She went from peeling onions to having her own special menu in a Changi Airport first class lounge

On a recent visit to Qantas Singapore’s First Lounge for an event, a line on its menu caught my eye: “Chef Linda’s dry prawn and pork hae mee with beansprouts and chilli”. Who is this chef whose specials have a permanent spot on a posh airport lounge menu?

Chef Linda turned out to be 44-year-old Linda Sim, the very modest and shy Singaporean executive chef overseeing the food menus at Qantas’ International Business and International First Lounges at Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 1.

Ironically, Sim had never cooked a day in her life while she was growing up, even though she helped out at her mother’s Western food stall at the now-defunct Rasa Sentosa Food Centre during school vacations.

FIRST FORAY INTO A COMMERCIAL KITCHEN

While waiting for her O-Level results, the 17-year-old got a job as a casual worker in the main kitchen of Shangri-La Rasa Sentosa, Singapore, only because her friend did the same. By the end of the first day, she wanted to quit.

“I was made to peel sacks of onions and chop them. I cried so much I told myself I didn’t want to go back,” said Sim, whose mother managed to persuade her not to give up.   

Despite being yelled at in the kitchen and getting hit on the hand with a tea towel whenever the head chef found the teeniest speck of dirt on the kitchen counter, Sim persevered and was eventually offered a full-time position after three months.

By then, she had fallen in love with cooking and decided to be a chef instead of continuing her studies.

WORKING HER WAY UP THROUGH THE RANKS

She picked up all her skills on the job, with stints in hotel kitchens and restaurants. She said: “I found that I liked cooking better because it was all hands-on. I hated school and didn’t want to touch a computer or pen.”

It was at Boomarang, a casual Australian restaurant at Roberston Quay, and the now-shuttered South Coast Bistro and Bar at Marina Bay Sands, that her culinary repertoire expanded exponentially and she learnt more about Australian cuisine. She said: “I learned how to make burgers, pizzas, grilled meats and dips as well as how to sous vide everything from chicken to asparagus.”

In 2013, a position for chef de partie opened up in Qantas for its Singapore Business Lounge and Sim decided to apply for it. She had been commuting one-and-a-half hours to work every day and wanted a workplace closer to home so that she could spend more time with her mother, who had been diagnosed with cancer.

She got the job, rose to become sous chef within three years, and was offered the position of executive chef in 2016.

She did not feel ready but decided to take up the challenge on the encouragement of her then-supervisor Allan Parrish, who was Accor’s regional executive chef over Qantas First Lounges in the Asia-Pacific.

CHEF LINDA’S SPECIALS

“I consider myself lucky there’s no discrimination as a female chef in Qantas. I’ve worked in places where the male head chefs were hired because they knew the owners. I was happy just doing what I love and having time for my mother, but Allan told me he believed I could do the role well.”

Even though it meant a deluge of paperwork, which she has always disliked, from checking hygiene and safety protocols to rostering manpower and monitoring the inventory, she took it in her stride, choosing to focus on the joys of interacting with guests and her team.

Qantas’ in-flight and lounge menus are created in partnership with Australian celebrity chef Neil Perry, who was so impressed with the stir-fried black pepper beef in the Qantas Business Lounge that he launched “Chef Linda’s specials” on the debut menu of Qantas First Lounge when it opened in 2019.

Dry prawn and pork noodles, prawn paste chicken, stir-fried black pepper beef are a few of Sim’s hits that regulars order, and know to ask for even if they are not on the menu that week.

New recipes are discussed with Perry, Qantas’ creative director of food, beverage and service, and given a test run with the kitchen team before they become official dishes.

Sim likes to keep an open mind in these discussions. For example, she was sceptical at the addition of star anise and cinnamon to her laksa recipe but gave it a try anyway.

To her surprise, the ingredients gave a pleasantly unique edge to the broth. “I tell myself that Neil Perry has travelled all over the world, there’re definitely ideas we can exchange with each other.”

Sim likes to include unique local options while making creative variations of popular dishes (“Australians love pork!”) such as crispy and braised pork belly buns, snapper burgers and even a vegan version of nasi lemak with rendang using tofu as a meat substitute.

Sim starts her day at 12pm where she comes into the First Lounge to prepare the day’s dishes with the team, before a final check on taste and presentation at both the Business and First Lounges. At 3pm, there is a team huddle before the First Lounge opens at 3.30pm and then it is all hands on deck as passengers stream in. The peak period is between 5.30pm and 7.30pm.

“I call out the orders, do a last check before the dish goes out to the guests, and go table to table to find out how they like the food,” she said.

Work ends at 11pm. By that time, she is bushed and “dabaos” something on the way home if she is still hungry. “My comfort food is rice with black sauce, fried egg and spam. Home-cooked food is the best but I don’t like to clean up an oily mess. I like it as simple as possible, like soups and salad, or chicken breast that can be easily thrown into the oven.”

Asked about the hardest moments as a chef, Sim, who now lives on her own after her mother passed away in 2020, reflected: “You have to stand the heat and the long hours. You don’t have a proper meal break and rest. I think all these are achievements; I never thought I could do it.

“I could only overcome these challenges because I love cooking and interacting with guests and my team.”

The good camaraderie she has with her team is borne out in the fact that five chefs out of the current 24 staff she oversees have been with her throughout the 11 years she has been with Qantas

Her greatest joy is seeing clean plates being brought to the kitchen and seeing smiles on the faces of her team and passengers who pass through the lounge. “Although everyone is tired, we’re laughing and joking after service. There is bonding and we go through the hard days together. All this makes me happy.”