Sim and Wiliam Gleeson have also published a practical guide to the financial, legal and organisational aspects of running a restaurant (All photos: Kenny Yap/The Edge Malaysia)
Besides having a head for numbers and an eye for art, Bingley Sim has a third super power: food. Few know that the head of private client solutions at CIMB Investment Bank and one of Malaysia’s most prominent art collectors once spent three years working in a London restaurant.
Today, the culinary skills he acquired many years back have resurfaced and been put to good use, in part due to the necessity of minimising the risk of exposure in these pandemic-ridden times and, hence, staying in, but also to rekindle the simple joy and pleasure of cooking and watching your loved ones enjoy the work of your hands.
“Yes, I did spend three years working in a restaurant,” he says, smiling. “It was from 1992 to 1994 ... at Den’s Kitchen, in London, which was established by my brother Dennis. He, like me and another brother, started training in an audit firm after graduating but Dennis soon decided auditing wasn’t his calling and duly set up the Malaysian-Chinese restaurant in Haverstock Hill at London’s Belsize Park. I was already a qualified accountant when the restaurant started operations, so, in my younger days, I would work two jobs: as an auditor during the day and at the restaurant in the evenings. This was on top of private bookkeeping and personal taxation jobs.
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“There was so much we wanted to do then, being adventurous and foolish,” he continues. “We were ambitious and naive but we had fun planning the menu. I was tasked to sort out the wine list and that was also when I realised the easiest way to know a Chardonnay from a Sauvignon Blanc was to drink it,” he chuckles. Not that Sim was relegated to just playing sommelier. “My main job was actually at front of house; I had to manage the front of the restaurant as well as meet and mingle with the customers. But being a small set-up, there would be days (many of them, to be honest) when I had to help out in the kitchen.”
Sim’s love of food can be traced back to his teenage years. “While at boarding school, I stayed with an uncle in London during the holidays and started cooking at the age of 14. I remember the first time I fried ginger and garlic ... it immediately brought back the smell of home via the kitchen. Although homesickness crept in, I always felt better after having eaten the food I had cooked.”
Sim also cooked a lot during his years at Birmingham University, “experimenting with the cheapest ingredients and coming up with some amazing dishes. I became popular as a result”, he laughs.
Despite proclaiming his fervour for F&B, Sim has never been tempted to go back into the kitchen as a career. “F&B is my passion and first love, to be honest. But helping run Den’s Kitchen knocked some sense into me. Working in an investment bank pays the bills. But if ever I were to have my own restaurant, I can imagine it being next to the sea ...” he muses wistfully. “A Malaysian place with no boundaries, with the menu featuring, say, a local take on paella or angel hair pasta with cockles cooked in belacan and accompanied by a glass of Gewürztraminer. The only non-negotiable aspect would be the freshness of its produce.”
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Still, the rise of WFH (work from home) has given Sim more time in his preferred domain. “I still enjoy experimenting — to the dismay of my family at times,” he says half-jokingly. “I look forward to cooking every time I get the chance ... it gives me a high! And since the lockdown, I am pleased to report that I have perfected my turkey with petai stuffing. During the first Movement Control Order, I delved headlong into the world of local herbs and plants, using a lot of fresh turmeric and galangal, as well as experimenting as much as I could with edible flowers and microgreens. This MCO, I wanted to master everything briyani. In my quest to achieve the perfect dish, I have taken to calling my versions the ‘Bingyani’ and have asked my daughter to work with me on a journal!”
Besides journalling, Sim — displaying his academic training here — also applies the neuro-visual skill of mind mapping when it comes to cooking. “I used the technique a lot to get through my student days. In the office, my projects come in the form of mind mapping too, so it was natural for me to use it in cooking as well. Mind maps put every ingredient, the steps and the timing of the execution all onto one page at the same time. There is no right or wrong.”
Another skill Sim honed during the early days of lockdown was drawing. “I started in August and realised I enjoy drawing — especially using charcoal — a lot. When I mind map one of my recipes, I try to add a drawing or sketch in it as well. The drawing captures a moment. When I was frying kway teow, for example, I not only did a mind map but also added several anecdotes about my experience with char kway teow. Overall, it is not a simple task but once completed, the entire process — from preparing the ingredients, recording them all down, frying, eating and, finally, drawing it all out — is so fulfilling that you really must experience it yourself to understand what I am getting at.”
This article first appeared on Feb 22, 2021 in The Edge Malaysia.
