Chef Hafizzul Hashim brings sexy back to heritage cuisine

Good looks may draw you in, but it’s what they serve that will make you stay. In this three-part series, we meet the handsome chefs behind a private pizza omakase, a Michelin-starred Nusantara kitchen, and a Southern Italian trattoria – each bringing passion, personality, and serious flavour to the table.

Born in Kuala Lumpur and raised in the coastal town of Lumut, Perak, Chef Hafizzul Hashim now helms Fiz in Singapore, where he draws from the rich culinary traditions of Nusantara – a region spanning Malaysia, Indonesia, and parts of Southeast Asia. At Fiz, heritage recipes are reinterpreted with sharp precision, not to modernise for novelty, but to highlight the craft and technique that have long defined the cuisine.

Hafizzul Hashim, 43
Chef-owner of Fiz

Hello, I’m Chef Hafizzul Hashim. I opened Fiz to tell the story of the Malay Archipelago – not just through flavour, but through the shared roots that bind our region. Here, we practise preservation cuisine: fermentation, forgotten ingredients, and old-world techniques, reimagined with intention.

Instead of serving one plate per guest, we serve in hidang style – a traditional communal approach where multiple dishes are laid out at once for everyone to share. It’s generous, communal, and distinctly ours.

Fiz was created to tell the story of the Malay Archipelago as a living archive of taste instead of a rustic relic. Each dish traces the “threads of rice” across borders, trade routes and memory, weaving spice, fermentation and botanical craft.

More than nostalgia, it’s a return to the intelligence and intricacy that’s always been embedded in our food and waiting to be noticed.

Some of the ingredients I love most are the ones nearly lost to time, such as belimbing buloh (bilimbi), pucuk paku (fiddlehead fern), lada Jawa (Javanese long pepper), and makhwaen (a type of prickly ash). Each brings its own texture, acidity or aroma, shaping the backbone of our sambals, relishes and sauces.

If you’re dining at Fiz for the first time, start with the Century Egg Kaya Toast. What began as a nod to the kopitiam breakfast has become one of our most talked-about plates. Layered with Forged Parfait and Caviar, it’s playful, familiar, and finished with a touch of luxury.

From there, move into the Kerabu Salad, then the Blue Swimmer and Spanner Crab Gulai which are bold, aromatic, and shaped by the sea. The Lion’s Mane Rendang Hijau offers a plant-based depth that surprises even the most devoted meat eaters. And to finish: our Signature Bahulu, a soft, unassuming treat known for its delicate texture and lightly sweet flavour.

For those who question whether Nusantara cuisine belongs in fine dining, consider this: Every culture has its own expression of finesse. Ours lives in the layers of rempah – complex spice pastes made from ground aromatics – in the cadence of communal kitchens, in recipes refined through memory and movement. The complexity has always been there. We just haven’t given it the stage it deserves until now.

For more information, visit restaurantfiz.sg

Photography Athirah Annissa & Lawrence Teo
Art Direction Adeline Eng & Ray Ticsay
Hair & Makeup Mandy Yeo / PaletteInc, using NARS & Revlon Professional