chef of Shisen Hanten.”LOOKING AHEAD For Chen Kentaro, preserving tradition is not about simply reproducing the dishes of the past, but allowing the cuisine to evolve with each new generation of chefs. (Photo: Shisen Hanten by Chen Kentaro) If Suzuki is a totem of Shisen Hanten’s institutional memory, then 38-year-old Yuya Hayashi offers a glimpse into its future.Born in China’s Fujian province and raised in Yokohama, Hayashi grew up around his family’s Chinese restaurant. He later trained at culinary school in Japan before joining Shisen Hanten at 25, where he spent six years mastering the basics before being allowed anywhere near the stove. He spent another six years training under Kentaro before relocating to Singapore, where he is now executive sous chef. The main dining room of Shisen Hanten by Chen Kentaro, which has been serving its distinctive Japanese-Sichuan cuisine in Singapore since 2014. (Photo: Shisen Hanten by Chen Kentaro) Like Kentaro, Hayashi remembers Suzuki as a formidable teacher. “There is one story I still remember very clearly. I was in my second year at Shisen Hanten in Japan. One day, some guests came to visit our kitchen. I was so caught up with my own work that I failed to greet them properly. After the guests left, chef Suzuki became extremely angry with me and said, ‘Why can’t you greet the guests with energy and enthusiasm? If you can’t even greet the guests properly, then get out of the kitchen!’” he recalled.That incident speaks to the heart of the Chen family’s guiding principle of saishin kore ai, loosely translated to pouring love and care into cooking for the enjoyment of others. “At that time, as a trainee, I was too inexperienced to fully understand its meaning,” Hayashi said. “However, this lesson has stayed with me throughout my career.”A TASTE OF TRADITION An illustrated preview of selected dishes from Shisen Hanten’s eight-course six-hands dinner, including the Phoenix Platter, chicken liver chawanmushi with hairy crab roe soup and wok-fried A5 wagyu sirloin with red peppers. (Illustration: Shisen Hanten by Chen Kentaro) That philosophy will be on display at the Nov 6 dinner, with dishes that showcase Shisen Hanten’s classical foundations and evolution. Suzuki will prepare the opening Phoenix Platter, an elaborate cold appetiser that highlights his precise knife work and presentation skills, in front of guests.Other courses include chicken liver chawanmushi with hairy crab roe soup and wok-fried A5 wagyu sirloin with red peppers. There is also a luxurious interpretation of Shisen Hanten’s signature mapo tofu, made with lobster and Sichuan pepper meat sauce.“At Shisen Hanten, we have never simply continued cooking the same dishes since my grandfather’s generation,” Kentaro explained. “We protect what is important, but at the same time, our cuisine has continued to evolve with each generation, each place and each chef.“Through the dishes created by the three of us, I hope our guests can feel that tradition is not something we simply preserve. It is something we pass on, evolve, and carry into the future.”The Six-hands Master and Disciples Dinner takes place on Nov 6, from 7pm to 10pm, at Shisen Hanten by Chen Kentaro, Level 35, Hilton Singapore Orchard.