From dishwasher in Melbourne to heading the kitchen at Gilda in George Town, a Malaysian (food) love story

GEORGE TOWN, Sept 13 — Before he was brining chicken and making coconut milk-laced romesco at Gilda Restaurant, Ahmad Soffian Salim was washing plates in restaurants more than 14 years ago.

It was almost an accidental career change for the mechanical engineering major who had initially worked in the engineering department at Malaysia Airlines planning aircraft maintenance and servicing.

Ahmad relocated to Melbourne, Australia with his wife, Aim Aris, back in 2012 when the latter was pursuing her postgraduate studies there.

Living in an area that was far from the airport, Ahmad sought out jobs near their home and ended up as a kitchen assistant washing dishes and pots in a restaurant.

Chef Ahmad working in the open kitchen.

”We lived in an area where one of the best cafes in Melbourne was just behind our house,” Aim said.

She said 2012 was the peak of cafe culture in the area and it was their first time experiencing the Australian hospitality industry where in some cafes, the chef designs the menu to pair with coffee.

”It was really interesting and that was the first spark for Ahmad to want to try immersing himself in this industry,” she said.

One of the easiest ways to get in was to work his way up so that was how Ahmad started working as a kitchen assistant.

”I love food but what really made me want to be a chef was the high quality local produce there,” Ahmad said.

Gilda Lunch Spread is meant for sharing.

He said the locally sourced produce was of such good quality that the chefs did not really need to do much except to elevate it and let its natural flavours come through.

The couple had only expected to stay in Melbourne for about two years but it somehow stretched into eight as Ahmad worked his way up from a kitchen assistant to line cook to becoming the head chef of an Australian restaurant in five years.

“I worked in different cafes and restaurants and trained in modern Australian cuisine as my interest in cooking grew,” he said.

He had briefly considered applying to study in a culinary school but the fees were high while chefs in the restaurants he worked in encouraged him to learn on the job instead.

So, he took jobs in different kitchens to build his experience, going from working a morning shift in one restaurant and heading to another restaurant for dinner service.

Clockwise from left: Grilled sea bass, grilled chicken and roasted mushroom baguette.

“I was fully occupied working from morning until night time for five days kind of thing, I often worked two jobs during that time because I wanted to learn,” he said.

 His appetite for learning was fuelled by what he found around him in Melbourne: cafes, restaurants, coffee and ingredients that opened up new possibilities.

After working his way up to become head chef and with Aim nearing the end of her PhD in late 2019, they decided to take one year off to travel and set up pop-up kitchens and collaborations in Jakarta, Hong Kong, Japan and Thailand.

However, the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted their plans.

The couple was in Penang to conduct research and work on a cookbook project in 2020.

“We managed to do our pop-up for three days—a kitchen takeover—at Norm Micro Roastery. And then the government announced a lockdown,” Ahmad said.

Interstate and international travel were prohibited and their plans to continue to Europe were put on hold.

It was then that they were asked to help plan a restaurant menu as a restaurant consultant.

Chef Ahmad and wife Aim manage the restaurant which is co-founded with three other investors.

“At that point, I had only ever been a chef, I didn’t know much about restaurant consultancy so we told the restaurant, we will try,” he recalled.

What was initially meant to be a month of assistance became nine months as they developed the menu, helped run the kitchen and trained the team.

For Ahmad, it was also his first experience working as a chef in Malaysia.

Aim said they decided to make the most of their circumstances since they were both stranded in Penang during the lockdown.

From the one consultancy project, it led to more projects including a one-year residency at a restaurant in Chinatown in Kuala Lumpur in 2023.

The residency gave Ahmad something he had missed while setting up kitchens for others: a kitchen where he could cook his own food with his own team.

They later helped with the menu planning, training and opening of Peninsula House in Penang in July 2024, before handing over to its team.

The birth of Gilda

After years of moving between projects, they started toying with the idea of opening their own restaurant.

”Since we are both from KL, our initial plan was to set up a place there,” Aim said.

Penang, however, had another connection waiting for them — a friendship formed through a small pop-up during the pandemic.

Gilda offers contemporary dining from brunch to dinner.

Among the guests was art collector and founder of Blank Canvas, Leong KY, who was also stranded in Penang at the time. 

He subsequently invited the couple to cook for private dinners and gallery events in Penang.

“I would say he is our ‘lockdown friend’,” Ahmad said.

When Leong found a new space for Blank Canvas in Soo Hong Lane, it was larger than he needed.

He reached out to Ahmad and suggested they use the extra space beside the gallery as a restaurant.

They initially offered to consult instead but Leong wanted them to run and manage the place.

The idea gradually took hold. Their Penang project progressed while their Kuala Lumpur plans were delayed, prompting them to focus on Gilda.

The restaurant opened on October 25 last year, with five founders: Ahmad, Aim, Leong, Alfred Cheong and property owner Dickson Lim.

Ahmad and Aim oversee operations, while the space also doubles as a showcase of artworks from Leong’s personal collection.

”I chose the name Gilda because I wanted something short, easy to read and with the character of a female name, as I noticed Melbourne restaurants tend to use female names,” she said.

She said the word is old English for golden and gold is a good thing to associate with the restaurant as in terms of food, it also refers to golden crust, the crispness of cooking, the golden standard or food that is really nice.

At Gilda, Ahmad’s food reflects the kitchens he learnt in, without restricting him to a single cuisine.

His foundation is modern Australian cooking, which he sees as shaped by the food, traditions and cultures brought by migrants.

Back in Malaysia, Southe-ast Asian flavours naturally became part of that mix.

“And safe to say the direction is more like we want to make good food, without any limitation, without any box,” he said.

One of the items on the menu is a sea bass served with Ahmad’s take on romesco that incorporates green chilli and coconut milk.

Alongside it is a kerabu-like salad with mango and edamame, bringing another combination of influences to the plate.

He said the menu he planned focused on layering of flavours with Malaysian influences.

Aim said Gilda not only offers contemporary dining but is a neo bistro with items for brunch and small plates for customers who just want to hang out with their friends and family.

Gilda is open from Thursday to Monday from 11am to 4.30pm and 5.30pm to 10pm. Reservations can be made at https://gildadining.com.