Chef of Breakthrough Missions nows bitter taste of rejection

Top chef who was jailed years ago will call the shots at new cafe which hires ex-convicts

Chef Peter Teo knows the bitter taste of rejection, as all five applications for his first internship were rejected due to his criminal record.

The chef, who was in jail twice for drug and assault offences, watched his Shatec classmates get hotel restaurant internships.

He had ignored his mother’s pleas to give up drugs and even wanted to succeed in the drug trade.

But he got caught, and his criminal record proved to be an obstacle to him getting internships at restaurants.

He said: I just felt very rejected. I desperately needed a job, why couldn’t I have this one chance?”

Fine-dining French restaurant Les Amis was the only one that offered him a trainee role, and a scholarship, in 2010.

Chef Teo, 39, went on to help the establishment clinch its first two Michelin stars and become one of its highest-ranked chefs.

Over the years, his creations were featured in luxury magazines Epicure and Tatler Asia, and The Straits Times.

In March, Chef Teo will be calling the shots at a new French cafe in Changi Village, called Breakthrough Missions, which hires former convicts.

As an alumnus” of Christian halfway house Breakthrough Missions, which owns the cafe, Chef Teo said: I want to do my part and give back, so they don’t have to go through what I went through.”