Despite all his accolades and talent, Bobby Chinn dominated the news for all the wrong reasons just a few months ago, owing in no large part to a certain red-carpet incident with a certain actress. But as this interview shows, just like his demeanour on TV, Bobby takes things head on and proves that fame like a well made omelette can only be achieved by breaking some eggs.

Part presenter, part celebrity chef, Bobby Chinn is an all-round entertainer who is equally at home in the kitchen as well as on camera. Just like the celebrity chefs before him, Bobby is gifted with a unique culinary sense and presenting style that makes cooking show, World Café Asia his very own. Like the Bourdains, Emerils and Ramsays of the culinary world, he is good at what he does and has towed the ‘Celebrity Chef’ title well by touring the world and taking his brand of entertainment into homes courtesy of the silly tube. And just to make sure all the ‘X’ boxes are crossed in the Culinary Chef handbook of success, yes, he also owns and operates his own award-winning restaurant in Vietnam and has even recently produced a cookbook aptly named Wild Wild East.

His successes not withstanding, Bobby’s appeal lies in the fact that he tackles issues head on and wears his heart on his sleeve. Put cooking, fame and success to one side and you will end up with an endearing character that is not only infectious but extremely likeable. In short, the sort you’ll end up enjoying a couple of beers with. Not many ‘celebs’ fall into this category and Bobby who is born of Egyptian and Chinese parentage uses it as his trump card, ultimately winning legions of fans in the process.

Our first encounter with Bobby was a unique experience and fittingly one that also occurs in the kitchen. In a cooking demo for journos at the Shook Restaurant, Bobby, who loves to ham it up for the camera, comes out dressed in chef whites and a pair of fluffy devil horns, which he later explains is due to a recent misunderstanding with Singaporean actress Andrea De Cruz.

The misunderstanding in question occurred at a recent awards show where the fun loving chef got into hot soup after nuzzling the actress on the red carpet in a bid to excite things up a bit for the media in attendance.

“It was a nightmare and blown out of proportion,” admitted Bobby who also mentioned that the media even went so far as to label him a chee ko pek (dirty old man) after the incident. “But I have publicly apologised and thankfully the incident is now behind me,” he added. But then we wondered if it was behind him, why bring it up. “I am trying to revive her career,’ came his answer with a trademark cheeky smile.

A ballsy move we thought and one that would probably cause nightmares for a PR person to handle. “Oh, I don’t have a PR person,” he later tells us. “ Maybe that’s the problem. I think that’s a good thing too, if not they would probably be wondering what the hell I was doing bringing that story up again.” No PR person? This should be an interesting interview…

Chefs in general tend to have a defining moment in their lives when they want to make cooking a career. Do you have such a moment?
Well no, I think I have always appreciated food. I think it was when I was working in this restaurant called Elka and the people there were really serious about food and I was like “dude, its just food, what’s with all the attitude?”. But then you see it on a plate and then you see how people react to it and they’re savouring bite after bite and you start to view it a little differently.

It’s a culinary art and its one of the only professions where you can use all of your senses. I think that awakens you and even though I won’t say it’s a defining moment, because it kind of hits you in different stages but ultimately you realise, ‘hey, I can do this!’

At what age was that?
30. When I left the stock exchange and started selling seafood. I started seeing these guys in these white jackets and you couldn’t get an appointment with them because they were like doctors or something. Each one of them demanded something; they would go ‘give me a spoon’ and there was a spoon, that guy was the closest thing to an emperor. And I wanted to be one of them.

What are your favourite places to eat?
Gary Danko’s in San Francisco, Le Tac which is a Tacoria in San Francisco, which is just off the charts for great Mexican food. But then again a lot of my favourite places are just places on the street.

I don’t know those places but I can tell you that some of them in Penang were just off the charts.

I went extra early, like four days before filming and I gained so much weight. I think it was the O-Chen (Oyster Omelette) and Char Koay Teow that just blew me away. I mean if you can get noodles to taste smoky, slippery and buttery and you get those flavours in a dish that’s just amazing. I think if you order that anywhere else it just won’t be the same. I think it all boils down to execution.

Where do you get your inspiration from your dishes?
One you learn the dish from somebody, two you don’t have the ingredients so you start improvising, three a new kitchen tool like a blender and it suddenly inspires you to do a new product. There was this movie about Jackson Pollock, whom I personally think is a bit of a loser.

But you see Guggenheim made him, so when he (Pollock) is giving an interview to Time magazine about how his paint brush never touches the canvas yet the paint is supposed to be there. I think that was the most arrogant thing I ever heard. Basically this was a guy who just dribbled paint and he became one of the most celebrated artists in American Modern Art.

I thought I wanted to do that. So I took that technique and I reduced Balsamic Vinegar to a syrup stage and put it in a squeeze bottle. When you squeeze it on a plate, it comes out with the same consistency as paint and it works a charm too.

Who was the best Chef to work under?
Hubert Keller. It was my first job and he was my first chef. I don’t think it was Hubert per se but everyone who worked for him. Because everyone who worked for a great chef wants to be number one themselves and he imparted that.

You grown up all over the world and yet you have made Vietnam your home. Why?
Easy. The Vietnamese are a young dynamic population. 70% of the population is under 30 and everything still works for them you know. They wake up in the morning and they feel good and that vibe is there. The food is cheap, good and fresh. Even the expats there are different, they’re a fun group.

And having that lifestyle where you’re running a restaurant and you get to meet investment bankers and you get to hang out with all these artists and people from the NGOs, all of a sudden you find yourself becoming all that more enriched. I don’t even consider myself and Expat anymore, I consider myself an immigrant.

How hard is it doing the show and managing a restaurant?
Nothing’s easy. And if anyone says otherwise, then he’s full of shit.

How do you keep up with your restaurant affairs?
I got cameras in my restaurant. Seriously I got a really great team and those people I have imparted them to be my partners because anyone’s success is based on people around them. I might get the glory but I don’t forget what it took to get where I am and you don’t forget that.

What won’t you stand for in your kitchen?
Someone who rips off the customer or discredits them, someone who assumes that we don’t need the customer. Whenever I see people cutting back on the steaks, I get pissed off. I am also a freak for cleanliness and I like to see their stations cleaned.

Cleanliness and hygiene are colossal issue for me. After that I don’t give a shit about stuff like uniforms, I want them to be comfortable and happy, and when that happens they give the customers their best.

Absolute favourite dish that you would import back into your restaurant.
I have a lot of respect for cuisine and if I try to make something like that Oyster Omelette I know I would be embarrassed because someone like you would pop into my restaurant and tell me how crappy it is. There are a lot of things that inspire me but I couldn’t make it. I’ll probably turn it into an egg flan with oysters.

What would you have as your last meal?
Probably steamed penis just to show how tough I am. I don’t know, maybe an endangered species because I haven’t eaten one in my entire existence. You know what I think I’ll probably have beluga caviar on buckwheat blinis and a bottle of champagne, with maybe a piece of Viagra to go along with it as well.

Are Michelin stars the dogs bollocks?
It depends on what you’re looking for. For me personally no, because a Michelin Star encompasses so many things other than food. There’s cleanliness, ambience, and stuff like that. End of it all it’s about enjoying food and having a Michelin star although great, doesn’t necessarily guarantee that.

Bobby Chinn's Wild Wild East Cookbook by Conran Octopus is currently available at bookstores for RM75.