Jack Hui was orphaned at two and had spent most of his childhood growing up under the wing of the Hong Kong Student Aid Society, which housed him in their hostels for more than a decade and provided him with the necessary means to pursue his studies, including his diploma from the Chinese Culinary Institute. Through our partnership with the society as well as the Arcane Collective, we were able to place Jack at one of the latter’s restaurants – Cornerstone, a casual Australian bistro helmed by Neal Ledesma – where he is now learning the fundamentals of Western cuisine.

“I was very happy when r é n found me a placement at Cornerstone,” Jack tells us. “I’ve been working here for around two months now and I’m learning a lot from chef Neal. As a child, I had already loved cooking, especially making desserts and pastries, so I always knew I wanted to become a chef. Funny enough, I actually prefer eating Chinese food myself, and that’s why I enrolled in the Chinese Culinary Institute, but I also feel like Western cuisine is more refined, delicate and precise, and that’s what draws me to learn more about Western cooking now. I hope that one day I’ll be able to open my own café.”

Chef Neal also shared his experience so far with Jack with us: “To be honest, it’s not easy. It can be tough because of where these kids come from, and the mental states they’re in sometimes, but that said, I’m more than happy to help them and give them a sense of purpose and direction. With Jack, there were a lot of obstacles we had to work through, but it’s been good overall. It makes me happy to see these kids progress, and I enjoy being a mentor for them.

“What I really want to do is to help him progress in both his life and career, to teach him how to stay focused and be more self-disciplined. Everything in life requires consistency, whether you’re exercising or learning a new language. You can’t do something for a day and then skip it the next week; you need to be consistent. That’s what I hope I can impart on Jack.”