Ambrose Chiang’s love of food started early on – at the age of six, he was already handling big knives and other serious kitchen hardware in his family’s kitchen in Hong Kong. Later, he moved to Australia, and after battling early alarm-clock starts and hill sprints, he moved on from the world of football to the world of hospitality – which proved just as gruelling as any contact sport, particularly when working at Cafe Sydney, where you could be juggling 600 covers a day.

In this podcast, he also talks about returning to Hong Kong, where he landed a job at Amber at the Landmark Mandarin Oriental – and being a witness to the city’s unique dining culture; Hong Kong had a colourful food culture, but eating out might not necessarily be about enjoying yourself, as it turned out, and diners sometimes had surprising habits.

At age 22, he’s landed some notable achievements, such as being the youngest state finalist in the Electrolux Young Waiter of the Year competition (he talks about what it’s like to serve Nick Hildebrandt and other industry heavyweights for the contest) and he currently works at Momofuku Seiobo, one of the best restaurants in Australia, and in Ambrose’s opinion, also home to the best ramen in Sydney (sorry guys, it’s also available as a staff meal, but you can enjoy vicarious servings of it via Ambrose’s Instagram).

You can listen to the podcast on iTunes or download it via RSS or directly. And big thanks to everyone who has kindly spread the word about this podcast or left a rating or comment in the iTunes store – it means a hell of a lot.

Portrait courtesy of Ambrose Chiang