Chef Heman

Chef Heman Tan is a man of many talents, in addition to having more than 20 years of culinary experience, he is also a competitive triathlete and a celebrated ceramist.

He has come a long way from his early days working as an R&D chef at Prima Foods, one of the leading producers of pre-mixed pastes. He was also involved in the catering industry responsible for preparing up to a few thousand meals a day when he was with ISS Catering (Singapore) and JR Foodstuff industries. With extensive knowledge of American, Western and Local Asian cuisine, Heman is able to craft different unique menus leveraging on his ‘East meet West’ knowledge, creating fusion food with a combination of fruits and even alcoholic drinks.

Currently, Chef Heman is the Group Executive Chef of JP Pepperdine Group. As JP Pepperdine Group Chef, Heman is tasked with overseeing the operations of 16 Outlets of Jack’s Place, 3 outlets of Eatzi Gourmet, 4 Outlets of Korean Kkongdon Barbeque & 4 Japanese Restaurant Hoshigaoka.

In addition to progressing into his current role, Heman constantly participates in culinary challenges like the recent 2014 FHA National Gourmet Team Challenge, clinching silver medal as team captain. In the 2013 Pattaya Culinary Challenge where he was the team manager cum team captain, they won the National Team Gold Medal. He has also led the National Team in Thailand’s 2010 International Culinary Cup (TICC 2010) competition and the Penang Culinary Challenge, emerging as overall champions both times.

Chef Heman has also participated in various culinary programs and demonstrations organized by big industry players like Nestle Professional, California Raisins, Singapore Food Festival, 50 plus Healthy Living, Asian Masters, The Health Promotion Board. His latest involvement was in “Small Plates Big Flavours”, a cook book jointly published by Singapore Chef’s Association and California Raisins where two of Heman’s recipes are featured in the book.

Heman is an Executive Committee member of the Singapore Chef’s Association and even heads the Social Activities & Sports Committee. Being a competitive sportsman, Heman understands the need to be well versed in healthy eating and has obtained a Certificate of Nutrition and Diet (Healthy Eating Principles) under the Fitness Australia Accredited Program. He puts this unique knowledge to good use when he plans low GI meals for La-vie performers, healthy meals for international players of The Singapore Sports School and The Singapore Health Promotion Board. He was also actively involved in meal preparation for the international athletes at the 3rd ASEAN School Games. Chef Heman has also been invited as a guest chef to train and show case his “healthy & yummy” Asian cuisine with the footballers in Mediacorp Channel 5’s First XI.

Despite his busy schedules, he still takes time off to contribute back to society by being involved with noble causes such as a reality TV show “Chefs with Heart” that trains a group of at-risk youths to provide them with better job opportunities. Other charity causes include cooking demonstrations for “Rose to the Occasion” to raise funds for cancer patients and the Yellow Ribbon Project, “Dining Behind Bar”. Most recently, he has started a Facebook Page and launched a video series called “The Iron Man Chef” to offer not just culinary and health tips but also motivational lessons. He was also interviewed by the Sunday Times for an article “It Changes My Life”.