Sydney Alumni Ambrose Chiang

Congratulations to Ambrose Chiang Alumnus and graduate of the Bachelor of Business ( International Restaurant Management) program who is a finalist in the Gault & Millau 2016 Sommelier of the Year Award. Ambrose is no stranger to such accolades, having been a finalist in the Young Waiter category for this year’s 2014 Electrolux Appetite for Excellence competition.

Ambrose always had a great love for food influenced from his family and the cities he grew up in. Growing up in Hong Kong gave him the exposure to a diverse range of cuisine, in particularly Cantonese, Chiu Chow, Shanghainese, Japanese, Italian and French cuisines. His grandma’s nurturing in the kitchen was a major inspiration for his career and approach to food. Sydney has allowed Ambrose to focus deeply into the subjects he loves the most.

While completing his degree in restaurant management with Le Cordon Bleu Australia in Sydney, he also attended Sydney Wine Academy for WSET Courses. He is currently in the second year of the Diploma course. 

Within the years with Le Cordon Bleu, Ambrose was fortunate to be mentored by master trainer Ivan Novak, who guided and taught him not only the highest level of service skills, but also the way of being truly hospitable and a genuine person.

In pursuit of his aspiration to work in the world class restaurant, Momofuku Seiobo as part of the Momofuku empire, he needed to gain valuable work experiences before he could see himself as part of the tight brigade of devoted chefs & sommeliers working at the signature restaurant. 

Returning to Hong Kong, Ambrose took on a Front-of-House position for 6 months at the exclusive Amber at The Landmark Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong, in which provided him with an understanding of what environment he enjoys working in, before returning to Sydney and joining Momofuku Seiobo in 2013. In 2014, Ambrose acquired the assistant sommelier role, learning under head sommelier Richard Hargreave and Restaurant Manager Kylie Javier Ashton. In 2015, he took over as head sommelier.

At Momofuku, 23 year old Ambrose now enjoys focusing on research and learning, creating a selection of wines with a very strong focus on minimal intervention wines -  a list with over 400 producers, as well as pioneering a non-alcoholic offering of inspired drinks. In addition, a constantly changing pairing of beverages and food in collaboration with the kitchen team.

Ambrose’s career possibilities include moving overseas as a sommelier and studying for his Master of Wine, or simply just opening his own restaurant.

With my work - Like the chefs, restauranteurs and sommeliers that I look up to throughout the years of learning and working in the industry, I try my best to present a value structure that myself and my team believe in, using food, service and wine as language, to inspire people to reflect and think about how they could see something different in the world they live in.