TROPICANA MAGAZINE Jan-Feb 2020 #128 The Love Issue

Chef Zack
It’s rare to find a seasoned and experienced chef who
had always dreamed of being one since young. Sure,
these days there are plenty of young men who aspire
to be the next Michelin-starred chef one day, but
a few decades ago most lads might stumble onto
cooking as a life vocation either through family
business, or by working as kitchen crew at a hotel or restaurant
as that was the only job available for them at that certain
moment in their lives.
For Chef Zaihari Zainol or Chef Zack as he likes to be
known, it’s a bit of both. The newly appointed Executive
Chef at Tropicana Golf & Country Resort had always wanted
to be a chef, even as a young boy back in the '70s. However,
while his family does not own a specific restaurant or eatery,
he does come from a line of cooks and chefs, going back to his
great grandmother who is said to have worked in the kitchen
of Malaysia’s first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman.
He later had his older brothers as his role models, as this
youngest of six children looked up to his eldest brother who
retired as executive chef at the Brunei Palace, and his fourth
brother who frequently travelled and worked overseas in his
capacity as a chef, opening Chef Zack’s eyes to all the exciting
opportunities that come with the profession. “I grew up in
that environment, seeing my brothers travel the world when I
was a kid. From a very young age I already knew I wanted to
be a Chef,” says Chef Zack.
At The Start Of The Journey
After finishing school, Chef Zack began his search for a job
that would get him into the kitchen - something that was not
easy to do back then with no prior experience. He finally
found a job working at a Japanese restaurant at what was then
Yaohan Mall, cutting his teeth at the sushi bar. This is the
first of many culinary disciplines that Chef Zack would later
attain throughout his illustrious career. He then moved on to
the Japanese hot kitchen, before getting a foot in the hotel
food and beverage industry with a position at Holiday Villa
Kuala Lumpur.
Chef Zack’s aim had always been to work in hotels all
along, and from his start at Holiday Villa Kuala Lumpur, he
then moved up and on, gaining experience at various hotels,
including the Pan Pacific Pangkor and Hotel Equatorial
Penang. Eventually, he was recommended by his superior for
a new job opportunity to work overseas at Sheraton Dubai
which he quickly grabbed. At Sheraton Dubai, he started as
a chef at the banquet kitchen and was promoted to become
the Assistant Sous Chef after a year. He then moved on
and helped to open Minato, a Japanese restaurant at the
Intercontinental Dubai, which then went on to become the
best Japanese restaurant in the Middle East.
99 JANUARY/FRBRUARY 2020 | TM