Chef Damian D’Silva, the renowned chef from Rempapa, was honoured with the Special Recognition award by the Singapore Tourism Board at the Singapore Tourism Awards 2024. The award ceremony, which took place in Singapore, recognized Chef Damian’s significant contributions to preserving and promoting Singapore’s culinary heritage. His dedication to showcasing the diverse flavours of Singapore’s ethnic cuisines through his innovative approach at Rempapa earned him this prestigious accolade.
Chef Damian grew up in a different era when recipes were stored only in memory and everything was made from scratch. Influenced by culinary greats from his childhood like Pop, Grandma, and Aunty Zainab, he learned to appreciate the hours of toil and love poured into preparing dishes from their culture and local ethnicities. Every bite spoke to the soul.
As he savoured these flavours and sensations, Chef Damian realized the importance of celebrating and preserving Singapore’s culinary heritage. This passion drives his advocacy for Singapore Heritage Cuisine to be shared with current and future generations, both locally and globally. At Rempapa, his all-day restaurant, diners enjoy a repertoire of specialties from Chinese, Peranakan, Eurasian, Indian, and Malay traditions.
Rempapa also offers dishes incorporating elements from across Singapore’s ethnic cuisines, which Chef Damian calls “Singapore New Heritage Cuisine.” Heritage recipes are thoughtfully edited to appeal to younger generations, aiming to inspire them to love and continue the food traditions of their homeland. Chef Damian dreams of etching an appreciation of Singapore’s culinary legacy into the global consciousness. Over the years, his work has garnered international acclaim, bringing Singapore’s flavours and stories to the world stage. Now, he is deeply touched to receive recognition from his homeland.
Presented by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), the Singapore Tourism Awards honour individuals and organisations for outstanding work in delivering experience and enterprise excellence in tourism-related industries. The Special Recognition award is conferred upon those who have made significant contributions to the tourism sector through creativity, innovation, best practices, or significant achievements that enhance destination attractiveness or support future growth areas. This award is especially meaningful as STB commemorates its 60th anniversary.
Reflecting on the award, Chef Damian shared, “Receiving this award pushes me even harder to drive a message that I’ve advocated from the moment I embraced cooking as a profession. Then, not many were aware of Singapore’s culinary heritage and its rich diversity; the different ethnicities it encompasses.”
He continued, “As a chef, I’ve always had a sense of duty and conviction to perpetuate the skills and recipes that were passed down to me from my heritage. My dream has always been to share the food that I grew up eating, with as many people as I can, while I’m still breathing.”
Chef Damian concluded with gratitude, saying, “Thank you to STB for honouring the culinary heritage which I cherish so deeply.”
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