As you can probably imagine, fine dining can be quite the suffocating affair.
From where an ingredient comes from to the position and function of each dish, every last detail has to be measured.
And that’s nothing to say about the complexity of the techniques involved and the lack of freedom from having to stay on theme.
That’s why Michelin-recognised chef Chong Yu Cheng decided to open Esca, a restaurant dedicated to global cuisine.
Sister restaurant to Terra Dining, Esca serves as a “playground” for just about anything the man also known as YC wants to give a shot.
An unlikely start
The now 34-year-old was born in Kuala Terengganu, going on to complete his tertiary education in the University of Melbourne.
But contrary to what some might think, his major wasn’t in anything food related. He did accounting and finance, later becoming a copywriter in KL when he returned to Malaysia.
What’s more, food wasn’t even the reason why he ventured into F&B either.
“My first love was actually wine,” stated Esca’s founder.
This passion was ignited in 2017 after YC had watched a Netflix documentary called Somm. It told the story of four sommeliers trying to pass the Court of Master Sommelier (CMS) Masters’ Exam.
For some extra context, the CMS is an organisation dating back to 1977 which seeks to improve the standards of hotel and restaurant beverage service. Their Master’s Exam is taken to earn the fourth and highest of the CMS’ certificates, particularly notorious for its difficulty.
“When they were blind tasting wines and guessing the grape, country of origin, region, and vintage of wines down to a tee, I thought that was something very cool and I had to learn how to do that,” the chef said.
To that end, YC would participate in various wine tasting events. But the real test of whether this love was meant to be would come when an opportunity presented itself to open a wine bar in Ipoh.
A boutique wine bar, he claimed, was something that Perak’s capital lacked. Rent and labour were also relatively inexpensive, giving him ample breathing room to experiment. Just perfect for an industry that he would be going into blind.
Thus led to the creation of YC’s first venture, the now-closed Above Gastrobar.
“Of course, things never go as expected,” he expressed.
“My wine bar became a wine restaurant and I was forced to step into the kitchen at some point.”
Having gained a taste for the culinary world, YC would eventually go on to intern at Restaurant Frantzén, Sweden’s only three-star Michelin restaurant.
“Spending three months in one of the best restaurants in the world was definitely an eye-opener, not only in terms of culinary prowess but also in terms of hospitality and restaurant management,” he shared.
“Returning from Stockholm, I knew what I wanted to do was beyond what the market in Ipoh could get behind.”
This was what led to the opening of Terra Dining in KL, which earned its own spot on Michelin’s guide in 2025.
Two sides of the same coin
Terra’s concept is “modern Malaysian” cuisine. But because it is, as YC puts it, “Malaysian before it is modern,” techniques that he’s learnt outside of Malaysia can’t always be applied. The priority always has to be on getting local flavours across.
“I needed another outlet for my more spontaneous ideas which very often transcend cultural and national boundaries,” explained the chef.
“This is the raison d’être for Esca.”
The restaurant does away with the frills and formality of fine dining.
Recipes often start by taking a famous dish from one culture and pairing it with a similar or complementary flavour of another.
Think of it as a sommelier’s spin on the cooking process, a callback to Above Gastrobar.
When asked about interesting stories on how a dish ended up on Esca’s menu, YC pointed us towards the restaurant’s lamb saddle.
“One of the things I have always joked about is that Malaysians like to eat meat with little to no flavour that that meat is known for,” he explained.
And one such example is lamb without the gameyness.
The conventional method to get rid of that taste would be to do a herb crust. But Esca’s founder found that antioxidants work just as well.
This led to their version of the dish being served with a dried shrimp and orange sambal crust.
This unconventional workaround is contrasted by the seemingly innocent carrot purée that the dish is served with. Taste it, however, and you’ll find it has the taste of begedil (vegetable fritters) for a little extra kick.
Order up
Balancing between working at Terra and Esca is, as you’d expect, quite the challenge for the chef. That said, it is one that he relishes.
He expressed how fortunate he feels to have a team in both restaurants who share his vision for what he wants to achieve in both. That is something that he mentioned was one of the biggest struggles he’s faced working in the industry.
“Externally, the post-COVID world is an unforgiving one for restaurants,” he added. With inflation, property, and labour costs, the margins simply aren’t what they used to be before.
YC shared that social media exposure is also now equally as important as good service. He stated that his two restaurants are lucky in that regard, having received positive attention from social media influencers.
“I am proud not so much of any achievement in particular, but by the fact that our customers have been overwhelmingly supportive of what we do.”
Esca was initially meant to be more volume-driven, capitalising on Petaling Jaya’s foot traffic.
But YC is more than happy to cater to his newfound up-market audience at Esca.
In the future, he hopes that Esca can demonstrate to the industry that casual dining can be on the same level of quality as fine dining.
A lofty goal for sure, but if anyone can do it, it’s surely the man who’s earned Michelin’s recognition.
Featured Image Credit: YC / Esca
