Ardy Ferguson’s road to the S.Pellegrino Young Chef crown
Now sous chef at Hong Kong’s Michelin-star Belon, the 30-year-old Indonesian-Canadian once tried to study engineering
At the age of 30, the Indonesian-Canadian has already risen the ranks to become Belon’s sous chef. He is mild-mannered but cheerful, giving the impression that he’s well-liked by everyone he meets. All the better then, as he is due in a few days to depart for Milan, Italy, where the biennial competition is to be held.
First launched in 2015 to identify the most promising young chefs worldwide, the SPYCA makes its first selection of aspiring culinarians in a regional round the first year, before moving onto the global round in the second. In 2024, Ferguson beat other talented chefs hailing from the Maldives, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, South Korea and Japan to clinch the Asia title. His entry, a deceptively simple creation titled “Archipelago Celebration”, took after nasi tempong, an Indonesian dish traditionally eaten during large gatherings and celebrations. Ferguson’s interpretation features Cantonese-style roast duck as the main protein, with seven other components including rice, coconut gravy and sambal. It’s a masterful balance of his classical French training with his Indonesian roots – and a dash of Cantonese soul from the city he calls home.
Ferguson’s journey into the kitchen was unexpected, even to himself. Growing up between Jakarta and Canada, he initially planned on becoming an engineer, enrolling himself in one of the most prestigious electrical engineering programmes in Canada, at the University of British Columbia. “I realised very quickly it wasn’t for me,” he says.
He left the programme and took a gap year, working at a bakery while he considered his next move. To his surprise, he enjoyed it more than he expected and decided to test it out as a career by staging (taking an unpaid internship) at various fine-dining restaurants in downtown Vancouver. After a stint at culinary school, Ferguson came across a job posting at Belon, submitted his application and the rest is history.
Though Belon’s remit is modern French cuisine, Ferguson frequently delves into his Indonesian background for personal inspiration: “That’s the food I love to eat, so that’s the food I love to cook. I’ve always wanted to explore Indonesian cuisine in a fine-dining setting.”