How Chef Eric Chong Fused Heritage and Innovation to Earn aKin a Michelin Star

When chef Eric Chong picks up the phone for our interview, he’s in the kitchen of his restaurant, aKin, prepping for dinner service. It’s been a whirlwind few months for Chong—in less than a year since opening the restaurant he co-founded with celebrity chef and Michelin restauranteur Alvin Leung, he earned both a Young Chef Award and a Michelin star. The recognition has placed aKin—the current menu of which is described as being inspired by the street food of Thailand, Japan, Malaysia, China, Vietnam and Singapore—among just 16 one-starred restaurants in Toronto and the surrounding region.

Chong’s approach to food, shaped by his engineering background and his family’s influence, blends precision with boundary-pushing creativity. We spoke about how his heritage informs his cooking, what aKin’s recent acclaim means for its next chapter and how he’s carving out a unique place in Toronto’s competitive dining scene.

You’ve said your grandfather was one of your earliest culinary influences. What did you learn from him?

Hearing his story was pretty inspiring. He immigrated here from Hong Kong, started as a dishwasher at a restaurant, worked his way up to head chef and then opened his own place. One of the first dishes he taught me was fun guo, which is a steamed dumpling. We’d make the dough and the filling from scratch and then fold them together. There are photos of me when I was 6, pressing dumplings and folding them with him.

You began your professional journey as an engineer. What inspired you to move into the culinary world?

I was always passionate about eating and food. But being from an Asian household, academics always came first. You had to be a doctor, an engineer or a lawyer. I chose engineering. But when MasterChef Canada came to Canada, it felt like a good opportunity to pivot.

What was that experience like—going from home cook to MasterChef winner?

After winning, chef Alvin [Leung] took me to Hong Kong, and it was a huge eye-opener as to how bad a chef I was. That was the year he was awarded three Michelin stars [at Bo Innovation]. Even the most entry-level cook at his restaurant could run circles around me. That drove me to work harder.

Does your engineering background inform how you approach your work as a chef?

One hundred per cent. I don’t regret doing engineering at all. Math and problem-solving are transferable skills. They’re strong assets to have when you’re dealing with recipe scaling, costing and just operating a business efficiently.

How does your heritage influence your cooking?

The fact that I can draw on influences native to me, from Hong Kong and Malaysia, is definitely beneficial. It allows me to share flavours that aren’t always showcased. That’s what I wanted to do with aKin.

How do you balance tradition and innovation in your cooking?

We’re trying to create flavours that people can relate to and that are nostalgic to a lot of people, but done in a modern way. When I say “modern,” I mean that it’s presented differently. The textures are different.

You say relatability is key to your culinary approach. Can you explain that further?

I don’t want to pick ingredients nobody’s heard of, because then they have no frame of reference. It creates a more memorable dining experience when people know what the original dish is supposed to taste like, so they can appreciate our take on it. We’ll do something like tom yum soup, but serve it as a ceviche, or turn Hainan chicken rice into a single-bite sphere. When people taste it, they’re like, “Oh my God, it tastes just like this dish, but it’s also a really new experience.”

aKin earned a Michelin star this year. How has that changed things?

Now that we have accolades, we’re always full. It’s what the whole team was hoping for: to have a Michelin-star restaurant and to be busy, so we can’t complain too much.

What did that recognition mean to you personally?

It was a lifelong goal. When I first started cooking, I always wanted a Michelin star. For a long time, it just sounded like a crazy person’s dream. Everybody says they want a star, but not everybody truly chases it.

Has that success changed your philosophy?

It doesn’t really change what we do here. We received the award based on what we were already doing. Some people think we’re going to jack up the price now, but leading up to Michelin, we actually reduced the prices, because we wanted to make it accessible. We intend to keep that price point. I want people to enjoy our food and for as many people as possible to experience aKin.

What’s next for you and the restaurant?

We want to continually offer new experiences to guests, because they won’t come back to have the same menu over and over. We’ve already gone through six menu changes since opening in November 2024. The first thing every guest says when they leave is, “When’s your menu going to change? I can’t wait to come back.”