Biography - Jimmy Lim

Jimmy’s love of tantilising flavour started at a very young age. Growing up in Singapore, he spent his childhood dashing around his father’s restaurant kitchen, where local favorites such as curry fish head, chili crab and clay pot tofu were the order of the day. Little did he know at the time, this would be the place that planted the seeds for his relentless search for incredible tastes. During his teenage years, a career in the sporting industry was Jimmy’s dream, but a serious knee injury was to cut his plans short. Through the journey of a lengthy recovery period he slowly found his re-awakening and pure joy back in the kitchen.

Brimming with a thirst for knowledge, Jimmy enrolled into SHATEC (a culinary school in Singapore). During his schooling, he represented both SHATEC and Singapore in numerous culinary competitions. Most notable, was when he represented Singapore in the 2006 WACS World Young Chef Challenge, where he was awarded a gold medal. The same year, he also earned the accolade of Best Apprentice Team at Singapore’s FHA Two to Tango Competition, and was nominated as one of the “50 Young People to Watch” by the Singapore Straits Time Newspaper.

Jimmy joined Le Mout Restaurant in Taichung, Taiwan in 2008, and over the duration seven years, he worked his way up from a Chef de Partie to Chef de Cuisine. To keep himself abreast with the international culinary arena he also worked at The French Laundry (Napa Valley), Per Se (New York), Noma(Copenhagen) and Geranium(Copenhagen). With the opportunity to pass through some of the world’s most renowned kitchens, Jimmy’s became open to endless possibilities and began to explore his vision.

In 2017, Jimmy Lim founded JL Studio in Taiwan, with a mission to share the taste of his homeland. At JL Studio, Chef Jimmy creates Modern Singaporean Cuisine with the ambition to showcase the wide spectrum of flavours that Singapore and South East Asia have to offer. He is currently strivng to re-interpret Singaporean food into a more international language, with the wish for more guests to relate to, and enjoy his passion and cuisine.