Vinous beginnings augur well

WHEN Sang-Hoon Degeimbre got his first job in the restaurant industry close to two decades ago, he already had his sights on running his own restaurant some day. Never mind that the Korean-born Belgian chef - now with two Michelin-starred L'Air du Temps to his name - was just a novice waiter then, or that he knew nothing about cooking.

He set about doing what every young aspiring culinarian would do: learn. "I'm a very curious person and I wanted to know more - not just put plates on the table. I saw wine as a really rich topic, so I began to taste and learn what I could," the 44-year-old recalls during an interview at The White Rabbit this week, where he is cooking as a guest chef for this year's World Gourmet Summit.

But he didn't just stop there. After progressing to the rank of wine director, he chalked up further resume accolades such as stints in Belgium's leading restaurants such as La Truffe Noire and Petit Versailles as well as topping a competition to emerge as Belgian's second best sommelier. But even then, his yearning to be in the kitchen burned. "Nobody wanted to hire me in the kitchen because I had no experience," he shrugs, laughing. "So I opened my own."