From ex-convict to dining magnate
“If you want to ruin the life of your enemy, tell them to open a restaurant” is the advice offered by Benny Se Teo. And when over 600 restaurants fail every year in Singapore, it does make sense. Remarkable advice indeed from an ex-convict who is the founder of “Eighteen Chefs”, an youth oriented restaurant that hires troubled youths and ex-convicts to help those like him, who found it hard like him, to reintegrate into society.
Se Teo’s success as a restaurateur is even more extraordinary, given that between his late teens and early 30’s he was in and out of prison four times - for heroin addiction. Having discovered religion - he was able to kick the habit for good. Upon release from prison in 1993, he was turned down at interview after interview, until he eventually landed a job.
After several years, working as an untrained chef in a Chinese restaurant, he heard of “Fifteen”, a restaurant chain in the UK started by celebrity Chef Jamie Oliver, aimed at helping disadvantaged youths re-train as chefs.
Se Teo had always wanted to help those like him who found it hard to start life anew after they left prison. Working at Jamie Oliver’s “Fifteen” was something he wanted to achieve to enable him launch something similar in Singapore.
Se Teo somehow persuaded the people who ran “Fifteen” to allow him to do a year’s internship there…going so far as to pay for his plane ticket and accommodation in London. Eventually, his persistence paid off and in 2006, he became the first Singaporean to work at the restaurant.
During his time at “Fifteen”, Se Teo worked with top chefs including Gennaro Contaldo, widely acknowledged as Oliver’s mentor. The following year, he returned to Singapore and opened “Eighteen Chefs”, named after the gang his late father belonged to, in the hope it would inspire delinquents to turn over a new leaf.
Apart from fulfilling its social objectives, “Eighteen Chefs” has garnered rave reviews for the food it serves, from some of Singapore’s leading food bloggers. The restaurant’s signature dish is its cheese-baked rice which is prepared with special sauces. Diners can choose from 8 sauces, 30 ingredients and 12 top-ups to create a dish customised to their individual tastes.
Several “Eighteen Chefs” staff members are ex-cons, and many of them are still with him – some going on to become head chefs or have risen to management level. Despite operating 12 outlets in Singapore, success hasn’t deviated Se Teo from his initial vision. When looking for new hires, he gives priority to ex-convicts over others with similar skills. He says this is because a person without any criminal past can get a job anywhere unlike an ex-con because of a prison record.
His efforts resulted in several accolade rolling in. In 2009 he was a ‘Spirit of Enterprise honoree and made a Social Innovation Park Fellow in 2010. He received Singapore’s Presidential Challenge Social Enterprise Award in 2012 and in 2013 won the Emerging Enterprise Award. Around the same time, “Eighteen Chefs” was also featured in the Singapore Tourism Board’s ‘Uniquely Singapore” campaign.
For Benny Se Teo, it’s been an amazing journey; from heroin addict to ex-convict to chef to social entrepreneur to role model – all the while helping ex-convicts start life on a new page.
Ilzaf Keefahs- writes on hospitality related matters that he is passionate about, and likes to share his views with hoteliers and customers alike.
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